Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T20:38:15.724Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aztec Knotted and Netted Capes

Colonial interpretations vs. indigenous primary data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Patricia Rieff Anawalt
Patricia Rieff Anawalt
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Regional Dress, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Box 951549, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The past two decades of research and debate in anthropology have shown how ethnocentric perspectives in methodology and interpretation have led to misinterpretations in ethnography and archaeology. This article contrasts Western and indigenous perceptions of ritual attire that marked the role and status of Aztec rulers and deities. Stimulated by inconsistent Spanish colonial descriptions of the emperors' xiuhtlalpilli “blue-knotted” cloaks, the study compares all of the relevant Nahuatl terms, contexts, and native-drawn images and analyzes these in the light of linguistic, technological, social, archaeological, pictorial, iconographic, textual, and ethnographic evidence. This contextual analysis of the primary data reveals the nature of Spanish misperceptions and the true structure of the indigenous clothing-symbol system. While Spanish chronicles are easily accessible and thus more heavily utilized, this study makes the point that only systematic assessment of Nahuatl terms, indigenous images, and contexts are fully dependable. Reliance on the native perspective and evidence allows new insights into pre-Hispanic categories and worldviews.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , Fall 1996 , pp. 187 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Acosta, Jorge R. 1956 Resumen de las exploraciones arqueológicas en Tula, Hgo., du rante las VI, VII y VIII temporadas, 1946–1950. In Anales 1954, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia VIII(37):37–115. Mexico.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R. 1957 Resumen de los informes de las exploraciones arqueológicas en Tula, Hgo., durante las IX y X temporadas 1953–1954. In Anales 1955, Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia IX(38): 119–169. Mexico.Google Scholar
Aguilera, Carmen 1992 Of Royal Mantles and Blue Turquoise. Manuscript on file, with Patricia Anawalt, Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Alvarado, Tezozomoc Fernando 1980 [1598] Crónica mexicana. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia 1981 Indian Clothing Before Cortés: Mesoamerican Costumes from the Codices. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia 1990 The Emperors' Cloak: Aztec Pomp, Toltec Circumstance. American Antiquity 55:291–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia 1993 Riddle of the Emperors' Cloak. Archaeology 46(3):30–36.Google Scholar
Anawalt, Patricia, and Berdan, Frances 1994 Textiles as History: Clothing Clues to 500 Years of Mexican Acculturation. Research and Exploration: A Scholarly Journal of the National Geographic Society 10:342–353.Google Scholar
Codex Ixtlilxochitl 1976 Codex Ixtlilxochitl: Biblioteque Nationale Paris (MS Mex.65–71). Reproduction of the manuscript in original format. Commentary by Jacqueline de Durand-Forest. Akademische Druck -u, Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria. (Originally composed sixteenth century)Google Scholar
Codex Mendoza 1992 The Codex Mendoza. 4 vols. Edited by Berdan, Frances F. and Anawalt, Patricia R.. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Davies, Nigel 1980 The Toltec Heritage: From the Fall of Tula to the Rise of Tenochtitlan. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1967 [1579–1581] Historia de los indios de Nueva Espana e islas de la tierra firme. 2 vols. Edited by Angel, María Garibay K.Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Fowler, William R., and Houston, Stephen D. 1992 Special Section: The Canek Manuscript. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, John B., and Robertson, Donald 1975 A Census of Native American Pictorial Manuscripts. In Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, pt. 3, edited by Cline, Howard F., pp. 81–252. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 14, Wauchope, Robert, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Johnson, Irmgard W. 1967 Textiles. In The Non-Ceramic Artifacts, edited by MacNeish, Richard S., Nelken-Terner, Antoinette, and Johnson, Irmgard W., pp. 189–226. The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, vol. 2, edited by Byers, Douglas S.. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Jones, Grant D. 1992 The Canek Manuscript in Ethnohistorical Perspective. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:243–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karttunen, Frances 1992 An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Kubler, George 1972 Jaguars in the Valley of Mexico. In The Cult of the Feline, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P., pp. 19–49. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Larsen, Jack Lenor 1976 The Dyer's Art: Ikat, Batik, Plangi. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Lockhart, James (editor and translator) 1993 We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. Repertorium Columbianum, vol. 1. UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
