A different kind of bird

[Michael Smith]

With the level of interest and expertise on Mesoamerican birds on this list, perhaps someone out there has suggestions concerning the "Calixtlahuaca bird." This is an emblem of a bird depicted on a number of stone reliefs found at Calixtlahuaca (Toluca Valley, Postclassic period) by José García Payón in the 1930s. These are part of the corpus of local reliefs, distinct from the better known corpus of Mexica-style sculptures at the site. One of Emily Umberger's drawings of the bird is found on an early entry in our project blog:

 

http://calixtlahuaca.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-was-ancient-name-of-city.html

 

The various versions of the bird are quite similar. Some stand alone, while others are depicted on the shield of a warrior. I have wondered if this could be a depiction of the name of the ancient city, or perhaps the name of the dynasty or a ruler. There are a few modern towns called "Totoltepec" just north of Calixtlahuaca, but nothing links this suggestive toponym to the modern village of Calixtlahuaca or to the archaeological site. One interpretive  difficulty is that four languages were spoken in the vicinity in Postclassic times: Nahuatl, Otomi, Mazahua, and Matlatzinca. My guess is that speakers of all four lived at the Postclassic city, but that the founders (ca. 1100 AD) and perhaps dynasty were more likely speakers of one of the non-Nahuatl languages.

 

My father-in-law, a biologist with field experience in Mexico, identified this bird as possibly a flying turkey.

 

So, any ideas out there on the identification of this bird, or its possible significance in reliefs at Calixtlahuaca? Or perhaps updated information on the linguistic prehistory of the Toluca Valley that might help us figure out the language of the site?

(For the latter, I rely mostly on: García Castro, René 1999 Indios, territorio y poder en la provincia matlatzinca: la negociación del espacio político de los pueblos otomianos, siglos XV-XII. CIESAS, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, and El Colegio Mexiquense, Mexico City and Toluca.

 

Some context on the sculptures can be found in: 

 

Umberger, Emily

2007   Historia del arte e Imperio Azteca: la evidencia de las esculturas. Revista Española de Antropología Americana 37:165-202.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/Calix/Documents/Umberger-07-REAA.pdf

 

thanks,

 

Mike

 

Dr. Michael E. Smith

Professor of Anthropology

School of Human Evolution & Social Change

Arizona State University

www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/

 

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