DRAPED WHITE CLOTH

Simons writes, "The cave has a raised lintel... Inside the cave, there is the rear part of an arrow... Below that arrow, there is the draped white cloth which is usually found in this kind of cave."

At another site, Simons describes the pictorial element as, "At its entry, the characteristic draped cloth can be seen..."

And at a third site, "close to one of the peaks, a cave with a raised lintel can be seen, which contains the characteristic draped cloth..."

The draped cloth is a woven fabric comparable to white linen in a sheet. It hangs loosely at the entry like drapery or a curtain. Near the ends of this cloth are intersections as a bulge that protrudes; they are knots. The trailing ends of this cloth hang down. Other objects inside the cave appear behind the cloth, as if it is suspended in front like a veil.

What message is conveyed by the draped cloth? We don't know, except that it's shown in context with MC2 locative glyphs and caves for ritual use. Stone (1995) describes such places as a "topographic shrine" and explains that they "function more as encoded symbols than iconic representations of landscape features." This brings to mind other "signs" like a decapitated grasshopper, a straited butterfly cocoon, a human rib cage, a turtle, the rear part of an arrow, a human silhouette wearing a helmet. Symbols that may point to death-related imagery or mortuary practices. This insight leads to an analysis by Simons.

Drawing after Simons (1968)

"With regards to a possible interpretation of the curious sign found at the center of the caves' with the stepped entrance in Mapas No. 1 y 2, it must be noted that it closely resembles what Aztecs called tlaquimilolli, a bundle tied with rope (Sahagún Atlas, pl. XXVI, 20); Seler 1891: 131; 1904: 592). Tlaquimilolli - recouvert, enveloppé, lie (Simeon); tlaquimilolli - cosa liada assi; tlaquimiloa - el que embuelue, o lie algo en manta, o con manta (Molina)." [Recouvert, enveloppé, lie - a bundle that envelopes; to be enclosed in wrapping like a mummy; white sack fasterned with a cord, similar to the mortuary bundle]

Mortuary bundle

For ancient Mexico, it's said that mankind and its primary foodstuff (maize) came from a cave. Imagery of "mother earth" with her womb or utereus. As for a knotted white cloth draped at a cave's orifice, what does an Indian midwife say? A cord or linkage, something like a veil. A break between the underground and terrestrial earth; a separation midway darkness and light; a distinction between death and life. Her remarks focused on a critical part in the birthing process. The umbilical cord that conveys warm blood, health, strength. Noting meanwhile, a knotted cord that strangulates the flow of oxygenated blood.

March 1998