Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T16:09:42.984Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A REEXAMINATION OF THE BIRDS IN THE CENTRAL MEXICAN CODICES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2015

Ashley E. Sharpe
Ashley E. Sharpe*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Turlington Hall, Room 1112, PO Box 117305, Gainesville, Florida 32611
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Eduard Seler's 1909 analysis of the various birds and their associated symbolism in the Mexican codices is one of the most thorough undertakings of its kind; however, although numerous revelations have been made in the realm of codex research over the past century, no comprehensive attempt has been undergone to revise Seler's initial identifications. The present study reviews the major bird species from Seler's original essay. Seven codices from the Borgia and Aztec Groups are assessed, so as to compare species traits and symbolic representations between both regions. The study incorporates recent research on the central Mexican codices, symbolism, myths, and ethnohistoric accounts, in addition to discoveries made over the last century in the fields of ornithology and zooarchaeology, in order to revise the identifications made in Seler's original work and to create a more comprehensive review of the roles each of these birds played in ancient Mexican mythology.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , Fall 2014 , pp. 317 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aguilera, Carmen 1997 Of Royal Mantles and Blue Turquoise: The Meaning of the Mexica Emperor's Mantle. Latin American Antiquity 8:3–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Álvarez, Ticul, and Ocaña, Aurelio 1991 Restos óseos de vertebrados terrestres de las ofrendad del Templo Mayor, ciudad de México. In La fauna en el Templo Mayor, México, edited by Polaco, Oscar J., pp. 105–147. Amigos del Templo Mayor-Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Álvarez, Ticul and Ocaña, Aurelio 1999 Sinopsis de restos arqueozoológicos de vertebrados terrestres basada en informes del Laboratorio de Paleozoología del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Colección Científica 386. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Álvarez, Graciela Gomez, Solano, Carlos Teutli, Reyes Gomez, Sabel R., and Azúa, Raúl Valadez 2005 Pájaros y otras aves utilizados como animales de ornato y compañía. Revista Asociación Mexicana de Médicos Veterinarios Especialistas en Pequeñas Especies (AMMVEPE) 16:129–139.Google Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia R. 1981 Indian Clothing Before Cortes: Mesoamerican Costumes from the Codices. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia R. 1997 A Comparative Analysis of the Costumes and Accoutrements of the Codex Mendoza. In The Essential Codex Mendoza, Vol. 1, edited by Berdan, Frances F. and Anawalt, Patricia R., pp. 103–150. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1991 Códice Borbónico. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1992 Códice Zouche-Nuttall. Crónica Mixteca: El rey 8 Venado, Garra de Jaguar, y la dinastía de Teozacualco-Zaachila: libro explicativo del llamado Códice Zouche-Nuttall. Ms. 39671 British Museum and the Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt, London and Graz.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1993 Códice Vaticano B. 3773. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1994a Códice Fejérváry-Mayer. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1994b Códice Laud. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes 1997 Matrícula de Tributos, o, Códice de Moctezuma: Manuscrito 35–52, Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología del INAH, México. Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt and the Fondo de Cultura Económica, Graz and Mexico City.Google Scholar
Benson, Elizabeth P. 1989 In Love and War: Hummingbird Lore. In In Love and War: Hummingbird Lore and Other Selected Papers from LAILA/ALILA's 1988 Symposium, edited by Preuss, Mary H. pp. 3–8. Labyrinthos, Culver City.Google Scholar
Benson, Elizabeth P. 1997 Birds and Beasts of Ancient Latin America. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F., and Anawalt, Patricia R. (editors) 1997a The Essential Codex Mendoza, Vol. 1. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F., and Anawalt, Patricia R. (editors) 1997b The Essential Codex Mendoza, Vol. 4: Pictorial Parallel Image Replicas of Codex Mendoza. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Berlin, Heinrich 1947 Fragmentos desconocidos del Códice de Yanhuitlán y otras investigaciones Mixtecas. Porrúa, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 1989 Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 79:1–107.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 2000 Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 2007 Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate. Joe, R. and Lozano, Teresa Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill, and Mignolo, Walter D. (editors) 1994 Writing without Words: Alternative Literacies in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Duke University Press, Durham.Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria R. 1991 Faunal Offerings in the Dresden Codex. In Sixth Palenque Round Table, 1986, edited by Robertson, Merle Greene and Fields, Virginia M., pp. 285–292. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 1998 Huitzilopochtli's Conquest: Aztec Ideology in the Archaeological Record. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8:3–13.Google Scholar
