The Historical Profile of Kukulcan Jansen, M.E.R.G.N.; van Broekhoven, L.N.K.; Valencia Rivera, R.; Vis, B.; Sachse, F.
Citation Jansen, M. E. R. G. N. (2010). The Historical Profile of Kukulcan. Acta Mesoamericana, 22, 89-104. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/16341
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Lama van Broekhoven, Rogelio Valencia Ri vera, Benjamin Vis, Frauke Sachse(eds.)
The Maya and their Neighbours Internal and External ContactsThroughTin1e
Proceedings of the 10th European Maya Conference Leiden December 9-10,2005
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Introduction region between Maya and Mexica, namely those contained in the Nuu Dzaui (Mixtec) In the liminal zone between the Classic and codices, which so far have received little the Postclassic we encounter a Toltec ruler of attention but may be highly pertinent to this legendary proportions, called Kukulcan question.3 (K'uk'ulkan) by the Yucatec Maya and Quetzalcoatl by the Mexica. Both names mean The narrative "Plumed Serpent". According to the early colonial chronicles he traveled from Central The unified image arising from the sources Mexico to the Maya world, where he played a may be summarized as follows (see Graulich major role in Chichen Itza. The scholarly 1988 and Nicholson 2001 for a detailed literature refers to him as the "historical discussion). Quetzalcoatl had been a high Quetzalcoatl" to distinguish him from the priest and ruler in Tollan Xicocotitlan (Tula, Mexica wind deity Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl. One Hidalgo). In an atmosphere of magic and of the problems in interpreting this personage conflict, he had left that capital and then is precisely that a partial osmosis of human established himself as a ruler in Tollan historical agency and the attributes and Cholollan (Cholula, Puebla). In Tula itself he workings of the deity may have taken place. seems to have been succeeded by Huemac, In addition, the historical Quetzalcoatl who was symbolically identified with the deity appears under several Nahuatl names: Tezcatlipoca, described as an opponent of both Topiltzin, "Our Noble Prince", Ce Acatl, "1 the historical and the divine Quetzalcoatl . Reed", and Nacxitl, "4 Foot" (a calendrical From Cholula, Quetzalcoatl undertook a long name from an epiclassic system, as used in journey to lands far away in the East, beyond Xochicalco). The overall suggestion of the Xicalango and the Laguna de Terminos, where sources is that these all refer to the same he crossed the waters and entered into Maya personage, but we should keep in mind that the country. exploits of different characters may have 'In this year [Ce Acatl, i.e. 1 Reed], merged in the accounts. The Central Mexican Topiltzin Acxitl Quetzalcohuatl chronological references to his life-time are 1 marched away. This meant the very confused and entangled. With much definitive downfall of the city of reason, recent studies have stressed the Tollan; in this year of 1 Reed he mythical character and religious symbolism of 2 marched and went to the great and this figure. heavenly waters of the sea, toward the Let me say from the beginning that I too see East' (ChimaJpahin 1998, I: 80-81) a strong religious and literary (epic, dramatic) dimension in this narrative (cf. Jansen 1997). It It has since long been observed that this is illustrative that the early colonial Spanish element coincides with the information given sources already compare the protagonist to by Fray Diego de Landa about a personage King Arthur. On the other hand, the sources called Kukulcan, which is just a Maya also give explicit geographical and historical translation of Quetzalcoatl: references, which suggest some degree of 'It is believed among the Indians that realism underlying the literary product. with the Itzas who occupied Chichen Here I will focus on that latter aspect and Itza, there reigned a great lord, named summarize the data from an intermediate Kukulkan and that the principal 90 Maarten E.R.N.G. Jansen
building, which is called Kukulkan, function of a warlord and a more secular ruler shows this to be true. They say that he (empire builder).5 arrived from the West; but they differ Furthermore, the dramatic final journey of among themselves as to whether he Quetzalcoatl to the Eastern Gulf Coast, was arrived before or after the Itzas or with equated to and merged with the journey of the them. They say that he was favorably Creator-God Quetzalcoatl, who, in his travels, disposed, and had no wife or children, gave names to places and founded kingdoms. and that after his return he was Codex Yuta Tnoho (p. 47) tells us about the regarded in Mexico as one of their Mixtec equivalent: the Culture Hero Lord 9 gods and called Quetzalcouatl; and Wind in the Mixtec distributing the waters of they also considered him a god in heaven to the different towns of Nuu Dzaui, Yucatan on account of his being a just the Mixtec region. statesman; and this is seen in the order which he imposed on Yucatan ... ' (Tozzer 1941: 20-23) Symbolic aspects This great Lord Kukulcan is credited with Clearly, Quetzalcoatl / Kukulcan as the having founded the city of Mayapan; he lived Plumed Serpent is a highly symbolic and for a number of years in Yucatan and then complex character. His name is a metaphor for went back to his capital in Central Mexico: the whirlwind, a great creative power, the 'This Kukulkan lived with the lords in bringer of rain (life). As such, he is also a that city [Mayapan] for several years; potent nahual, i.e. a being in nature, into which and leaving them in great peace and powerful rulers and shamans could transform friendship, he returned by the same themselves. From here, he became a central way to Mexico, and on the way he symbol of visionarj power, an emblem of stopped at Champoton and, in memory royalty and civilization. of him and of his departure, he erected Thus, Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcan is generally a fine building in the sea, like that of credited with providing legitimacy to the Chichen Itza, a long stone's throw (Postclassic) dynasties. The Mexica priests from the shore.' (Tozzer 1941: 26). addressed a new mIer during the enthronement ritual with a reference to this personage as the At least one Central Mexican version states ultimate source of power. that the historical Quetzalcoatl arrived in Cholula, coming from Yucatan, that he ruled 'Fiom now on, Lord, you remain this capital for twenty years afterwards, and seated on the throne that was installed then went back to the area he had come from.4 by Ce Acatl Nacxitl Quetzalcoatl... In The sources agree that at the end of his life his name came Huitzilopochtli and sat Quetzalcoatl died on a jOlL.rney bet\veen down on this same throne, and in his Central Mexico and the Maya region, in the name came the one that was the first country known as Tlapallan ("Place of king, Acamapichtli, ... Behold, it is not Colors"). your throne, nor your seat, but it is It is logical to assume that the historians of theirs, it is only lent to you and it will Tula (Xicocotitlan) saw the departure of the be returned to its tme owner .. .' priest-king Quetzalcoatl from their hometown (Tezozomoc 1975: 439). to Cholula as a traumatic event: in retrospect it The Popol Vuh tells us that the first K'iche' was the beginning of the end of Tula's rulers in their quest for legitimacy received the dominant position and of Toltec civilization in insignia of kingship from him: general. Passing over Quetzalcoatl's rule in Cholula, they seem to have blended several 'And then they came before the lord successive events into one, creating the named Nacxit, the great lord and sole portentous story of a pious ruler who left his judge over a populous domain. And he capital and ultimately went to the Gulf Coast to was the one who gave out the signs of die there. The lamentation that the priest-king lordship, all the emblems; the signs of was seduced by war-demons suggests to us the Keeper of the Mat and the Keeper that Quetzalcoatl in the process of moving to of the Reception House Mat were set Cholula shifted from a mainly ceremonial forth... Nacxit gave a complete set of office as a priest (or theocratic ruler) into the the emblems of lordship... They The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 91
brought all of these when they came Naturally, this had to involve the southern part away. From across the sea, they of Mesoamerica (Oaxaca). In fact, the brought back the writings about historical Quetzalcoatl is reported to have had Tulan." (Tedlock 1985: 203-204).6 his influence in the Mixtec and Zapotec regions: In their admirable paper, Sachse and Christenson (2005), incorporating suggestions '[Quetzalcoatl] left Tula very annoyed by Van Akkeren (2000) and others, have and came to Cholula, where he lived analyzed the metaphors present in texts such as many years with his people, several of this, and shown the symbolic character of which he sent from there to the many constituent elements of this story. Tula provinces of Oaxaca, to populate it, as a place on the other side of the sea, they and to the whole Mixteca Baja and argue, may be understood as a reference to the Alta and to the Zapotec regions. And locale of creation in the watery underworld. those people, they say, made those big Indeed, important Mesoamerican toponyms and luxurious roman buildings in Mitla have often such sacred and metaphorical ... ' (Torquemada, book III: ch. 7; cf. connotations, but, at the same time, may refer Acuna 1984-85, I: 129). to specific places in real geography. The It should come as no surprise, then, that we "Place of Heaven" in the Nuu Dzaui account of can identify references to the same epic cycle creation, published by friar Gregorio Garcia in of Kukulcan / Quetzalcoatl in several pictorial 1607, is such an example: it is both a sacred manuscripts from Southern Mexico. Already locale, from where power is derived, and a some time ago (1996), I proposed that this specific place: the archaeological site of the important personage may be identified in the Rock of Heaven (Kaua Kaandiui) to the East of Nuu Dzaui (Mixtec) codices Tonindeye the town of Yuta Tnoho (Apoala) in the (Nuttall), Iya Nacuaa (Colombino-Becker) and Mixteca Alta (Anders, Jansen and Perez Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu (Bodley). Here he Jimenez 1992a). appears as the Toltec ruler Lord 4 Jaguar, who In fact, it is diagnostic for the ancient plays a prominent role in the biography of Mesoamerican rhetorical tradition to describe Lord 8 Deer 'Jaguar Claw'.7 important events in religiously charged terms Earlier efforts to link the Mixtec and Toltec (cosmological associations and metaphors), in histories - such as the contribution by order to integrate human agency into sacred Chadwick (1971) to the Handbook of Middle history. In this \vorld of epic story-telling it is American Indians - suffered from a high the value-system, the morality and social degree of speculation and therefore were religious ethos, that counts, much more than rapidly disqualified. A central flaw in tI:,ose the analytical presentation of "what really theories was that they regarded certain Nuu happened" with its causes and effects (cf. the Dzaui rulers and chronological indications classic study of the psychodynamics of orality from the Nuu Dzaui codices as identical with by Ong 1988). personages and dates of Toltec history, without The fascinating aspect of the Kukulcan / taking into account the quite different character Ouetzalcoatl narrative is its combination of a of both sources and contexts. Since then, a ri'ch symbolic texture with precise general feeling that such an enterprise was geographical and historical data, against the doomed to fail has dominated the field. This background of an archaeological reality of explains the scornful disbelief expressed by contacts between the Toltec realm and the H.B. Nicholson and some others about possible Maya world. This makes it all the more references to the famous Toltec ruler in the worthwhile to try to figure out where legend Mixtec pictorials. John Pohl, for example, meets history. remarks in his Texas notebooks: 'Jansen is now projecting Mixtec codical history onto the broader The historical Quetzalcoatl in Oaxaca landscape of ancient Mesoamerica, a specious preposition comparable to Focusing on the geographical referents in the theories advocated decades ago by Quetzalcoatl narrative, we find an internal David Kelley and Robert Chadwick, logic: an overall movement from West (Tula, with the Eight Deer saga being played Cholula) to East (Yucatan, Guatemala). out from Tula to Chichen Itza .. .' 92 Maarten ERN.G. Jansen
This is a good illustration of how these which was a prominent capital in the early colleagues have jumped to criticize the idea a Postc1assic period. This city's Dzaha Dzaui priori by identifying it (wrongly) with those name, registered by Fray Antonio de 10s Reyes, earlier discredited theories, but without taking is Nuu Ndiyo, "Town of the Staircase", which notice of its precise purport and without seems to correspond to one of its Nahuatl reviewing the argument itself. One of the names, Temamatlac. In Nahuatl sources, crucial differences between my study of Lord 4 however, Cholula was also known as Tollan Cholollan; it is represented as a Place of Tule Jaguar and those earlier theories is precisely Reeds in the Historia Tolteca Chichimeca and in that this unique person in the Nuu Dzaui its own Relaci6n Geognifica. It was a major codices has long been recognized (by Alfonso religious and political center, its main temple Caso, Mary Elizabeth Smith, Nancy Troike being dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. Early colonial and others) as a Toltec, giving us all the reason authors compared it to Rome and Mecca. 12 to investigate whether he can be connected to As symbol of the alliance between them, anything known from Toltec history. I will Lord 4 Jaguar had Lord 8 Deer pass through a recapitulate briefly the reasons and fundaments nose-piercing ceremony, bestowing on him a for the proposed identification, focusing on the 13 8 turquoise nose-ornament. More than twenty diagnostic characteristics of our hero. years later, he granted the same favor to Lord 4 Wind, the assassin and successor of Lord 8 Identifier 1: "The Toltec ruler of Cholula, ... " Deer. This ritual has been documented precisely (and uniquely) for Cholula, where The Nuu Dzaui codices identify Lord 4 princes from all over Mesoamerica came to be Jaguar, the ally of Lord 8 Deer, as a Toltec (or confirmed in their royal dignity by such an ear- rather a Toltec-Chichimec) by applying a black or nose-ptercmg• • ceremony. 14 or red painting around his eye, which in Dzaha In other words, the image provided by the Dzaui, the Mixtec language, reads tay sahmi Nuu Dzaui codices of the Town of the Tules nuu, "man with the burned eye". i.e. a indicates that the capital of the Toltec ruler "Mexican" or rather a speaker of Nahuatl called Lord 4 Jaguar was Cholula. Alternative (Smith 1973: 203). In addition, Lord 4 Jaguar identifications that have been put forward, such is shown as seated on, i.e. as ruler of, Town of as Tulixtlahuaca de Jicayan (Mixtec Coast) or the Tule Reeds (Cattail Frieze).9 This place Tulancingo (Coixtlahuaca Valley), simply do sign is read: Nuu Cohyo in Dzaha Dzaui. not fit the above-mentioned criteria. We might Today, this is the Mixtec name of Mexico City, go as far as saying that if the Nuu Dzaui histo but it is obvious that this toponym originally rians would have had one of those towns in referred to a Toltec capital. mind, they would have included specific refer What was the location of this Town of Tule ences in order to avoid confusion with Cholula. Reeds where Lord 4 Jaguar ruled and came An additional geographical confirmation is from? The problem is, of course, that more the circumstance that the two intermediaries than one place name in Mesoamerica contains who played a crucial part in establishing the element 'tule'. Contextual evidence from contact between the two lords, were from the the Nuu Dzaui codices, however, clarifies the Mixteca Baja region, i.e. the area between the geographical position of this particular town. Mixteca Alta (with the important center of The Town of the Tule Reeds was situated in a Tilantongo) and the Valley of Puebla, where large valley, separated from Nuu Dzaui, the Cholula is located. The crucial deity was Lady Mixtec region, by a snow-topped volcano. JO 9 Reed, situated at Mountain of Blood, which 15 This is diagnostic of Cholula, where one arrives has been identified as Nuu Nifie, i.e. Tonala. from Nuu Dzaui, passing either the Matlalcueye One embassador, Lord 1 Deer 'Coanacoch', is (Malinche) or the Popocatepetl. Another associated with Jaguar Town, identified as Nuu instance shows that one had to pass a River of Nafia (Cuyotepeji).16 the Hummingbird. 