Aztec Codex Tradition

Timeline

1. c. 1325–1359Island in Lake Texcoco · Valley of MexicoAfter founding their city, the Mexica recorded migration myths, chieftain lineages, and founding prophecies in codices painted in blue, red, and black pigments on folded deer hide or amatl paper, interpreted by priests and scribes and displayed in ceremonies.
2. 1360–1370Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoWhile subject to Azcapotzalco, the Mexica began producing tribute and alliance codices, marking vassal towns and their tribute goods with glyphic signs; codices became authoritative texts for political negotiation and memory, their craft transmitted by painters trained in the calmecac schools.
3. c. 1428–1521Valley of Mexico · MexicoThe Aztec Empire used codices to manage tribute from thirty-eight provinces, record military conquests, and document calendar rituals; famous tribute pictorial codices like the Codex Mendoza type were still being made on the eve of conquest, and some codices were carried to Europe by the Spanish after the conquest.