Mexicolore

‘In traditional #Mesoamerican thought, the night was widely regarded with a certain amount of dread and fear...' Learn more about what the night meant to the #Mexica and the ancient #Maya here - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/gods… Illustration by Felipe Dávalos

Meet just some of the primary schools in England that have received hand drawn #Mesoamerican codex pages painted by modern scribe Dinorah Lejarazú - part of our story of 'El uso de códices mesoamericanos en la educación primaria en Inglaterra' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ…

#Aztec limerick no. 98 (ode to #Mexica scribes):- Writing was called ‘black and red’, A proud #Toltec art, it was said. The black meant the lines, The red meant the signs. And the meaning? That was all in the head… mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ… Illustration by Phil Mursell/@Mexicolore

Help kickstart 'El Quinto Sol' - an excellent new ‘cosmological map of ancient #Mesoamerica hidden within a deck of playing cards’.... kickstarter.com/projects/the…

The 5 famous ancient #Maya lintels from Yaxchilan, Mexico, aren't displayed in the British Museum how they were originally made to be seen. Read a major article generously written for #Mexicolore by Professor Claudia Brittenham... mexicolore.co.uk/maya/home/t…

The #Codex Azcatitlan, an early 16th century #Aztec manuscript, has gone on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, after 186 years abroad (in France). Shown here: #Mexica #tlatoani Axayacatl, on a throne covered in jaguar skin... bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck98…

First #Nahua depiction of the sighting (note 2 eyes, centre!) of Spanish galleons off Mexico in 1518 - the year Moctezuma's #Aztec/#Mexica merchants spied Juan de Grijalba’s expedition off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Image from the Codex en Cruz. mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/span…

Go and see 'Hold to This Earth', major exhibition of Native North American art at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park . The Indigenous artists represent 35 tribal nations. Here: #Tonantzin by Rose B. Simpson, inspired by the #Mexica/#Aztec goddess 'Our Mother' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/insp…

Myth: #Mexica/#Aztec/#Maya warriors blew Whistles as Weapons in War ('WWW'). Fact: there is ZERO evidence for this. Yes, they were used for signalling, and as toys, rhythm markers, hunting decoys, in household shrines, etc. We examine the 'evidence' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/musi…

What role does the descending hummingbird play here?To Eva Hunt it 'descends over the lips of a pregnant woman, symbolising her death in labour’. To Gordon Brotherston however the woman 'is kissed by the golden hummingbird that eases labour pains’... More: mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ…

To mark #Mexico's 3,000 year old relationship with ballgames, #INAH has launched a new exhibition '#Tlachtli. Spaces of the Sacred Game' plus a documentary. artdaily.cc/news/197772/New-…. And the Mexicolore website is 25 years old this month! mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/

So what would YOU choose as the 'most memorable moment in #Aztec history'? Great question from a 10-year-old in a #Mexicolore workshop. Our Panel of Experts chose: the formation of the Triple Alliance, arrival in Lake Texcoco, the invasion and LOTS more... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home…

Guess when the current #Aztec/#Mexica 52-year Calendar Round ends? 2027! There've been 10 since 1507 (last before Spanish invasion). In #Nahuatl it was called a 'xiuhmolpilli' or 'bundle of reeds[years]'. New for kids: Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC CALENDAR' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/kids…

We have picture and text evidence for the #Mexica / #Aztec eating 'packed lunches', from the Codex Boturini. The modern Mexican Spanish word 'itacate' comes from the #Nahuatl 'ihtácatl'... Learn more here - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte…

Did you know #Nahuatl, the lingua franca of the #Mexica/#Aztec empire, gave names to 3 countries - Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua? Nahuatl is spoken by nearly 2 million people today, in 15 Mexican states. Learn more about these and other fun facts here - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/lang…

The original Mexican 'papel picado' (paper streamers)? The figures represent the animating principle or ‘heart-soul’ of ancient fertility deities; hung from vines in #Nahua communities today, they continue to play a key role in religious ceremonies... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/arte…

How did the #Mexica/#Aztecs show romance? By offering each other gifts (here, he's giving her a quetzal or parrot, she him a ritual rubber ball with precious feather attached); and they flirted during dance classes in the 'Cuicacalli' in the evenings...! mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-…

Most #Mesoamerican (#Aztec/#Mexica, #Maya, #Mixtec...) families lived in ‘multi-generational’ or extended family compounds - where ‘aunts and uncles, grandparents, and other family members played a very important role in the raising of children’... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home…

So you thought war was an all-male domain for the #Mexica / #Aztecs? Think again...! Image: Two Mexica female warriors fight alongside male comrades in the war against Coyoacan; Tovar Manuscript. Read more - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte…

'The balanced composition of this image and the symmetry in the presence and number of men and women reveal the parallel and complementary organising principles of indigenous [#Mexica/#Aztec/#Nahua] social and gender relations' mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte… Pic: Florentine Codex Bk II