Pictographic Documents of the Mixteca Baja in Oaxaca: Lienzo de San Vicente el Palmar, Mapa núm. 36 and Lienzo Mixteca III

Abstract

Among the ten most important pictographic documents from the Mixteca Baja, four stand out because of their similar cartographic composition: the Lienzo de San Vicente del Palmar, the Mapa núm. 36, the Lienzo Mixteco III, and the Mapa de Xochitepec.The interpretation of these documents faces one main difficulty: the absence of any clear references to their places of origin.This paper attempts to identify the origin of the first three documents. The Lienzo de San Vicente el Palmar appears to come from the kingdom of Ihualtepec, and the other two from the neighboring kingdom of Atoyac.The salty water springs used for salt production since the prehispanic period constitutes a recurrent topic in these documents.