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38-693: The Codex Bodley is an important pictographic manuscript and example of Mixtec historiography dating to circa 1500 in a variant form of the Mixteca-Puebla style of Codex writing. Its colloquial name comes from the Bodleian Library , where it's been stored since the 17th Century. It is also referred to as the "Codex Ñuu Tnoo" with Ñuu Tnoo being the Mixtec name for a city now known as Tilantongo (directly from its Nahuatl name), which translates to "Black Town-Temple of Heaven." While

76-499: A British archaeologist and Mayan expert, has suggested that the manuscript's previous owner was Bishop Jerónimo Osório of Faro, Portugal before it was looted by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and given to his friend Thomas Bodley in the sixteenth century, where it later became part of the Bodleian Library. The Bodleian Library holds four other Mesoamerican codices : Codex Laud , Codex Mendoza , Codex Selden and

114-507: A Mexican Ethnohistorian, as possibly the individual referred to by the Aztecs as Lord Malinalli (The Nahuatl word for grass) who was defeated by them in a war in 1503-1504, after which the Aztec extracted tribute from the region. Interstingly, the codex references two major sites as the supposed point of creation of the royal houses, first at Achiutla on the obverse (with a figure emerging from

152-430: A cacicazgo estate, which always included land and often a subject labor force to work it. The Indians themselves, however, saw things differently, and by late colonial times it was not unusual for all the sons and daughters of a cacique (or cacica) to adopt the title. How and why this change took place, its chronology, and what it meant for local community organization remain imperfectly understood...The late colonial setting

190-750: A concept to people who speak many different languages, pictograms have also been used extensively at the Olympics since the 1964 summer games in Tokyo featured designs by Masaru Katsumi. Later Olympic pictograms have been redesigned for each set of games. Pictographic writing as a modernist poetic technique is credited to Ezra Pound , though French surrealists credit the Pacific Northwest American Indians of Alaska who introduced writing, via totem poles , to North America . Contemporary artist Xu Bing created Book from

228-457: A fraction of an icon can be used to show the respective fraction of that amount. For example, the following table: can be graphed as follows: Key: [REDACTED] = 10 letters As the values are rounded to the nearest 5 letters, the second icon on Tuesday is the left half of the original. Pictograms can often transcend languages in that they can communicate to speakers of a number of tongues and language families equally effectively, even if

266-477: A place known as the Palace of Flints. This lineage is said to end with the burning of the bodies of Lady One Grass and her son, Lord One Eagle, after which a surviving descendant known as Lord Seven Reed marries into the line of Teozacoalco. Importantly, he does not seem to be included in the lineage as expected, implying primogeniture perhaps wasn't the primary method of succession. After this, it shifts to focusing on

304-476: A sacred tree likely at Achiutla, beginning the dynasty), and then at Apoala on the reverse, giving two seemingly contradictory locations for the origin of the noble houses. According to Friar Francisco de Burgoa, however, there were at least three different locations believed to be the origins of the Mixtec nobility, and possibly more implied by the Codex Zouche-Nuttall . Pictography In

342-420: A variety of pictograms was used to indicate facilities available at or near each station. Pictograms remain in common use today, serving as pictorial, representational signs, instructions, or statistical diagrams. Because of their graphical nature and fairly realistic style, they are widely used to indicate public toilets, or places such as airports and train stations. Because they are a concise way to communicate

380-433: Is at bottom center, above the 9-Deer glyph (photo). The obverse narrative begins on page 1, Band V, ending on page 20, Band III. The reverse, however, follows numerous other stories, and as such is far more complex. Here, the upper two bands contain notes for the text while the rest relay the story. The main narrative on the reverse begins with page 40, Band V, and proceeeds through Band V, VI, and III to page 34. Band I then

418-489: Is read from right to left on two sides; the obverse and the reverse. The obverse consists of pages 1 through 20 while the reverse starts on page 40 and finishes on page 21. The obverse ends with a genealogy and names Lord Eight Deer as the last/latest lord of the Tilantongo dynasty at the time of the codex's creation. On the reverse, Page 21 names Lord Eight Grass as being the last king of Tlaxiaco . Eight Grass's name-glyph

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456-510: Is taken to a temple, has a vision of a large snake, and gives birth nine months later. Eight Deer would continue to rule until, on a hunting expedition, he was ambushed by Four Wind, who killed him and took power. He was buried with kingly honors and, although the Toltecs invaded to get revenge, eventually decided to make a practical peace with the new king of the region, Four Wind, who would wed one of Eight Deer's daughters and establish himself as

494-418: Is the only one to supply notes. The story then is continued on page 23, continuing across Bands V-I until page 28 with no notes. The narrative splits on page 28, with Bands I and II providing notes for the story while Bands III-V continue the genealogy until page 22. The Codex Bodley offers a relatively complete review of family relationships among the dynasties of the main cacicazgos (community kingdoms) in

