224 UNIT 2 COLONIAL MESOAMERICA
Figure 6.1 This Classic Mayan relief
sculpture, carved at the ancient city of
Palenque in A.D. 722, shows the apotheosis,
or transformation into a deity, of Kan-Xul, a
ruler of Palenque. Kan-Xul is depicted
dancing his way out of the underworld to
join his mother and father in the heavens.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and
Collections, Washington, D.C.Each codex has a name derived from its location, discoverer or former owner, place
of origin, or some other criterion.
The codices were constructed of paper made from the bark of a type of fig tree,
or of deer hide. The paper or leather was coated on both sides with a layer of gesso
or plaster of paris. This provided a smooth, white surface on which to paint. Each
codex consisted of a single long, rectangular strip, made by attaching together nu-
merous pieces of paper or hide. This strip, called a “tira,” was painted on both sides
and then was either rolled up like a scroll or, more frequently, folded up accordion-
style into a type of book known as a screenfold. A cover made of wood or leather
protected the book.
The fifteen preconquest codices divide into three groups based on their style
and area of origin. Five of them comprise what is known as the Borgia Group, named
after its largest and most beautifully executed member, the Codex Borgia.These codices
come from somewhere in central Mexico, probably to the south and east of the Mex-
ico City area and very likely a Nahuatl-speaking region. They date to shortly before
the Spanish invasion. All of them are screenfold books of ritual and divinatory char-
acter. Their content focuses on the 260-day ritual calendar, its use in prognostica-