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“REAL-TIME” CLIMATE EVENTS IN THE BORGIA-GROUP CODICES: TESTING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE CALENDAR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

Chris Woolley  and
Susan Milbrath
Chris Woolley
Affiliation:
History Department, University of Florida, PO Box 117320, Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7320
Susan Milbrath*
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 110 Dickinson Hall, Museum Road & Newell Drive Gainesville, Florida, 32611
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the past decade, a number of prominent scholars have attempted to use astronomical data to place the images on page 27 of the Codex Borgia in “real-time.” This method has yielded some interesting results, but all of these authors have assumed that the Codex Borgia was produced in accordance with the Aztec calendar. Given the probable origin of the Codex Borgia in the area bordering the Mixtec and eastern Nahua cultural areas, this assumption needs to be tested. This article compares weather-related images that have associated dates on Borgia 27–28 with tree-ring data and estimated maize yields from the Puebla area. Our research for this paper seems to confirm the use of the Aztec calendar in the Codex Borgia. By analyzing depictions of weather phenomenon relating to maize production, we also offer a fresh analysis of this well-known document, specifically arguing that a major drought is shown in a 1 Rabbit year, whereas the year 1 Flint is linked with a period of dryness following heavy rains, a condition sometimes linked with locust swarms like those on Borgia 27.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , Spring 2011 , pp. 37 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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