Aztec Codex

Timeline

1. c. 1200–1410City-states of the Valley of Mexico · Valley of MexicoPriests and scribes of the Mexica and neighboring states drew symbols with mineral pigments on amate bark paper; codices recorded city-state lineages, calendars, and ritual procedures, transmitted from earlier Mesoamerican writing traditions.
2. 1411–1420Tenochtitlan temples and court · Valley of MexicoIn this period codices were widely used to record tribute lists, conquest chronicles, and astrological divination; priest-scribes maintained codex collections in courts and temples, providing pictographic grounds for rulers' decisions and religious rites.
3. 1428–1519Across the Aztec Empire · MexicoDuring imperial expansion, codices recorded the types and quantities of tribute from vassal city-states; survivors such as the Codex Mendoza reflect this period's administrative pictographic system, blending conquest history with heraldic genealogies.
4. 1521–1600New Spain · MexicoAfter the Spanish conquest, many codices were burned; a few were redrawn by indigenous scribes at colonial authorities' demand or secretly preserved, becoming important remains for studying Aztec civilization.