Byland, Bruce E. 1993 Introduction and Commentary. In The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript, edited by Diaz, Gisele and Rodgers, Alan, pp. xiii–xxxii. Dover Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Camacho-Escobar, Marco Antonio, Jiménez-Hidalgo, Eduardo, Arroyo-Ledezma, Jaime, Sánchez-Bernal, Edgar I., and Pérez-Lara, Elizabeth 2011 Historia natural, domesticación, y distribución del Guajolote (Meleagris gallopavo) en México. Revista Universidad y Ciencia 27:351–360.Google Scholar
Chavero, Alfredo 1964 Explicación del Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Reprint. Originally published in 1892, Artes de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo 2010 Of Birds and Insects: The Hummingbird Myth in Ancient Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica 21:45–61.Google Scholar
Colas, Pierre R. 2006 The Hunting Scenes in the Madrid Codex: A Planner for Hunting Rituals. In Sacred Books, Sacred Languages: Two Thousand Years of Ritual and Religious Maya Literature, edited by Rivera, Rogelio Valencia and Le Fort, Geneviève, pp. 81–92. Acta Mesoamerica No. 10, Verlag Anton Saurwein, Markt Schawaben.Google Scholar
Corona Martínez, Eduardo 2002 Las aves en la historia natural Novohispana. Colección Científica 441. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Corona Martínez, Eduardo 2013 Birds of the Prehispanic Domestic Spheres of Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals, edited by Götz, Chistopher and Emery, Kitty F., pp. 79–94. Lockwood Press, Georgia and Open Context, Alexandria Digital Archives.Google Scholar
Cortés, Hernán 2011 Cartas de relación. Editorial Linkgua USA. Electronic document, http://www.linkgua.com, accessed February 3, 2013.Google Scholar
Creel, Darrell, and McKusick, Charmion 1994 Prehistoric Macaws and Parrots in the Mimbres Area, New Mexico. American Antiquity 59:510–524.Google Scholar
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal 2011 Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Editorial Linkgua USA. Electronic document, http://www.linkgua.com, accessed February 3, 2013.Google Scholar
Díaz, Gisele, and Rodgers, Alan 1993 The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript. Dover Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Edwards, Ernest P. 1998 A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas. 3rd ed.University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Fernandez, Adela 1992 Dioses prehispanicos de Mexico. Panorama Editorial, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Gallardo, María de Lourdes 2000 Cráneos de colibrí de la ofrenda 100. In Casos de conservación y restauración en el Museo del Templo Mayor, edited by Marín Benito, María E., pp. 141–155. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Giasson, Patrice 2009 Tlazolteotl, deidad del abono, una propuesta. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 32:135–157.Google Scholar
Haemig, Paul D. 1978 Aztec Emperor Auitzotl and the Great-Tailed Grackle. Biotropica 10:11–17.Google Scholar
Hernández, F. 1888 [1615] Quatros libros de la naturaleza y virtudes medicinales de las plantas y animales de la Nueva España. Escuela de Artes, Morelia.Google Scholar
Howell, Steve N. G., and Webb, Sophie 1995 A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Jansen, Maarten E. R. G. N., and Pérez Jiménez, Gabina A. 2005 Codex Bodley: A Painted Chronicle from the Mixtec Highlands, Mexico. Treasures from the Bodleian Library. Bodleian Library, Oxford.Google Scholar
Kendall, Jonathan 1992 Thirteen Volatiles Representation and Symbolism. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 22:99–131.Google Scholar
López de Gómara, Francisco 1890 [1826] Historia de las conquistas de Hernando Cortés. Impr. de la testamentaría de Ontiveros, 1826, Mexico City.Google Scholar
López Luján, Leonardo 1994 The Offerings of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
López Luján, Leonardo, Balderas, Ximena Chávez, Zúñiga-Arellano, Belem, Molina, Alejandra Aguirre, and Maldonado, Norma Valentín 2012 Un portal al inframundo: Ofrendas de animales sepultadas al pie del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 44:9–40.Google Scholar
MacLaury, Robert E. 1997 Color and Cognition in Mesoamerica: Constructing Categories as Vantages. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce, and Flannery, Kent V. 1994 Ancient Zapotec Ritual and Religion: An Application of the Direct Historical Approach. In The Ancient Mind, edited by Renfrew, Colin, pp. 55–74. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo 1985 Archaeology and Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 53:797–813.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1995 Gender and Roles of Lunar Deities in Postclassic Central Mexico and their Correlations with the Maya area. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 39:45–93.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 2002 The Planet of Kings: Jupiter in Maya Cosmology. In Heart of Creation: The Mesoamerican World and the Legacy of Linda Schele, edited by Stone, Andrea J.pp. 118–142. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 2013 Heaven and Earth in Ancient Mexico: Astronomy and Seasonal Cycles in the Codex Borgia. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur G. 1973 The Mural Painting of Teotihuacan. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur G. 1974 West and East in Maya Thought: Death and Rebirth at Palenque and Tulum. In First Palenque Round Table, 1974, edited by Robertson, Merle Green, pp. 45–49. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Mohar Betancourt, Luz María 1987 El tributo méxica en el siglo XVI: Análisis de dos fuentes pictográficas. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Nicholson, Henry B. 1971 Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, Part 1, edited by Ekholm, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 395–446. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 10, Gordon R. Wauchope, general editor, University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Nicholson, Henry B., and Keber, Eloise Quiñones (editors) 1994 Mixteca-Puebla: Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology. Labyrinthos, Culver City.Google Scholar