11 This would be the Huitzilapan, which gave its name to Puebla Identifier 2: "called Quetzalcoatl, Ce (Yuta Ndeyoho, "River of the Hummingbird"). Acatl or Nacxitl ... " The Town of Tule Reeds is portrayed as a Toltec capital of great political and ritual Lord 4 Jaguar's face painting and beard in importance. The alliance with its ruler had a Codex Tonindeye (Nuttall) are typical decisive impact on the political career of Lord 8 attributes of the God Quetzalcoatl, while his Deer. This fits well the profile of Cholula, white-red striped body paint is typical of The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 93
Mixcoatl (God of Hunting) and of the Venus has become known as "the Crown of deity, called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli or Ce Acatl Moctezuma" (Anders 2001). This attribute is (1 Reed).17 The names Quetzalcoatl and Ce not necessarily unique for the historical Acatl are used frequently by Nahuatl sources Quetzalcoatl, however. A more diagnostic in referring to the historical Quetzalcoatl. In element is the pimple on his nose, which seems the Lienzo of Tlapiltepec (Caso 1961) appears to have been a real physical mark of this Lord 4 Jaguar's given name, but unfortunately specific personage. Friar Bernardino de it is not well legible: the sign consists of a Sahagun and the chronicle Annales de serpent with a peculiar element on its tail. Caso Cuauhtitlan describe his countenance as ixayac (1961) read it as a flute. In our eyes the sign is iuhqujn tetecujnpol tehtlanipol, "pock-marked a somewhat crude drawing of a serpent with a face, full of pimples (stones)", xixiquipiltic yn feather on its tail, which would represent the ixayac, "bag face", and amo tlacacemelle, name "Plumed Serpent", Le. Quetzalcoatl. atlacacemelle, "bad looking, ugly". Another name occurring in the sources is Codex Tonindeye (Nuttall) depicts Lord 4 Nacxitl, a contraction of an archaic calendar Jaguar not only with the typical Quetzalcoatl name: Na(hui) (i)cxitl, "4 Foot". The calendar beard, but also with a large feather headdress names '4 Foot' and '4 Jaguar' have the number of the Apanecayotl type and with a pimple or 4 in common. It is possible - but clear tumor on his nose or forehead. The latter evidence is lacking - that the sign Foot element is a personal characteristic that is corresponds to Jaguar, or, rather that the Nuu extremely rare in the codices and therefore Dzaui painters chose to represent the day very distinctive and significant. The 'Foot' (not present in their calendar) as correspondence with Duran's description is too 'Jaguar', maybe thinking of the impressive striking to ignore. paws of this animal. 18 Identifier 4: "a provider of royal power Identifier 3: "with a pimple on his nose, and legitimacy ... " wearing a feather crown ... " The Popol Vuh, as we saw above, describes On the base of an ancient pamtmg, the Nacxitl as a great ruler who awarded to the Dominican chronicler Diego Duran provides founders of the K'iche' dynasty the emblems an interesting description and image of the of their royal investiture. Among these the historical Quetzalcoatl: nosepiece is explicitly mentioned: 'This Topiltzin, who was also called 'Nacxit gave a complete set of the Papa ('priest"), was a very venerated emblems of lordship ... Here are their and religious person, held in great names: esteem and honored and adored as a Canopy, throne. saint. There is a long story about him. I saw him painted in the way that is Bone flute, bird whistle. reproduced above, on a very old paper, Paint of powdered yellow stone. in Mexico City, as a noble personality. He was shown as an elderly man, with Puma's paw, jaguar's paw. a large gray and red beard, a long nose Head and hoof of deer. with some pimples (ronchas) on it, or somewhat eaten, a tall body, long hair; Bracelet of rattling snail shells. ... when he celebrated his feasts, he Gourd of tobacco. Nosepiece.' put that feather crown on .. .' (Dunin 1967,1: 9, 14,cf.p1.1). (Tedlock 1985: 203-204) The beard, the pimple on the nose and the Similarly, Lord 4 Jaguar bestows a turquoise feather crown are all present in the copy of the nosepiece on Lord 8 Deer and on his ancient picture that Dunin includes in his work. successor, Lord 4 Wind. He is the only The large feather headdress is a diagnostic of character who performs such a ritual in the Toltec rulers, ki'1own as the Apanecayotl, Nuu Dzaui pictorials. The nose piercing corresponding to the Toltec title Apanecatl. A appears as a crucial act of legitimization for copy of such an item has been preserved in the those historical rulers. It was the culmination Museum flir VOlkerkunde in Vienna, where it of an intricate process of creating an alliance. 94 Maarten ERN.G. Jansen
Interestingly, this process involved a meeting they had settled the whole of Anahuac between the protagonists in a ball-court (Codex where they are still living today': Iya Nacuaa I, p.! 1; Codex Tonindeye, pp. 45 (Anales de Cuauhtitlan, 1975: § 67; and 80; Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu, p. 10- Lehmann 1938: 107-109). IV). The Central Mexican chronicler This process of Toltecs establishing Ixtlilxochitl (1975/77, I: 279) describes how themselves all over Mesoamerica is described Topiltzin used an art-work composed of by the Anales de Cuauhtitlan as part of the jewels, representing a ball-court, as a symbol downfall of Tula. The references to Cholula of one power shared between different rulers ' and Coixtlahuaca, but also to Copilco and 1.e.. as a precious emblem of a political Topillan, which are situated on the Gulf Coast , alliance. suggest, however, that this process was Another detail: in order to make this alliance actually still one of expansion, with Lord 8 Deer, Lord 4 Jaguar sent a contemporaneous with (and related to) the hunchback to the Mixtec region. Sahagun Toltec contacts with the Maya area. (Book 6: ch. 41) documents that Quetzalcoatl Connecting this text with the statements by of Tula used hunchbacks (corgovados in the Torquemada and others, we note that this is the Spanish text) as messengers. very same period that the historical Quetzalcoatl is reported to have ruled in Identifier 5: "who invaded the Mixteca Cholula. Baja and Alta and founded the The foundation of the dynasty of Coixtlahuaca dynasty ... " Coixtlahuaca by Atonal ("Lord Water") [J] is depicted on the Lienzo of Tlapiltepec (Caso The above quoted text from Torquemada 1961). The first ruler's name is actually Lord 7 (book Ill: ch. 7) about Quetzalcoatl sending his Water. He is associated with a House of the pe?ple from Cholula to the Mixteca Baja, Eagle: Old Cuauhtitlan as mentioned in the Mlxteca Alta and to the Zapotec region, to above quoted Anales. The enthronement ritual "populate" these areas, may be interpreted as a is situated on the Mountain of Pointed Leaves reference to campaigns of conquest and i.e. the Cerro Verde, a very prominent and sacred mountain in the Coixtlahuaca Valley politica~ reorganization. A particularly mterestmg example of these Toltec activities in (Ruiz Ortiz and Jansen 2009). This event takes the Oaxacan region is the foundation of the place in front of a warlord, who approaches ruling dynasty of Coixtlahuaca (a major center with a macuahuitl, a wooden "sword" inlaid in the Chochon-Mixtec region in Western with obsidian blades, a favorite weapon of the Oaxaca). The Nahuatl chronicle known as the Toltecs (Hassig 1992: 112-113). The name of Anales de Cuauhtitlan specifies that the heroic this warlord was Lord 4 Jaguar. Comparing defender of Coixtlahuaca against Mexica this scene with the text of the Anales de invasion, Atonal [I1], was a descendant from Cuauhtitlan \-ve have to conclude that this Lord the Toltecs. Furthermore, it explains that the 4 Jaguar was an important Toltec leader, founder of the Toltec dynasty of Coixtlahuaca probably based at Cholula, in the time of had been a person from Tama90lac, also called expansion during the final phase of the Toltec Atonal [I], who was enthroned in Coixtlahuaca empire, i.e. during the ruie of the historical during the final phase of the Toltec realm. 