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254 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 64 June 20, 1946 The Tamiahua Codices R. H. Barlow 2 abound in drawings of native gods, Tlazolteotl, Ehecatl, Tlaloc (near the fork of the Y, Map 2), and cult objects (pantli and tzompantli), whereas Map 3 features Christian churches. These pagan gods, known to be associated with the Huaxteca, together with the nose plugs, shields, and expertly stylized hieroglyphs, incline me to accept the maps as authentic copies of some (to me) unknown originals, which a nineteenth-century student intended to publish, or perhaps actually did publish. If they are fakes, they are brilliant fakes. What is decipherable in them makes sense. Map 1 seems to hint at a local peregrination, at a date when Three lithographed maps, tinted in bright watercolor , were given me for publication in 1944 by Sr. Guillermo Echaniz, who retained duplicates. Another collection was shown me later by Sr. Pompa y Pompa, in the library of the Alzate Society. Obviously intended for publication in the nineteenth century, they bear no identification other than the phrases “Tip. y lit. Correo Mayor 410, Mex.,” “Lam. 2” and “Lamina 3a,” the remaining map obviously representing Lamina 1. Each drawing measures 28.5 by 36 cm, exclusive of the legends. Though abounding in hieroglyphics, only the third bears inscriptions in the Roman alphabet. This identifiessuchtownasTamiahua(ChamiaguaVieja?), Tamapach (anciently Tamapatsco, now Temapache) and Tepecintlan (Tepetzintla), all of which lie to the north of Tuxpan, Veracruz. Other place names (Guauchinango, Pantepetl) may be located east of Tuxpan, so it is clear that Lamina 3, at least, refers to the Huaxteca Veracruzana. I have called the group the “Tamiahua Codices” for leak of any precedent. Sr. Pompa y Pompa accurately observed that all three maps seem to refer to the same place, perhaps in different periods. This is supported by the presence of the same shoreline featuring a promontory between two rivers, the northernmost or righthand one shaped like a Y, in all three maps. One likewise observes that in Maps 2 and 3 the southern bank of the left-hand river bears the hieroglyph of Tlazolteotl; and that the roads leading inland begin at a place bearing an animal name and end at another somewhat resembling the first. Maps 1 and 64.1. Tamiahua codex. The Tamiahua Codices 255 there were few settlements in the area. Perhaps the dot numbers 3, 4, 7, and 13 Tecpatl explain the tribal sojourn at various points. The itinerary seems to lead south from the land between the rivers, during wartime (cf. shield and arrow symbols). Map 2 is the most complex and handsome, presenting half a hundred place names for future decipherment, and showing no trace of European influence as yet. Map 3 is the usual story of a collapsing graphic tradition depicting colonial events. From the northern Veracruz area we have little similar material. The codex of Huachinango, found in a box in a ruined city during the French intervention and published by Zelia Nuttall in Man a quarter of a century ago, is the only specimen that occurs to me. EScuEla nacional DE anTropologia mExico, D.F. 64.2. Tamiahua codex. 64.3. Tamiahua codex. ...

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