532-757: The GHS system . Pictograms have been popularized in use on the Internet and in software , better known as " icons " displayed on a computer screen in order to help user navigate a computer system or mobile device. Cacicazgo Cacicazgo is a phonetic Spanish transliteration (or a derivative) of the Taíno word for the lands ruled by a cacique . The Spanish colonial system recognized indigenous elites as nobles in Mexico and Peru , and other areas. Nobles could entail their estates, which were called cacicazgos on

570-522: The Selden Roll . The codex is made of deerskin that is 6.7 meters or 22 feet long. The animal skin was folded accordion style to form the distinct pages. Each page was then covered with a white base paint coat and then divided with horizontal red bands. The obverse has five bands while the reverse is only divided into four. It has traditionally been numbered based off Lord Kingsborough's facsimile of it in his Antiquities of Mexico . The condition of

608-725: The Americas before Colonization . One example of many is the Rock art of the Chumash people , part of the Native American history of California . In 2011, UNESCO's World Heritage List added " Petroglyph Complexes of the Mongolian Altai, Mongolia" to celebrate the importance of the pictograms engraved in rocks. Some scientists in the field of neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology, such as Mario Christian Meyer , are studying

646-533: The Codex Bodley before becoming part of the Bodleian Library's collection at the beginning of the 17th century is not known. Due to its description of the dynasty of Ñuu Tnoo (Now Tilantongo) on the obverse before relating the origin of another dynasty that ruled Tlaxiaco , as well as having many similarities to the Codex Selden , which is known to have come from the area, it's presumed to have come from

684-466: The Ground, a universal language made up of pictograms collected from around the world. A Book from the Ground chat program has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. In statistics, pictograms are charts in which icons represent numbers to make it more interesting and easier to understand. A key is often included to indicate what each icon represents. All icons must be of the same size, but

722-471: The Mixteca Alta region. This information is indispensable for anyone studying Mixtec kinship , policies around marital alliances, and peer polity interaction. Academic interest in the codex has focused on the Tilantongo and Tiaxiaco dynasties depicted on both sides of the manuscript, who once lived in the modern day Mexican State of Oaxaca . In 1949, the archaeologist Alfonso Caso determined that

760-643: The Red and White Bundle family (the kings of Tilantongo) and Eight Deer being ordered to go to the Pacific Coast, out of the Mixtec Highlands, and establish a kingdom until a great kingdom from Central Mexico. After he does so, he's invited by Cē Ācatl Topiltzin , King of the Toltec Empire , to receive a turquoise nose plug, a mark of kingship, and make an alliance. Meanwhile, back at Tilantongo,

798-402: The Red and White Bundle family, taking all prisoner except one man named Four Wind, the son of Six Monkey, who hides away in a cave for safety. Executing the captives but a woman named Thirteen Serpent, who he takes as a bride in order to inherit her estate, Thirteen Serpent cannot concieve of a child until, years later and after the second wife of four Eight Deer wed got pregnant, Thirteen Serpent

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836-614: The West," referring to the River of Ashes (The Nexapa River ) which was both the marker for the end of Mixtec influence as well as the realm of the fertility goddess, Old Lady One Grass. This likely had immense symbolic importance which, unfortunately, has largely been lost. After this, Eight Deer shots a coyote on the Mountain of the Temple of Heaven to, what has been interpreted as meaning, gain

874-742: The area, but this is impossible to tell definitively. Its possible that it was brought up in legal battles with the descendants of thee Tilantongo dynasty to prove their claim to nobility before being sent off to Seville , and possibly becoming part of the General Archive of the Indies , explaining its presence in Europe . This is made even more plausible due to it being known that a Mixtec individual who changed their name to Don Felipe, after Felipe of Spain , filed numerous lawsuits in an attempt to protect their territorial privilages. J. Eric Thompson ,

912-537: The exact date of its creation is difficult to establish, judging from its content and style, it was completed before the 1521 Spanish conquest of Mexico however likely after the year 1500 due to the Mixtec lord Eight Deer being noted in the manuscript as being the dynasty's latest descendant, who is mentioned as the lord of Tilantogo during the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. As such, it's unlikely that his rule could have come any earlier than 1500. The history of

950-544: The field of prehistoric art , the term "pictograph" has a different definition, and specifically refers to art painted on rock surfaces. Pictographs are contrasted with petroglyphs , which are carved or incised. Early written symbols were based on pictograms (pictures which resemble what they signify) and ideograms (symbols which represent ideas). Ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, and Chinese civilizations began to adapt such symbols to represent concepts, developing them into logographic writing systems . Pictograms are still in use as