19 Quetzalcoatl. This event is described in some detail: The Lienzo of Tlapiltepec mentions several dates in association with Lord 4 Jaguar: he had 'The Toltecs went. .. and passed by been engaged in warfare in the region for ten Old Cuauhtitlan ["Place of the Eagle'], years, between the year 10 Reed and the year 6 where they waited sometime for a Flint. This chronological indication allows us native of Tamazolac, who was in to identify this Lord 4 Jaguar with the person charge there, named Atonal. He of the same name who appears in the Nuu brought his subjects with him. Then Dzaui (Mixtec) codices as the ally of Lord 8 the Toltecs left. .. Going and entering Deer 'Jaguar Claw', a central figure of the in the towns, some established Early Postc1assic history of the region. The themselves in Cholula, Tehuacan, encounter between these two individuals took Cozcatlan, Nonohualco, Teotli1lan, place on the day 13 Alligator of the year 7 20. . Coixtlahuaca, Tamazolac, Copilco, House, 1.e. 1n the year following the year 6 Topillan, Ayotlan and Mazatlan, until Flint, which is mentioned in the Lienzo of The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 95
Tlapiltepec as the last year of his campaign in dynasties and making important alliances. This the Coixtlahuaca region. Their alliance, Toltec campaign was part of the expansion confirmed with a nose-piercing ritual, is given that, according to Central Mexican sources, much attention in the Nuu Dzaui codices, took place when Ce-Acatl Nacxitl Topiltzin because it was the basis for Lord 8 Deer's Quetzalcoatl was king of Cholula. The Nuu enthronement in Tilantongo. Dzaui codices emphatically state that Lord 4 That we are dealing with the very same years Jaguar was the ruler of Cattail Frieze (Toll an - 6 Flint 7 House here, is confirmed by further Cholollan) at the time. This Lord 4 Jaguar, information in the Lienzo of Tlapiltepec. The therefore, must be the same person as Ce-Acatl grandson of Lord 7 Water (founder of the Nacxitl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the historical Coixtlahuaca dynasty when he was already an Quetzalcoatl, known to the Maya as Kukulcan. adult) visited Lord 4 Wind in Town of Flints - this Lord 4 Wind was the prince who killed Lord 8 Deer and became his successor as Identifier 6: "who traveled to the East, strong man in the Nuu Dzaui Highlands, crossing a large lagoon ... " precisely in Nuu Yuchi, Town of Flints, now an archaeological site known as Mogote del The characteristic feature of the Quetzalcoatl Cacique near Tilantongo. The direct contact I Kukulcan narrative is the journey of the between the grandson of Lord 7 Water and this Toltec ruler to the East, crossing the waters of Lord 4 Wind demonstrates that Lord 7 Water, the Laguna de Terminos and entering into and Lord 4 Jaguar who played an active role in Maya country. The Historia de los Mexicanos his enthronement, were indeed por sus Pinturas gives the following contemporaneous with Lord 8 Deer. description: Looking at the geography we see the logic of the sequence of dates: Lord 4 Jaguar needed 'This Ce-Acatl ... built a very big ten years of war to advance from Cholula to temple in Tula, while he was doing so, Coixtlahuaca, passing through (and Tezcatlipuca came to him and said that conquering) the Mixteca Baja. From there it toward Honduras, in a place called was the logical next step to enter the Tlapalla, was his house, and that there neighboring Mixteca Alta region. he had to go and die, he had to leave This, in turn, makes it very likely that the Tula, and in that place they consider Lord 4 Jaguar in the Lienzo of Tlapiltepec and Ce-Acatl to be a God. He answered to the Lord 4 Jaguar who became the ally of Lord the \vords of Tezcatlipoca that the 8 Deer were one and the same person, heaven and the stars had told him that especially as he plays an identical role in both he had to go there in four years. And stories: that of an outsider whose arrival is a thus, when the four years had passed, crucial element in the enthronement he went away and took with him all the (legitimization) of a new ruler. commoners. Those he left the city of In this context, we should consider the Chulula, and the inhabitants of that foundation of the Postclassic kingdom of town descend from those people. Xochitepec in the Mixteca Baja. The central Others he left behind in the province of scene in the Lienzo of that town shows the Cuzcatan ... and Cempual... He victory of an unnamed warrior (armed with a himself arrived in Tlapalla and that day macuahuitl), coming from a Town of Tule he became ill and died.' (Garibay Reeds, as the base of the local dynasty, with 1979: 38). approximately the same time-depth as that of Coixtlahuaca and that of the Tilantongo The Leyenda de los Soles presents this series dynasty: in all cases around 20 male of events as a military campaign: generations separate these events from the time 'Then Ce Acatl conquered the town of of the Spanish Conquest (Caso 1958). Ayotlan. After that conquest he went It seems safe to conclude that in the time of to Chalco and Xicco, which he also Lord 8 Deer a Toltec ruler, named Lord 4 conquered. Then to Cuixcoc, Cacango, Jaguar, advanced from Cholula toward Tzonmo1co, Mayatzonco, Tzapotlan, Coixtlahuaca and the Nuu Dzaui Highlands which he all conquered. Then he went (Mixteca Alta), passing through the Nuu Dzaui to Acallan, where he crossed the water, Lowlands (Mixteca Baja), setting up new and he also conquered it, until arriving 96 Maarten E.R.N.G. Jansen
at Tlapallan. There he fell ill, five days they climb a huge pyramid that rises into he was ill, and then he died.' (Leyenda heaven and have a meeting in a large ball de 10s Soles in Anales de Cuauhtitlan court, exchanging precious gifts. 