McDougall, Elsie n.d. Unpublished notes for ikat in the Western Hemisphere. On file, Archives Department, American Museum of National History, New York.Google Scholar
Mastache de Escobar, Alba Guadalupe 1975 Dos fragmentos de tejido decorados con la técnica de plangi. In Anales 1972–1973 IV:251–262. Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matrícula de Tributos 1980 Matrícula de Tributos. Museo de Antropología, Mexico. Col. 35–52: Vollstandinge Farbreprodukton de Codex in Verkleinertem Format, edited by Frances F. Berdan and Jacqueline de Durand-Forest, Akademische Druck -u, Graz, Austria (Originally composed sixteenth century).Google Scholar
Molina, Fray Alonso de 1977 Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana, y mexicana y castellana. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico. Originally published 1555 and 1571.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1971 Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by Eklholm, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 394–446. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, Wauchope, Robert, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1973 Sahagún's “Primeros memoriales,” Tepepulco. In Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, pt. 2, edited by Cline, Howard F. and Glass, John B., pp. 207–218. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 13, Wauchope, Robert, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1976 Preclassic Mesoamerican Iconography from the Perspective of the Postclassic: Problems in Interpretational Analysis. In Origins of Religious Art and Iconography in Preclassic Mesoamerica, edited by Nicholson, H.B., pp. 157–175. Latin American Studies Series Vol. 31. University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1978 Western Mesoamerica: A.D. 900–1520. In Chronologies in New World Archaeology, edited by Taylor, R.E. and Meighan, Clement W., pp. 285–329. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Peers, José V. Barragán, Vinyals, Francesco A., and Mora, Jorge Arturo (editors) 1960 Cassel's Spanish Dictionary: Spanish-English, English-Spanish. Funk & Wagnalls, New York.Google Scholar
Primeros memoriales 1993 Primeros memoriales by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. Facsimile ed. Photographed by Anders, Ferdinand. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1950–1982 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Translated and edited by Anderson, Arthur J. O. and Dibble, Charles E.. Mongraphs of the School of American Research 14, pts. 1–13. School of American Research and University of Utah Press, Santa Fe Originally written 1577 or 1578–1580.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1979 Códice Florentine: El manuscrito 218–20 de la Colección Palatina de la Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Edita en facsimil. 3 vols. Guinti Barbera, Florence. Originally written 1575–1577 or 1578–1580.Google Scholar
Santamaría, Francisco J. 1974 Diccionario de mejicanismos. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Siméon, Rémi 1963 [1885] Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine. Academische Druck -u, Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Thelma D. (translator) 1997 Primeros memoriales by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. University of Oklahoma Press, Tulsa, in press.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A. 1992 The Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Cult of Sacred War at Teotihuacan. Res 22:53–47.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A. 1996 The Rainmakers: The Olmec and Their Contribution to Mesoamerican Belief and Ritual. In The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, pp. 83–103, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Tovar, Juan de 1972 [1585] Manuscrit Tovar: Origines et croyances des indiens du Mexique. Edited by Lafaye, Jacques. Akademische Druck -u, Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria.Google Scholar
Turok, Marta 1996 Xiuhquilitl, nocheztli y tixinda. Arqueología Mexicona III(17):26–33.Google Scholar
Vega, Sosa Constanza (editor) 1991 Códice Azoyú l: El reino de Tlachinollan. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico.Google Scholar
von Winning, 1968 Der Netzjaguar in Teotihuacan, Mexico: eine ikonographische Untersuchung Baessler-Archiv. Neue Folge 16:31–46.Google Scholar
Wada, Yoshiko, Rice, Mary Kellogg, and Barton, Jane 1983 Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing. Kodansha International, Tokyo.Google Scholar