Marriage Alliance

Tlaxcalteca tecuhtli (lord) and his Totonaca wife, Tizatlan, Tlaxcallan, 1500

Tlaxcallan served as a hub of trade routes that stretched all over Mesoamerica, and just next door to Tlaxcallan was the coastal Totonacapan, the Totonaca people’s relam facing the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, the Gulf of Mexico and the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley have been inextricably linked since the 7th~12th centuries, even before the Tlaxcallan republic was established.

Their relationship, however, was far from equal. Tlaxcallan was a regional power with multiple vassal states. But the coastal Totonaca kingdoms, despite their abundance and wealth, were militarily feeble. So they had no choice but to become militarily and economically dependent on Tlaxcallan. Tlaxcallan imported marine products (conch shell, turquoise shell, sea salt, seafood) as well as luxury items (tropical feathers, gold, cotton, precious stones) for their kings, nobility, and deities. Tlaxcalteca nobles forged marrige alliances with Totonaca, and they were expected to protect them from foreign incursions, particularly the formidable Mexica. However, Tlaxcallan did not come to their rescue during Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina’s invasion of Totonacapan in 1455, despite promising to send reinforcements and even inciting them to kill the Mexica diplomats in the first place. So Totonaca and Tlaxcalteca’s relationship was complicated, full of intrigue, alliance, and betrayal.

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Tlaxcalteca tecuhtli (lord) is based on an illustration from a manuscript (the so-called 'Glasgow manuscript') of “Historia de Tlaxcala”, written by Diego Muñoz Camargo in 1585. He is wearing a ‘national headdress’ of Tlaxcallan: red-white twisted headbands with double heron-feathers (aztaxelli). What is unusual is the pattern on his cloak (tilmatli). The pattern is that of a winged insect; however, due to the crude depiction of the manuscript, it is not clear whether this is a bee (xicotli) or a butterfly (papalotl). So I drew both versions. The golden eagle labret (teocuitlaquauhtentetl) is based on extant pieces in various museum collections. He is holding the macuahuitl, an obsidian sword. I referenced the aforementioned Glasgow manuscript. Unlike a typical macuahuitl, the tip of this sword is shaped like a spear.

Next to him is a Totonaca wife. She is based on Codex Florentine and Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. The clothing of the Totonaca women is described in Codex Florentine from the perspective of the Mexica: “The women wore skirts, huipils, embroidered skirts, and embroidered huipils. They were quite elegant. (…) they were wearers of varicolored skirts, varicolored quechquemitl. Their quechquemitl were weaved like gauze. And all the commoners wore blue skirts. Their hair strands were braided with varicolored stripes of cloth wrapped with feathers. In the market place they were well bedight with flowers.”

So she wrapped her hair with a colorful cloth and braided it, and she wore a sheer gauze-weave quechquemitl and a colorful skirt. The skirt is based on Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, which some scholars believe is from the Totonacapan region. Also, I added the flowers to the head.

According to 16th century friar Bernardino de Sahagún, Totonaca's overall appearance was similar to the neighboring Huasteca. They both practiced cranial deformation and tattooing. The "tattoo" on this woman is based on various stamps from pre-Hispanic Veracruz.

Although tattooing was prevalent in Eastern Mesoamerica (Maya, Totonaca, Huasteca etc.), body-painting with stamps was much more popular due to its simplicity. In Mesoamerica, clay stamps were used to print patterns on cloth, pottery, and the human body. Some rounded stamps, ideal for printing on human limbs, can be found in museums. Colour dyes were made from charcoal and pine (black), chalk (white), cinnabar (scarlet), cochineal, indigo and other materials.

The other Tlaxcalteca nobles in the background are based on Lienzo de Tlaxcala. The lady standing in the corridor is based on the Texas Fragment, the oldest existing Tlaxcalteca codex that depicts the Spanish Conquest. She is wearing a transparent, gauze-weave huipil.