1975: 125; cf. Lehmann 1938: 371). Sun temples were, of course, present all over Mesoamerica. Bruce Byland and John Pohl There is a structural parallel between the have noted that according to oral tradition such Central Mexican / Maya version and the story a sanctuary formed part of the ceremonial told in the Nuu Dzaui codices. Lord 8 Deer centre at Achiutla and have taken that accompanies the Toltec ruler Lord 4 Jaguar on reference as a basis for postulating that the a large journey, passing along many places that whole campaign of Lord 8 Deer and Lord 4 do not occur elsewhere in the Nuu Dzaui Jaguar was just a trip from Tilantongo to the codices and therefore seem to be located in neighboring town of Achiutla. This is in foreign lands. Among them is an active accordance with their opinion that most of volcano (not present in the Mixtec region). At Mixtec history took place in the immediate a crucial moment of this campaign the two vicinity of Tilantongo and Jaltepec, where they rulers cross a broad extension of water in a had carried out their archaeological survey. As canoe and conquer an island.21 A flying fish, there are no towns to be conquered, no lagoon an alligator and a conch suggest that we are to be crossed, and no active volcanoes in this looking at a tropical lagoon. The comparison area, they proposed an unsatisfactory solution: with Mexica sources suggests that this is the Laguna de Terminos. The Mixtec name for "To date these events have defied these waters is painted as a frieze with step-fret analysis, for there are very few, if any, motif meaning nuu, "place", in combination bodies of water in the Mixteca Alta with a series of rectangles in different colors, large enough to make this scene i.e. "Place of CoIors", which would correspond physically possible. An alternate 22 to the Nahuatl toponym Tlapallan. One of the proposal explored here is that this is a towns nearby is painted as a river with a house representation of a supernatural in it, a sign that may represent Acallan, "Place journey, not a real one.' (By land and of the Canoes", literally: "Place of the Water Pohl1994: 152) Houses".23 Focusing on the similarity in narrative Identifier 7: "and met with the Sun structures, I agree with Waiter Lehmann (1938: 372), who, in a time that little was known about the contents of Nuu Dzaui The Mexica accounts tell us that Nacxitl codices, already equated the impressive scene Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl went to the East, where of the crossing of the lagoon in Codex Tlapallan is located, crossed the Laguna de Tonindeye (p. 75) with the account of Terminos (Acallan, Xicaiango) and entered the Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl crossing the waters Maya region. Quetzalcoatl used to say that the during his voyage towards Tlapallan. Sun himself had called him: In geographical reality the great sanctuary of the East may then have been Chichen Itza, the 'And when the people asked him what final destination of Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcan's he was going to do there, Quetzalcoatl journey. Bishop Diego de Landa documents answered that the ruler of those lands, the prominence of a Sun Priest (and therefore who was the Sun, had called for him. of a Sun cult) at this site: the Ab Kin May, who This story was wide-spread among the seems to have been the central religious Mexicans.' (Torquemada, book VI: ch. authority among the Mayas ofYucatan (Landa 24). 1966: 14; Tozzer 1941: 27). This answer is formulated in the lordly Interestingly, Guatemalan Maya sources, language of metaphors, according to which such as the Popol Vuh and the Titulo de "going to the realm of the Sun God" means Totonicapan, locate the Tollan ofNacxitl in the "looking for fame", following the destiny of a East, "where the sun rises". Obviously this warrior.24 world direction has its symbolic connotations The }:~uu Dzaui codices show how Lord 4 (see the study by Sachse and Christenson), but Jaguar and Lord 8 Deer at the end of their at the same time this statement may be journey arrive at the Temple of the Sun God connected to the Yucatec Relaci6n Geognifica (symbolically associated with the East).25 Here of Izamal and Santa Maria, which speaks about The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 97 a great ruler in the past, who had his court in The scene carved on the lintel above the door Chichen Itza, and received tribute from across shows the encounter between these two Mexico and Guatemala (de la Garza 1983: personages: Lord Plumed Serpent presents 305). This suggests that the great capital himself before Lord Sun.26 Chichen Itza, with its important Sun priest, As the original is lost and was already very was symbolically connected to the world fragmented when it was copied, the painting is direction 'East'. difficult to date and open to diverse interpretations. It is suggestive, however, that A possible reference in Maya art the protagonists and their actions show such a clear (thematic) resemblance to what is The fore-going analysis leads us to the represented in Nahua sources and Mixtec conclusion that the interaction of a Plumed codices as the meeting of the Toltec Plumed Serpent (Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcan) and the Sun Serpent (Quetzalcoatl - Kukulcan) with the God, was an important literary theme, which Maya Sun God or his human representative occurs in Nahuatl texts from Central Mexico (Ah Kin May), after a long military campaign. but also was painted in the Nuu Dzaui codices Tonindeye (Nuttall) and Iya Nacuaa Evaluation of the argument (Colombino-Becker). It is interesting to see that a similar iconographical theme appears at The late Henry B. Nicholson had announced Chichen Itza itself. in his erudite monograph on the figure of The severely damaged frescos of the Temple Quetzalcoatl (2001: Hi) a forthcoming paper of the Jaguars in Chichen Itza next to the great which criticized the hypothesis presented ball-court (preserved in drawings, e.g. those above. The review was published in a volume made by Adela Breton in 1903/4), describe a in honor of Mixtec codex scholar Mary large-scale military conquest. Two groups of Elizabeth Smith (Nicholson 2005). In this text warriors, dressed in loincloths or white tunics, Nicholson clarified that his comments on my with sandals, feathered headdresses and analysis were "not intended to 'refute' it but sometimes jade earings and precious rather to emphasize its very hypothetical necklaces, armed with large spears on their character" (op. cit.: 156). Indeed, although the spear-throwers and decorated shields, engage overall tone of his treatment is that of a in military action against the background of criticism, his actual counter-arguments are local villages of small huts with thatched roofs surprisingly few and not at all decisive. and defenseless women walking around, in an As most investigators of the Mixtec codices idyllic landscape of green hills and trees with now do, Nicholson accepted the identification monkeys, birds, serpents and other animals. of Lord 4 Jaguar as a Toltec ruler, but rejects the We see captives being taken and hit, huts put identification of this personage as the historical on fire. Big volutes indicate shouting and Quetzalcoatl. He did not give an alternative turmoil. One of the battles takes place among suggestion as to how Lord 4 Jaguar then might high red (sand-stone) mountains and cliffs, relate to the known Toltec king lists (cf. Davies with little vegetation and a few nopal cacti, 1977, 1980; Prem 1999; Graulich 2002). suggesting that a campaign of conquests In calling the identification of Lord 4 Jaguar passed through different ecological zones. with "the most famous Toltec of them all" an Dominant in one of the groups is a warrior "audacious hypothesis" (op. cit.: 157), surrounded by a large plumed serpent (with Nicholson did not take into account the epic large green quetzal feathers). He plays an character of ancient Mexican historiography, active role in the warfare, appearing which would precisely focus on the fame and prominently at different locations, wielding his ideological importance of such a legitimating spear and his shield covered with pieces of outsider and which would precisely try to jade, but also is shown seated in front of others establish a narrative link with him. Why create as giving instructions, heading talks (peace such a detailed memory of the alliance and negotiations?), and accepting homage and cooperation of Lord 8 Deer with a Toltec ruler surrender. and keep it alive through painting, reciting and Another prominent figure is a noble warrior performing the story, for some 400 years after seated in a sun disk, watching over the battle, the events, if that Toltec ruler actually was a signaling and speaking (giving instructions?), "nobody", who does not even figure in the but without actually participating in it. Central Mexican sources? 98 Maarten ERN.G. Jansen
