What was life like in central and southern Mexico before the Europeans landed on the continent? How did people live and govern themselves? What part did religion play in their lives?
You can now see how the peoples of Mexico recorded their own history in an exhibition of codices on display in the Hertzstein Room on the second floor of Zimmerman Library.
The exhibit, "Mesoamerican Codices and Their Depictions: History Recorded, History Erased" will be on display throughout the spring semester. The codices are pictographic manuscripts that were created by the Mesoamerican people on either on long strips of material or on single panels.
The manuscripts graphically depict plants and animals, scenes of historic importance, and descriptions of gods and religious ceremonies, along with a series of symbols that furnish specific information about the scenes.
At the beginning of the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Mesoamerican people, the codices were routinely destroyed as the Spanish sought to remold indigenous life and society.
As a result, only a small number of codices exist from the pre-Columbian period. The exhibit features a facsimile of one of these, the "Códice Boturini," that describes aspects of tribal history in the valley of Mexico.
There are also a number of codices that were produced as the Spanish began to learn more about the codices manuscripts and value them for their use in settling matters of government.
One codex on display is a petition from members of an Indian community, asking the Spanish authorities to allow them to expand the amount of irrigated land in the community. Other codices show animals common to the area, and scenes from everyday life.
"This exhibit is meant to showcase a part of our collection that people might not be familiar with," says Russ Davidson, Curator of Latin American and Iberian Collections. "It should be of particular interest to pre-Columbianists, ethnohistorians, and others who want to know more about the early contact period. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the rich diversity in Mesoamerica."
This exhibit is the latest in a continuing series of exhibits organized by the UNM General Library's Division of Iberian and Latin American Resources and Services. The Division manages the extensive Latin American collection which contains nearly 45-thousand books and pamphlets, half a million microforms, and large holdings of rare and unique prints, posters, manuscripts, and related material.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Posted by kwentworth at February 3, 2004 02:52 PM