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INDIGENOUS COATS OF ARMS IN TÍTULOS PRIMORDIALES AND TECHIALOYAN CÓDICES: NAHUA CORPORATE HERALDRY IN THE LIENZOS DE CHIEPETLAN, GUERRERO, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2015

Gerardo Gutiérrez
Gerardo Gutiérrez*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado-Boulder, 1350 Pleasant Street, Hale 350/233 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

The introduction of European heraldry in the Americas created a special class of material culture and iconography that circulated widely on coins, paper, architecture, and textiles. More interestingly, its appropriation and use by indigenous communities has not received proper archaeological attention. In this paper I analyze the adoption of royal Spanish heraldry by Nahua political systems (altepetl) during the Colonial period, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. My primary goal is to understand the context, meaning, and social practices for three late colonial banners from eastern Guerrero—the Lienzos de Chiepetlan IV, V, and VI. I argue that these three banners can be treated as moveable pieces of a complex heraldic ensemble to form the full ornamented coat of arms of the Spanish king. These three banners permit us to compare and contrast indigenous narratives of allegiance and resistance to Spanish imperialism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , Spring 2015 , pp. 51 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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