Nicholson disregarded the statement by such a translation process. An equivalent Torquemada that attributes the Toltec position of both signs in their different sets of expansion into the Mixtec region to the reign twenty day names would convince Nicholson, of Quetzalcoatl, as well as the related but actually would only be one of the possible connection between the Lienzo of Tlapiltepec reasons for making such an equation. and the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, which clarifies Nicholson's final verdict could be applied to that the foundation of the Toltec dynasty of most interpretive studies of ancient Coixtlahuaca by Lord 4 Jaguar took place in Mesoamerica: "For reasons given above (and the final phase of the Toltec realm, i.e. the time others precluded by spatial limitation) I am that, according to many sources, the historical convinced that this identification, in spite of its Quetzalcoatl ruled. About this part of the many attractive features, must be supported argument, Nicholson basically stated that with more convincing evidence ... " (op. cit.: "various scholars have suggested 157). It is unfortunate that Nicholson's detailed hypothesis quite different from that of Jansen" reproduction of my published notes on this (op. cit.: 154). This is true, of course, but topic did not leave space for explaining his hardly an argument, as none of those earlier other reasons. But even in this incomplete form studies did even remotely consider the his main purpose and argumentation are clear. coincidences between the story line of Lord 4 Nicholson was correct in pointing out that Jaguar and that of Nacxitl Topiltzin several stepping stones of my hypothesis are in Quetzalcoatl. Nicholson himself did not themselves not conclusive and that in each present a critical examination of the works of case alternative theories are possible. those other authors, although they contain However, in this erudite and cautious unwarranted and questionable propositions evaluation he overlooked the main point. One (such as the suggestion that Cattail Frieze is should not consider the identifiers presented Tulancingo near Coixtlahuaca, or that the here as isolated elements, nor as military campaign of Lord 4 Jaguar and Lord 8 interdependent parts of a chain (as weak as the Deer was an imaginary, metaphysical journey weakest link). The indications discussed are from Tilantongo to Achiutla). independent, and in combination they Nicholson stressed the variation in the constitute a coherent set of cognates. In this representations of Quetzalcoatl and of Lord 4 exerCIse 111 inductive reasoning, the Jaguar. Again, this is correct, but one should accumulated indications are mutually recognize that there are some significant reinforcing and provide a strong basis for coincidences, such as the pimple on the nose. identifying Lord 4 Jaguar as Nacxitl Topiitzin Nicholson disqualified the latter as a "minor Quetzalcoatl. Not just one trait, but all relevant element" coming from a "late, probably details of his appearance and actions in the distorted version" (op. cit.: 155). Such a Mixtec codices fit what is known about that generalizing dismissal does not do justice to enigmatic famous personage in the Central the specificity of such a physiognomic detail, Mexican and Maya sources. None of the which hardly can be explained away as "highly identifiers discussed above would in itself be Christianized", less so as the reference is not enough for this identification, but, taken unique but coincides with similar descriptions together, they constitute a quite serious and in the work of Sahagun. convincing argument. Nicholson did not pay attention to the This identification, I should stress, only goes coincidence of the number in the calendar as far as saying that the story told about Lord 4 names of Nacxitl (4 Foot) and 4 Jaguar. Jaguar in the Mixtec codices corresponds to Instead, he emphasized that the equivalence of what other sources tell us about Nacxitl the day sign Foot (in Xochicalco) with the Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl / Kukulcan. The Postclassic day sign Jaguar has not been relationship of this story with historical reality established. I agree, we cannot be sure of this, and chronology as manifest in archaeological but, on the other hand, our present state of data, for example, is quite a different matter. knowledge does not exclude this possibility either. Actually, as there was no sign 'Foot' in Chronological problems their calendar, the Mixtecs had to represent 'Nacxitl' as a calendar name that combined the One of the consequences of the proposed number 4 with another sign. At present it is not identification is that we have to consider again clear which criteria they might have used in the historical dimension of the Kukulcan The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 99
character. Lord 4 Jaguar appears together with arrival of Kukulcan I Nacxitl. The problem is Lord 8 Deer as the protagonists of an epic that these dates occur in cycles. Efforts have narrative about a Toltec ruler marching to the been made to narrow down these katun datings East (the land of the Maya) , in a clearly by connecting them to information in other defined chronological context. As we argued documents such as the Relaciones Geognificas. earlier, the year 7 House in which Lord 4 Erik Boot has investigated this matter in his Jaguar and Lord 8 Deer met and entered into dissertation on the Maya hieroglyphic their alliance, must have been the year after 6 inscriptions of Chichen Itza (2005). Flint when Lord 4 Jaguar presided over the The following points are the most relevant. enthronement of Lord 7 Water in Coixtla The Books of Chilam Balam from Tizimfn and huaca. According to the modem chronology of Mani seem to associate the name of Nacxitl the Nuu Dzaui codices, this year 7 House was with a katun 8 Ahau, which in cyclical AD. 1097. The ten years between 10 Reed and repetition might refer to the periods of AD. 6 Flint, during which Lord 4 Jaguar was 672-692, 928-948, 1185-1204, 1441-1461, or engaged in war campaigns before entering the 1697-1717 (Boot 2005: 214). Other Yucatec Coixtlahuaca Valley according to the Lienzo of sources from the early colonial period (such as Tlapiltepec, would correspond to AD. 1087- Sanchez de Aguilar) refer explicitly to the 1096. The following expedition towards the "arrival of the Mexicans" 600 years before the East took place in the following years, Spanish conquest, i.e. approximately A.D. 940. culminating in the encounter with the Sun God This would coincide with a katun 8 Ahau in the year 9 Reed, i.e. in AD. 1099. (AD. 928-948), as mentioned in the Books of Admittedly, the correlation of dates in the Chilam Balam. Nuu Dzaui codices with the Christian calendar The Books of Chilam Balam from Chumayel is not without problems. The years in these and Tizimin, however, date "the second manuscripts occur in cycles of 52 years, without coming" of Kukulcan in katun 4 Ahau, which something like a Long Count. The original in cyclical repetition might refer to AD. 711- synchronology proposed by Alfonso Caso has 731, 968-987, 1224-1244, 1480-1500, and been corrected by Emily Rabin in different 1736-1756, as calculated by Boot (2005: 202). papers (e.g. 2004). The difference for the period The Relaci6n Geograt1ca de Muxuppipp puts we are looking at is only one Calendar Round of the time before the introduction of "idolatry" 52 years. According to Caso, Lord 8 Deer lived by the "Mexicans" under Quetzalcoatl from AD. 1011 ti111063. Rabin has argued that somewhat less than "800 years ago", i.e. his life span is better calculated as AD. 1063- shortly after AD. 780 (De la Garza et ai. 1983, 1115. On the base of a gloss in the Mixtec I: 368-69, 377). If we take the reference to colonial Codex Nuu Naha or "Muro" (Jansen "800 years ago" to mean 8 periods of 104 1994), one might construe an even shorter years, i.e. 832 years, and subtract those from cPJonological sequence, according to vvhich 1580, we would arrive at A.D. 748. Supposing Lord 8 Deer's dates would be A.D. 1115-1167, that this statement originated a few years but this goes against a reasonable generation before 1580, we might even interpret