Códice de Temascaltepec

A major paleographic and iconographic analysis on an early colonial document (1566) from a criminal trial between two neighborhood ethnic groups in what is now the State of México. This legal dispute was integrated in a documental body of double nature: 12 plates that represent in the Pre-Columbian pictorial tradition with representations of the amount of the stolen and burned goods, its monetary value and the accusation of the plaintiffs. 72 additional folios (written on both sides) contain the statements, proofs and allegations. The combination of both versions: pictorial and written reflect the true motives behind the lawsuit between Temascaltepec and Malacatepec: the ethnic conflicts between matlatzincas and mazahuas resulting from colonial political and administrative reforms during the 16th century. The author offers a hypothesis stating that ancient conflicts between these two ethnic groups were reactivated when the viceregal government defied the limits in the new colonial jurisdiction against the former Pre-Columbian organization based in the ethnical-political entity of the altepetl. The original manuscript titled: "Pièces d' un Procès criminel (Temazcaltepec)" is part of the holdings of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France [Fonds Mexicain, no. 111].