988-518: The genealogies of numerous families that, at times, were in direct conflict with one-another. The figure of Eight Deer is likely a metaphor for the greatness the polity of Tilantongo could reach, as evident from his many misadventures. After setting out on a daring quest, he challenges and beats the Sun God and Venus God to a ball game, "conquering" both and earning their favor, as well as a stone that carried what's referred to as the, "precious power of

1026-544: The king of the region. The reverse side of the codex follows the house of Red and White Bundle, the rivals of Eight Deer, and depicts things from their point of view. In the aftermath of the War of Heaven, before relating the last Red and White Bundle lord, Lord Eleven Wind married Lady Six Monkey, enraging Eight Deer who goes on to seize power of Tilantongo, killing off the Red and White Bundle family except for Four Wind. The genealogy then follows Four Wind and his descendants at

1064-441: The languages and cultures are completely different. This is why road signs and similar pictographic material are often applied as global standards expected to be understood by nearly all. A standard set of pictograms was defined in the international standard ISO 7001 : Public Information Symbols . Other common sets of pictographs are the laundry symbols used on clothing tags and the chemical hazard symbols as standardized by

1102-418: The lords of Tlaxiaco, how Lord Seven Reed lost his kingdom to someone known as Lord Eight Jaguar, and his descendants' later rule over several different localities in the region. The rest of the codex proceeds to follow the familial lines of the houses before ending with Lord Eight Grass on Page 21 (due to Kingsborough's confusing numbering). This Lord Eight Grass has been identified by Igberto Jiménez Moreno ,

1140-525: The main medium of written communication in some non-literate cultures in Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. Pictograms are often used as simple, pictorial, representational symbols by most contemporary cultures. Pictograms can be considered an art form, or can be considered a written language and are designated as such in Pre-Columbian art , Native American art , Ancient Mesopotamia and Painting in

1178-572: The model of Spanish entailed estates, or mayorazgos . This term is found in contexts such as " la princesa de Cofachiqui , señora de un cacigazgo indígena " or, for example: "In November of 1493, the island of Boriquén had approximately 20 cacigazgos." According to Spanish chronicles, the cacique was at the apex of the Taíno feudal structure. Bartolomé de las Casas refers to these cacigazgos as kingdoms. Many individual cacicazgos have been studied in colonial Mexico , showing that entailment

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1216-479: The nineteenth century. Conflicts over inheritance were common, and the litigants' arguments found in these cases form the basis for understanding some of the dynamics of the institution. Over time, the concept of cacique shifted, with some women attaining the title of cacica . Cacicazgo likewise underwent some transformation during the colonial era in Mexico. "By law, a cacique was a single heir and possessor of

1254-472: The original codex has faded over time with many of the pages missing parts of the pictography, however Kinsborough's facsimiles were possibly made before such degradation, with the artist, Agostino Aglio using now faded colors of green and yellow which have, on the original, now faded to ocher or brown. This, however, could also be attributed to Agostino's being well-antiquated to such works due to his, by then, extensive work transcribing codices. The manuscript

1292-447: The power needed to visit someone known as Lady Nine Grass in the Temple of Death, an ancient burial tomb which one usually must surrender their souls to enter. Entering with what's presumed to be his lover, Lady Six Monkey, they gain entrance by being granted an old bone, which allows them to enter unharmed where they request to be married, though were refused by Lady Nine Grass, with Lady Six Monkey being ordered to marry Lord Eleven Wind of

1330-447: The purpose of the genealogy was to calculate the line of descent for Tilantogo, and its relations to Teozacoalco (a still-occupied local) following a creation story after an event known as the "War of Heaven," as well as the saga of an individual known as Eight Deer, who is likely used to show the supposedly great future awaiting Tilantongo. Despite this, however, it's difficult to link the codex with any particular polity due to it listing

1368-462: The symbolic meaning of indigenous pictographs and petroglyphs, aiming to create new ways of communication between native people and modern scientists to safeguard and valorize their cultural diversity. An early modern example of the extensive use of pictograms may be seen in the map in the London suburban timetables of the London and North Eastern Railway, 1936–1947, designed by George Dow , in which

1406-410: The young adult Lord 2 Rain 'Twenty Jaguars,' as the text writes, went on a spiritual journey but failed to return, dying (at least physically) and leaving the kingdom without a leader and letting Eight Deer to come in, murder his half brother, and claim the throne for himself. Now king, he blames the murder on two sons of his half sister, and, exactly 365 days after the death of his half brother, attacks

1444-494: Was a successful means to preserve noble indigenous resources as the situation for commoners declined. There are cases where Spaniards married into cacique families, thereby giving them access to indigenous resources. In the Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico , a whole section of records, called Vínculos , is devoted to individual noble entailments. A collection of them was published in 1961. Cacicazgos survived into

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