it as length and is therefore less likely. The Rabin situating this event in the katun 4 Ahau that synchronology is in view of all available data occupied the twenty years between A.D. 711 the best founded. Less likely are the 'Caso syn and 731. chronology' (52 years earlier at this point) and Obviously, the Nuu Dzaui date of AD. 1099 the 'Nuu Naha synchronology' (52 years later at ± 52 years does not fit into this set of this point). Other proposals, involving much calculations. On the other hand, how sure can larger discrepancies in years from what Rabin we be of those? The early colonial Yucatec has proposed, must be discarded as too chronicles are unclear and even contradictory speculative, not being based on the same solid about this matter. Landa confirms this by reasoning and detailed calculations. indicating that already in his time there was Summarizing, the Nuu Dzaui codices date considerable chronological dispute about the the Toltec invasion of Yucatan in AD. 1099 arrival of Kukulcan in Yucatan ("they differ (Rabin) ± 52 years (Caso: 1047; Nuu Naha: among themselves as to whether he arrived 1151). How does this compare with the dates before or after the Itzas or with them"). given in the Maya sources? The Books of Chilam Balam may be The texts known as the Books of Chilam qualified as "mantic historiography", which Balam provide the most specific dates for the tends to join different historical events under 100 Maarten ERN.G. Jansen
symbolic headings, aiming at a combination of contacts with Central Mexico (Tula?) in the history with prophecy (Farriss 1987). A period beginning of the Postc1assic, without any named after 4 Ahau, for example, may have relationship to the Cholula of Ce-Acatl Nacxitl been chosen because of the symbolic Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. Similarly, a katun 4 associations of this day as a sacred date that Ahau or another date in the SOl century (as marks the beginning of a new era. Thus we suggested by the Relaci6n Geognifica de cannot even be sure if such statements should Muxuppipp) may actually signal the incursion be taken in a chronological sense. of a group of wise men (tlamatinime), who The dates of the Relaciones GeogrMicas, during the final days of the empire of although straightforward at first sight, are Teotihuacan migrated from that capital to the actually far from precise and seem to be Maya area (Lehmann 1938: 90). The wall modeled after (European) units of hundred paintings at Cacaxtla are another testimony of years, which makes us wonder whether those such interregional contacts during the Late were indeed the intended quantities. It was Classic. easy to get misunderstandings in the complex We should consider the possibility that the search for equivalences between the coming of Ce-Acatl Nacxitl Topiltzin Mesoamerican count in calendar rounds of 52 Quetzalcoatl (Lord 4 Jaguar) was simply years and the Christian count in centuries. classified under the dates assigned to such Furthermore, when we read about the 'earlier arrivals from Central Mexico'. Its "second coming" of Kukulcan another historical impact probably was quite question imposes itself: are we talking about significant, and precisely because of that the same events? Let us remember that reason a symbolic date may have been chosen contacts between people from Central Mexico to adequately register (and interpret) this event. and the Mayas had been going on at least since In any case, read with these considerations in the Early Classic. For example a captain with mind, the dates given by the Maya sources the name of Siyah K'ak' from Teotihuacan, neither prove nor disprove our identification of identified in the inscriptions as Town of Tule the Quetzalcoatl narrative in the Nuu Dzaui Reeds, reached Tikal as early as A.D. 378 pictorial manuscripts. (Stuart, in: Carrasco, Jones and Sessions 2000). Preliminary conclusion The recent ideas about artistic influences from Central Mexico in Chichen Itza suggest The information given about the Toltec ruler that these already took place in the Epiclassic Lord 4 Jaguar in the Llenzos from and may have been part of the spread of a Coixtlahuaca and in the Nuu Dzaui codices specific religious cult in combination with shows strong similarities with the well-known intensified economic and cultural interaction at narrative of the historical Quetzalcoatl I the End of the Classic (Ringle et al. 1998). Kukulca.n. The coincidences, in the geographic Indeed, the early segments-of Nuu Dzaui reality and in structure of the story, as well as codices suggest that the transition between the in specific details (pimple on the nose) are Classic and Postclassic periods of Oaxaca was striking. Apparently, the authors of these accompanied by a "crisis cult" centered around pictorial manuscripts connected the foundation the Plumed Serpent (Jansen 2004). of dynasties (Coixtlahuaca, Tilantongo) and It has been demonstrated that 'Quetzalcoatl' the activities of specific heroes (Lord 8 Deer) functioned as a royal title in Teotihuacan, as to this important personage, in a similar way as well as in the cultural and political sphere of other peoples did (Mexica, K'iche'). The Tula and Cholula. It is quite possible, then, that conclusion is warranted that these diverse the Maya recorded several "comings" of a sources from different peoples all refer to the person with the Kukulcan I Quetzalcoatl title. same story. It was a truly Mesoamerican story, Thus, if the frescoes of the Temple of the which many peoples had in common, and to Jaguars in Chichen Itza indeed have a related which many royal families traced their origin subject matter, they do not necessarily refer to and legitimization. the Quetzalcoatl that would correspond to Lord By the time of the Spanish conquest this 4 Jaguar~ They might even express a literary theme had acquired epic qualities, comparable theme, not date a particular historical event. to the works of Homer or the saga of King A katun 8 Ahau, "600 years before the Arthur and the Round Table. During the Spanish conquest" (± 940), might well refer to colonial period the narrative was incorporated The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 101
into the Spanish ideological justification of the logically still poorly understood - may have conquest (cf. Lafaye 1976; Stenzel 1980). In been the incubation and matrix for the such cases it is difficult to identify or even production and distribution of the so-called discuss their possible historical value. The Mixteca-Puebla style and iconography. religious associations of the protagonist, Pre-colonial memory saw Lord 4 Jaguar / named after the Plumed Serpent (deity, nahual, Quetzalcoatl / Kukulcan as an important and symbol of power), together with a rhetoric historical ruler during the zenith and final tradition that embeds human agency within a phase of Toltec expansion, who, with great cosmic design, makes the situation even more success in different wars, played a crucial role complex. Understandably, many modem in Toltec-Maya interaction. Archaeology scholars are reluctant to even consider a suggests that there had been already historical quality of the Quetzalcoatl / considerable exchange and interaction between Kukulcan figure. On the other hand, nobody those two culture areas long time before late doubts the historical existence of Siyah K'ak'. Toltec times. The story of the historical Similarly, students of the Nuu Dzaui codices Quetzalcoatl makes us aware of the agency of generally do not question that of Lord 8 Deer. important individuals in propelling such The main importance of having recognized processes, and helps us to see Mesoamerican in the Nuu Dzaui codices an independent history and archaeology in a less anonymous version of the Kukulcan / Quetzalcoatl epic, is manner. We find here a suggestive analogy that this is a completely pre-colonial with the spread of the international Hellenistic confirmation of the story line. Without style in the Mediterranean world and the minimizing the literary character and religious historical role of Alexander the Great-- also symbolism of the narrative, we may start subject oflater mythification. exploring the possible historical reality of Lord Obviously, further research on this matter is 4 Jaguar / Quetzalcoatl / Kukulcan. The necessary. Until now the discussion about Coixtlahuaca lienzos and the Nuu Dzaui Kukulcan has basically been an effort to codices describe his actions as human and connect Yucatec, Guatemalan and Central normal historical events. They even provide a Mexican sources. I hope to have demonstrated precise chronological framework: according to that there is reason to use also the testimony of the Rabin correlation, Lord 4 Jaguar was active Nuu Dzaui codices in the discussion of this between A.D. 1087, when he started a military topic, and to not disregard the historical campaign toward Coixtlahuaca, and A.D. dimension of this personage altogether. 