Nahuatl Pictorial-Writing Tradition

Timeline

1. 1325–1410Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoThe Mexica developed court codex-making around their alliances with Texcoco and Tlacopan, recording conquest history, royal lineages, and ritual calendars in pictographic signs, forming a shared pictorial record standard of the Aztec Triple Alliance.
2. 1411–1420Texcoco · State of MexicoAs the alliance expanded in this period, court painters produced tribute lists, territorial maps, and royal genealogy codices, combining spoken Nahuatl with pictographic signs to provide visual archives for imperial administration and religious memory.
3. 1428–1521Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoDuring the Aztec Empire's expansion, codex types grew to include historical annals, ritual calendars, and war records, with the sign system becoming standardized; after the Spanish conquest most original codices were destroyed, and surviving and colonial-era hybrid codices became key sources for studying pre-Columbian civilizations.