The mysterious Codex Añute, a plastered Mixtec manuscript from 1556, contains another cartoon. Dutch scientists have succeeded in 'reading' through the lime without damaging the codex. Shadows of the underlying figures can be seen for the first time.
The Codex Añute depicts the genesis of the village of Añute – today's Magdalena Jaltepec in South-West Mexico – and its dynasty. It is made of deerskin that has been plastered with lime and painted with organic dyes. Folded like a harmonica, it forms a book full of colorful figures.
In the middle of the last century, scientists discovered slight color differences in the lime of the codex, which indicated the underlying paint. At that time, science was even less careful with heritage and to be sure, the researchers scraped off bits of lime. Other paint actually appeared, but removing all the lime was impossible without destroying the codex.
Since then, the big question has been what is under the lime and how any underlying images can be made visible without damaging the codex.
'Looking deeper'
In a collaborative project between the Bodleian Library from Oxford University, where the codex is kept, and the universities of Leiden and Delft, various techniques have been applied to the codex to trace natural dyes under the lime. Although it was already possible to detect underlying substances when they contained metal, such as lead in Rembrandt's paint, it has now been possible for the first time to 'see' natural materials without removing the lime.
Hyperspectral Imaging had not been tried before and appeared to provide the most insight into the underlying text. Hyperspectral Imaging is an image processing method that not only shows colors, but can also distinguish different types of materials and convert them into images.
Meanwhile, the backs of all twenty pages of the codex have been scanned and fifteen of these have been found to contain new text. Archaeologist Ludo Snijders, one of the scientists of this project, talks about the research. “With this method we mainly see the red paint well and the yellow also appears here and there. However, the blue used by the Mixtecs has long since weathered and can no longer be found. In addition, part of the original cartoon was scraped away before the maker plastered the leather around 1556 for reuse. These images can no longer be traced either.”
Scanning highlights colors but did not produce detailed images. Snijders:“We can recognize figures with the information from the scans, but it doesn't provide enough details to actually identify them. So far we have drawn figures ourselves on the basis of the scan images. For example, we recognized a series of rivers and we saw images of newborn children, but we do not yet know who or what it is about. Year signs also appear clearly, ie it is a chronological story. But no, exactly which years are involved is still a mystery.”
Lord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
Names in codices are structured in a certain way. Calendar names consist of a number between one and thirteen and a character (there are twenty different characters). In addition, everyone also has a given name that is drawn in the clothing, for example a jaguar. “A well-known historical figure is Mr. Eight Deer Jaguar Claw. This hero is very common, but the front cover of this codex does not specifically refer to this figure. We would like to know why. Hopefully the text on the back will provide new information about this and may just turn some of what we thought we knew about this pre-colonial culture on its head.”
When you can read the names in the codex, the figures can be identified. On the back is often a larger drawn figure with the given name, which consists of a large knife and a twisted rope. “This is a well-known given name from this area. We just couldn't figure out the calendar name in the codex. In other books this name appears twice, but with different calendar names. So the question is whether this is a new person or an acquaintance. In any case, this codex provides a lot of information about this person and its history is clearly different from the other known genealogies from this area. In any case, deciphering is a great historical asset.”
Recycle
There are four more codices from Mixtec area, each showing the genealogy of a particular village. It contains deeds of ancestors, wars or alliances through marriages with other villages. Its history goes back several hundred years and often includes a dynasty origin story. For example, the ancestors were born from a sacred tree or descended from gods. “This is the only codex that has been reused, as far as we know. Of the twenty plastered pages, five were blank. This leather was added later. Also, at least one page is missing from the back, because the last page was once glued to the wooden cover. When you remove the wood you lose this page.”
The reason why the codex was reused is not yet clear. “After the arrival of the Spaniards at the beginning of the sixteenth century, part of the trade networks collapsed. Perhaps there was a shortage of deer hides around 1556, so they had to be reused. It could also be that reuse in this way was normal, but we don't know that because of the limited amount of comparison material left. Most of the codices destroyed the Spaniards.”
A third theory is that history has been consciously erased and rewritten. “In 1560, a neighboring village made a new European-style codex. This clearly showed the influence of colonization, with horses and churches. This village did not identify with the newcomers and Añute. The last codex was deliberately made in the old style and with original materials. Perhaps Añute wanted to distance herself from its pro-Hispanic neighbor by rewriting history. Many of the stories from the region lead back to a common ancestor and a codex is a political statement after all.”
Further research into the codex is needed. “In order to bring up detailed images, we need a better analysis method for the scans, in which the figures can be calculated from the data; for example through pattern recognition. But this is still in the future”, says Snijder.