1119, when he conferred the nose ornament to Lord 4 Wind in Cholula. His absence at the immediately following enthronement and Acknowledgements marriage of Lord 4 Wind suggests that Lord 4 Jaguar died shortly after 1119. These dates This paper is the outcome of a long-term may be harmonized with a realistic active life research program on Mixtec culture, history and language, carried out by the author span of at least 32 years. These dates might together with Gabina Aurora Perez Jimenez at harmonize with a life span of 56 years the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, attributed to the historical Quetzalcoatl (which with the financial support of the Netherlands would place his birth in ± 1064, i.e. the Aztec Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). year 1 Flint) and with the statement that, having come (returned) from Yucatan, he ruled for twenty years in Cholula, and that after that period he died on another journey to Notes Tlapallan.27 It is interesting to notice that all sources See for example the detailed discussions by agree on the prominence of Cholula as the Davies 1977, 1980, and Prem 1999, who reach (main) capital of this personage. References to quite different conclusions. Tula Xicocotitlan (Hidalgo) - always focused 2 See for example Sachse and Christenson 2005 for the Maya part, while Carrasco 1992, on by archaeologists because of the known Florescano 1995, 2004, and Graulich 2002 similarities with Chichen Itza - are limited in concentrate on Central Mexico. these accounts to the "earlier life" (priesthood) 3 In this article I use the new nomenclature for of Quetzalcoatl. The pivotal importance of the codices as proposed in Joosen and Perez Cholula in the Early Postclassic -- archaeo- Jimenez 2004: Codex Yuta Tnoho 102 Maarten E.R.N.G. Jansen
Vindobonensis; Codex Tonindeye = Nuttall; metian en una capilla que para este efecto Codex Iya Nacuaa I = Colombino; Codex Iya estaba dedicada, en la cual los dos sumos Nacuaa II = Becker I; Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi sacerdotes los senalaban horadandoles las Nuu = Bodley; Codex Anute = Selden. orejas, 0 las narices 0 el labio inferior, segun el 4 "Este, segun sus historias (aunque algunos senorio que tenian. Con 10 cual quedaban dicen que de Tula), vino de las partes de confirmados en sus senorios, y se volvian a sus Yucatan a la ciudad de Cholula ... Afirman de tierras" (Acufta 1984/85, II: 130-13]). Quetzalcoatl que estuvo veinte anos en Cholula, IS Codex Iya Nacuaa I (Colombino), pp. 9-10; y estos pasados, se volvi6 por el camino por do Codex Tonindeye, pp. 50 -52. habia venido llevando consigo cuatro mancebos 16 Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu (Bodley), p. 10- principales virtuosos de la misma ciudad, y m, cf. Codex Tonindeye, pp. 65-66 and Codex desde Guazacualco, provincia distante de alli Nuu Nana (Egerton), p. I. ciento y cincuenta leguas hacia el mar, los tom6 a enviar .... " (Mendieta, Book n, ch. 10). 17 See Codex Telleriano-Remensis, f. 14v (edition by E. Quinones Keber 1995). 5 Chimalpahin (1998, I: 108) tells how Nacxitl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl attacked Teotenanco and 18 The day sign Jaguar is represented as a paw in in vain tried to conquer and destroy it. Codex Tezcatlipoca (Fejervary-Mayer), p. 6 6 References to Nacxitl are also found in other (see the edition and commentary by Anders, sources from the Guatemalan highlands, such as Jansen and Perez Jimenez 1994). the Annals of the Cakchiquels and the Titulo de 19 "4 calli, 5 tochtli [1457-58]. En este ano, Totonicapan (Recinos and Chonay and Goetz Moteuc,(omatzin el Viejo se apercibi6 a 1967: 64,176). combatir; y salieron todos de guerra a 7 For a more detailed analysis of the dramatic conquistar a Cohuayxtlahuacan, donde reinaba life-story of Lord 8 Deer and his interaction entonces el gran rey llamado Atonal [11], cuya with the ToJtecs), see Jansen and Perez Jimenez atenci6n absorbia el negocio del tributo de 2005 and 2007. todas partes del Anahuac. De este Atonal [11] se dice que era todavia hijo [0: principe] de los 8 See also Jansen 2006 for a more detailed toltecas y [descendiente de quien fuel natural de presentation of this argument. Tama'(olac de Toltitlan, de donde parti6, 9 Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu (Bodley), p. 9-II. cuando se desbarataron y se salieron los 10 Codex Iya Nacuaa I, p. 14. Nicholson (2005: toltecas." (Anales de Cuauhtitlan 1975: 52, cf. 156) points to the fact that the dots in the white Lehmann 1938: 252-253). covering of this mountain are different from the 20 Codex Tonindeye (Nuttall), p. 52. usual u-shaped fill motif, and proposes to 21 Codex Tonindeye (Nuttall), p. 75. interpret the sign therefore as "a sand- or ash covered eminence". A mountain of sand or 22 Codex Iya Nacuaa I (Colombino), pp. 22-23. ashes, is represented in a different way, how 23 Codex Tonindeye, p. 74-1; Codex Iya Nacuaa I ever (cf. Codices Yuta Tnoho, p. 42-IV, and Iya (Colombino), p. 2l-II!. Nacuaa I1, p. 13). The form of the covering in 24 Codex Iya Nacuaa I, p. 14, conforms clearly to Sahagun, book VI: ch. 4, 21 and 33. that of snowcapped mountains (cf. Codices 25 Codex Tonindeye, p. 78, and Codex Iya Nacuaa Tonindeye, pp. 11, 14, and Yuta Tnoho, p. 39). II 03ecker i), p. 3-III. 11 Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu, p. 34-11. 26 The lintel is reproduced by Seler, Gesammelte 12 "Asimismo, traian estas ofrend as los indios que Abhandlungen I: 683. The scenes have been de toda la tierra venian por su devoci6n en analyzed by Kutscher (1971) and Miller (1977). romeria a visitar el templo de Quetzalcoatl, Valuable watercolor copies made by Adela porque este era metr6poli [!ease: Tollan] y Breton in 1903/4 are preserved in the Bristol tenido en tanta veneraci6n como 10 es Roma en City Museum and Art Gallery (Bristol, U.K.). la cristiandad y Meca entre los moros." (Acuna Digital images of these have been made and 1984/85,11: 131-132). published on disc by the Bristol Digitalisation Bureau (October 2006). For a general 13 Codex Nuu Tnoo - Ndisi Nuu (Bodley), p. 9-11; evaluation, see Schele and Freidel, 1990: ch. 9. Codex Tonindeye (Nuttall), p. 52; Codex Iya Nacuaa I (Colombino), p. 14. 27 See the Leyenda de los Soles (in Anales de Cuauhtitlan 1975: 122) and Mendieta (Book 11, 14 The Relaci6n Geognifica of Cholula states: ch. 10), respectively. There are other "Asimismo, tenian por preeminencia los dos chronological statements from Central Mexican sumos sacerdotes dichos de confirmar en los sources, however, many of which are unclear or estados a todos los gobemadores y reyes desta contradictory on this issue. Nueva Espana, desta manera: que los tales reyes y caciques, en heredando el rdno 0 sefiorio, venian a esta ciudad a reconocer obediencia al idolo de ella, Quetzalcoatl, al cual ofre clan plum as ricas, mantas, oro y piedras preciosas, y otras cosas de valor. Y, habiendo ofrecido, los The Historical Profile of Kukulcan 103
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