Peterson, Amy A., and Peterson, A. Townsend 1992 Aztec Exploitation of Cloud Forests: Tributes of Liquidambar Resin and Quetzal Feathers. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 2:165–173.Google Scholar
Peterson, Roger T., and Chalif, Edward L. 1973 A Field Guide to Mexican Birds: The Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin, New York.Google Scholar
Pitter, Elin, and Christiansen, Mette Bohn 1997 Behavior of Individuals and Social Interactions of the Red-Fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys in the Wild during the Midday Rest. Ornitologia Neotropical 8:133–143.Google Scholar
Quiñones Keber, Eloise 1995 Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Ramírez, Osiris Quezada, Maldonado, Norma Valentín, and Echevarría, Amaranta Arguelles 2010 Taxidermia y cautiverio de águilas en Tenochtitlan. Arqueología Mexicana 105:18–23.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Bernardino 1963 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Book 11: Earthly Things. Translated and edited by Dibble, Charles E. and Anderson, Arthur J. O.. New Mexico Monographs No. 14, Part 7. School of American Research Press and the University of Utah Press, Santa Fe and Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Bernardino 1997 Primeros Memoriales: Paleography of Nahuatl Text and English Translation. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Bernardino 2001 Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España, edited by Temprano, Juan Carlos. Crónicas de América. Dastin, Madrid.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Bernardino 2002 The Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Translated and edited by Anderson, Arthur J. O. and Dibble, Charles E.. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Sánchez Vázquez, Sergio 2009 Iconografía de las aves de los cuatro rumbos en códices del grupo Borgia. In Iconografía Mexicana IX y X: flora y fauna, edited by Ahuatzin, Beatriz Barba and Padilla, Alicia Blanco, pp. 165–179. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Saunders, Nicholas J. 1994 Predators of Culture: Jaguar Symbolism and Mesoamerican Elites. World Archaeology 26:104–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1901 The Tonalamatl of the Aubin Collection: An Old Mexican Picture Manuscript in the Paris National Library (Manuscrits Mexicains No. 18–19). Translated by Keane, Augustus Henry. Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ltd., Berlin.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1963 Comentarios al Códice Borgia, Vols. I–III. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1996 The Animal Pictures of the Mexican and Maya Manuscripts. In Collected Works in Mesoamerican Linguistics and Archaeology, Vol. V, edited by Comparato, Frank E., Thompson, J. Eric S., and Richardson, Francis B., pp. 167–340. Labyrinthos, Lancaster.Google Scholar
Smith, Mary Elizabeth 1973 Picture Writing from Ancient Southern Mexico: Mixtec Place Signs and Maps. The Civilization of the American Indian Series, Vol. 124. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Somerville, Andrew D., Nelson, Ben A., and Knudson, Kelly J. 2010 Isotopic Investigation of Pre-Hispanic Macaw Breeding in Northwest Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 29:125–135.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A., and Bade, Bonnie L. 1991 An Appearance of Xuihtecuhtli in the Dresden Venus Pages. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 35:13–24.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred M., and Allen, Glover M. 1910 Animal Figures in the Maya Codices. Peabody Museum Papers, Vol. 4, No. 3. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Tudela de la Orden, Jose 1980 Códice Tudela. Ediciones Cultura Hispánica de Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, Madrid.Google Scholar
Vail, Gabrielle 1997 The Deer-Trapping Almanacs in the Madrid Codex. In Papers on the Madrid Codex, edited by Bricker, Victoria R. and Vail, Gabrielle, pp. 73–110. Middle American Research Institute, Publication No. 64. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Valentín Maldonado, Norma, and Parrodi, María de Lourdes Gallardo 2006 Los colibríes ofrendados a Huitzilopochtli en el Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan. Actualidades Arqueológicas 5:30–39.Google Scholar
von Nagy, Christopher 1997 Some Comments on the Madrid Deer-Hunting Almanacs. In Papers on the Madrid Codex, edited by Bricker, Victoria R. and Vail, Gabrielle, pp. 27–71. Middle American Research Institute, Publication No. 64. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Wolf, Joseph 1856 Cotinga amabilis. In Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part 24, pp. 24–25. The Zoological Society of London, Hanover.Google Scholar
Woolley, Chris, and Milbrath, Susan 2011 “Real-Time” Climate Events in the Borgia-Group Codices: Testing Assumptions about the Calendar. Ancient Mesoamerica 22:37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar