Article suitable for older students

Every-day Nahua soundscape

2nd Dec 2024

Collage of sound images from Book XI of the Florentine Codex

We quote here from Kelly McDonough’s splendid book Indigenous Science and Technology: Nahuas and the World Around Them, in which she notes that ‘along with the sense of sight, Book XI [of the Florentine Codex] suggests that Nahuas were particularly attuned to the sense of sound...’ (Compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

The Nahua auditory universe of Book XI was a cacophonous din. Jaguars roared and snarled; brilliantly coloured birds whistled, warbled, and shrieked; snakes rattled and hissed; toads croaked; and bees and flies buzzed about. Humans spoke, sang, and beat two-toned wooden drums. They chopped wood and ground tobacco, herbs, and insects in their molcajetes (grinding bowls). They grated fruits and vegetables, and crushed and polished precious stones.

Quote from -
• McDonough, Kelly St. (2024) Indigenous Science and Technology: Nahuas and the World Around Them, University of Arizona Press, p. 52.

All images scanned from Book XI of our own copy of the Club Internacional del Libro 3-volume facsimile edition of the Florentine Codex, Madrid, 1994.