Did you know that one of the highest, most elegant and sumptuous arts of pre-Conquest Mexico was arteplumaria, the art of feather painting? Used to decorate headdresses, standards, staffs, lances, fans, bracelets, and sandals, arteplumaria was also employed to cover every one of the pre-Cortez ceremonial shields ever recovered or recorded. This rare type of ornamentation was […]
Continue ReadingMexico is a country of color, diversity, grand differences in geography, climate and perspective. The same is true of her people. From the mysterious origins and fates of her earliest inhabitants; the current indigenous peoples; to the history and influence of immigrants from Spain and other areas of the world, Mexico has developed an intricate […]
Continue ReadingThe pre-Hispanic history of Mexico is contained in the numerous pictorial codices or painted hieroglyphic books produced by the Aztecs, the Maya, the Mixtecs, and others. Unfortunately, very few pre-Conquest codices survived the Spanish Conquest and the destruction of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521. Of course we have the early writings of the […]
Continue ReadingThe Maya, Aztecs, and other peoples of ancient Mexico had a very strong sense of their own history, which they went to great lengths to preserve. But in some ways, their concept of history differed radically from that of the invading Spaniards and later historians who wrote the history of Mexico from the European viewpoint. […]
Continue ReadingIn Part One we looked at a new interpretation of ancient Aztec literature, which, if correct, calls into question, perhaps even invalidates, much of the previous research. To recapitulate: the current controversy centres on the Cantares Mexicanos, a collection of Aztec lyric poems recorded in Classical Nahuatl around the middle of the 16th century. Two Mexican scholars, […]
Continue ReadingPerhaps no people on earth have been so maligned on the one hand and so highly praised on the other as the ancient Aztecs of Mexico-Tenochtitlán. You don’t have to be a Mesoamerican scholar to have heard of the Conquest of Mexico or the horrendous numbers of hapless victims the Aztecs apparently offered to their […]
Continue ReadingIn previous articles we looked at some Aztec lyric poems contained in the Cantares Mexicanos and other manuscript collections. The current controversy over the correct translation and interpretation of these poems in the classical Nahuatl language of Mexico-Tenochtitlán and surrounding area is an important issue in Mesoamerican studies because it calls into question the standard interpretation by […]
Continue ReadingThe Internet is an invaluable source of information but it can also be a source of misinformation and great confusion. Recently I was accused of “plagiarizing” some of my material from the Internet. Therefore I shall digress here for a moment to set the record straight. All writers expect criticism, hopefully of a constructive nature. […]
Continue ReadingIt is generally assumed that the idea of other universes is the unique product of “post-modern” thinking based on the Theory of Relativity and quantum mechanics. But the ancient Aztecs and Maya probably got there first. In Part One, we looked at the concept of previous Ages or Worlds in various civilizations around the globe, […]
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Mexican History The Aztec Calendar Stone is one of the most important monumental works of art left to us by the Aztecs. Since its discovery in what is now the main zocalo of Mexico City, it has been studied in minute detail. Much fairly accurate information about it is available to the public via the internet and […]
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