The palace’s overall structure is based on the palace of Tizatlan as depicted in the Glasgow manuscript. Tizatlan was the political center of Tlaxcallan. The archaeological studies revealed that Tizatlan had a governmental complex with a massive plaza. It was located on a hill and separated from the main residential zone, like an acropolis in ancient Greek cities.

The murals of the building are based on late Postclassic (1250-1520) murals discovered in Tizatlan and Ocotelolco (two of the four states of Tlaxcallan). The murals bear an striking resemblance to the famous 16th century ritual document known as Codex Borgia. The predominant color palette is red, yellow, blue, white, and black, which combination was used throughout Central Mexico at the time. The murals depict various deities, including Mictlantecuhtli and Tezcatlipoca.

The white heron mural on the stairwell is an 'emblem' of Tizatlan. According to Tlaxcalteca codices, all four states had their own banner. Tizatlan was an ascending heron (aztatzontli), Ocotelolco was a descending quetzal (quatzaltototl), Tepeticpac was a parasol-like banner with a deity Xolotl on top (quexolotl), and Quiyahuiztlan was a large quetzal feather crest (quetzalpatzactli).

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Sources

· Murals from Tizatlan and Ocotelolco altars, 1400~1500s

· Petroglyphs from Cuahilama, 1400~1500s

· Codex Borgia, 1500s

· Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, 1500s

· teocuitlaquauhtentetl (golden eagle lip plug), 1500s, LACMA

· Texas Fragment, 1540

· Codex Mendoza, 1542

· Bernardino de Sahagún, Codex Florentine, 1580

· Diego Muñoz Camargo, Historia de Tlaxcala (Glasgow manuscript), 1585

· Alfredo Chavero, Lithograph of Lienzo de Tlaxcala, 1892

· Loren Roberta Barton, ‘Tizatlan Altar Murals’, 1930, Brooklyn Museum

· Jorge Enciso, “Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico”, 1953

· Patricia Anawalt, ‘Costume Analysis and the Provenience of the Borgia Group Codices’, “American Antiquity”, Vol. 46, No. 4, 1981

· Ross Hassig, “Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control”, 1995

· Frances Berdan, Patricia Rieff Anawalt, “The essential Codex Mendoza”, 1997

· Scott and Stuart Gentling, “1519/The One Reed Year”, 2003

· Lane F. Fargher, Richard E. Blanton, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, ‘Egalitarian Ideology and Political Power in Prehispanic Central Mexico: The Case of Tlaxcallan’, “Latin American Antiquity”, Vol. 21, 2010

· Lane F. Fargher, Richard E. Blanton, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, John Millhauser, Nezahualcoyotl Xiutecuhtli, Lisa Overholtzer, ‘Tlaxcallan: the archaeology of an ancient republic in the New World’, “Antiquity”, Vol. 84, 2010

· Ian Mursell, 'Aztec Clay Stamps', Mexicolore, 2012

· Justyna Olko, “Insignia of Rank in the Nahua World: From the 15th to 17th Century”, 2014

· Jeremy D. Coltman, Guilhem Olivier, Gerard van Bussel, ‘An Effigy of Tezcatlipoca from the Bilimek Collection in Vienna’, “Ancient Mesoamerica”, Vol. 31, 2020

· “Arqueologia Mexicana: La Pintura Mural en Mesoamérica”, Vol. 162, 2020

· Daniel Parada, “Tlaxcala Postclassic Fashion c.1500s”, 2020

· Daniel Parada, "Late Postclassic Aztec Hairstyles 1428-1521", 2020

· Lane F. Fargher, Richard E. Blanton, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, “Collective Action, Good Government, and Democracy in Tlaxcallan, Mexico: An Analysis Based on Demokratia”, 2022

· Luis Armando Alaron, “Caminos de arena y sangre. Los conflictos armados mexica-tlaxcalteca por las rutas de intercambio hacia el centro-sur de la Costa del Golfo (1454-1518)”, 2022