Today we visited the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas to check out some really, really old Mexican and Colombian maps and books.
The first two are 16th century drawings of natives interacting with Spanish conquistadors. To read about this history, go here.
Here are depicted some young women who would become the first mothers of the earliest mestizos in Mexico.
Along the side of the manila folder that holds this old text, it is noted that these writings were written by Hernando Cortes to Charles V in 1524. The bottom of the page includes the words pies, manos, and beso. This is an expression of kissing the hands and feet of the king. Pre-emoticons.
The following map was made by native Mexican artists on Eurpopean papers. The map is of the state of Morelos east of Cuernavaca.
This map uses hieroglyphics to show the locations of various places in the community. The green boot-looking figure represents a hill where lots of yucca plants were located.
This is my favorite image -- a little guy smoking with rattles in a bathtub.
The following pages are from the same book. They show the intriciate artistry and penmanship of the authors.
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