ARTISTIC DESIGNS & LOCATIVE GLYPHS TO ILLUSTRATE MC2 CAVES
Yoneda writes about caves illustrated on the Maps of Cuauhtinchan and makes stylistic comparisons with those depicted in the codices Quinantzin, Xolotl, Tlotzin, and the Rollo Selden. In a publication, "The Maps of Cuauhtinchan and the Tolteca-Chichimeca History", Simons describes surface topography and place signs in Map No. 2. She also identifies sub-surface locations called "caves." There are two types of caves: natural and artificial.
Natural cave entrance. Typical holes in the ground. Fray Sahagœn, a 16th century historian, described an ordinary cave in Mexico. "It is narrow, penetrating, broken through, black. It is spacious, enlarged. It is extensive, mysterious, deep. It is the abode of wild beasts, of the coyote, and the serpent; a frightful place, made into a hole,..."
Examples of ordinary caves are at Zitlaltepec in the Tintero, Pinal, and Huilotepec hills. Formed by water, these cavities have an ongoing current of air. A burial site was found in one of them. All that remained were fragments of bones and gold thread for burial clothes. Note the animal in one cave while a Chichimeca hunter shoots it with an arrow. Observe another cave where a hunter stands outside; a woman is at the entrance. This cave extends under the mountain with a twisted tree and encircled snakes, to exit in the direction of a lagoon.
Chichimec hunter shooting arrow at animal within the cave.
A bird inside the mouth of a cave adjacent to a ball court.
Another ordinary, and natural cave system is located in the pass between Amozoc and Cuauhtinchan. The area is "Barranca Cerro Partido". This old route and a pond is described proudly by informants in Cuauhtinchan as "el camino real". MC2 depicts this cave with both a cat and an eagle. It is associated with a sign of 9 Tecpatl. Simons makes the connection and writes, "This is the house of the eagle and the jaguar" (Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, 105).
Another example lies at the northeast corner of the map. This is north of Pico de Orizaba (ancient Citlaltepetl, 5,700 mts), a mountain with permanent glaciers. This natural cave is within Calocan hill at Tepetitlan. The cave mouth is towards the east. Note a person facing south. At the base of this hill and cave is an archaeological site.
A sixth example of an ordinary cave. Situated in the valley of Mexico, it is within a green hillock. A deterioration of MC2 tends to obscure the top of this hill. However, a black line at the summit may indicate an air vent. At its west side grows a nopal plant. Located on the south side, the entrance is primitive and obviously a natural cave opening. The interior is tinted red, alluding to an igneous deposit of pyroclastic material. These volcanic deposits are prevalent in this area. Simons makes this comment, "a hill with cactus-like vegetation on its slopes... It has a cave painted red, which has a white sign like a draped cloth at the opening."
In Mesoamerican cave symbolism, there are conflicting themes, mixed associations. Pictorial elements inside this cave are strange. Simons writes that it is the feathered part of an arrow. A member of a cave sect was invited to inspect this glyph. He talked of darkness in a cave, yet imagines a human silhouette at the cave mouth. A person who is facing outside by the entrance where solar light shines. Is this figure wearing a headdress? The neck is white, as if covered by an apparel. The arms are not visible; presumably the hands are extended forward to grasp a piece of woven fabric similar to white linen. Simons describes it as a "draped white cloth," analogous to a curtain. Near the ends of this draped cloth are knots. The ends of this draped cloth hang down.
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Drawing from Simons (1968).
An artist who draws MC2 caves thinks that the feature visibly behind the draped cloth is a preHispanic arrow. However, this arrow includes composite symbols, images which are stylized for a dual meaning. She argues that the stylized arrow is "humanized" and also represents an anthropomorphic being. Perhaps a woman, as based on pictorial elements: a rounded face, apparel, headdress, draped white cloth with artfully crafted knots and trailing ends that hang limply, apparent modesty of sitting or standing behind this curtain, all which typify a feminine way.
Modified cave entrance. A distinct type of caves is illustrated on MC2. They are not depicted with a natural opening or what Simons describes as "...a curved opening where the stones can be seen separately." These caves are much different. They are identified by a stepped platform "with a raised lintel"; a place drawn in geometric form with "straight lines"; a structure decorated with a botanical motif called marsh grass.
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From historical sources like the Map of Cuauhtinchan No. 2, La Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, Historia de los Mexicanos, Leyenda de los Soles, other colonial documents, and from disclosures by native informants, a research model has been formulated to interpret the origin and function of this distinct type of cave. This model is based on ten criteria:
- It was initially a typical hole in the ground, an ordinary yet spacious cavity, frequently used as a place of dwelling.
- This spacious cavern has a constant circulation of air due to variation in barometric pressure and outside temperature. This movement of air was interpreted anciently as a creative force that produces wind; which under certain atmospheric conditions forms mist or vapor at the cave mouth, and clouds that cause moisture giving fertility to the land.
- The cave was possibly expanded as a result of mining for natural resources, or it became ritual space and was enlarged to comprise a central plaza, altar, and other furniture.
- It became a cave sanctuary for cultist rites.
- A section of this cave system became a place of interment, an ancestral burial ground.
- Given time, it became a place of origin associated with genetic roots, a shrine for ancestral bloodlines. These lineages evolved into a pedigreed elite, a religious aristocracy which eventually formed a cave sect.
- It developed into a place for ascension rites and kingship complying with the social organization of a theocratic regime.
- This site was a "marker" for astronomical observations.
- With time, it became a punto de partida - a center for ritual, cosmic measurements, sacred geography, a ceremonial omphalos.
- As a sanctuary for worship, sacrifice, ceremony, and a repository for burials, this cave system was modified with architecture, sculpture, paintings, and became a funerary temple.
