The Art of Divination in Indigenous America—A Comparison of
Ancient Mexican and Modern Kuna Pictography
Alessia Frassani
This essay will focus on a few pages of two pre-Hispanic
religious codices from the so-called Borgia Group.1
Of the
estimated...
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The Art of Divination in Indigenous America—A Comparison of
Ancient Mexican and Modern Kuna Pictography
Alessia Frassani
This essay will focus on a few pages of two pre-Hispanic
religious codices from the so-called Borgia Group.1
Of the
estimated hundreds of manuscripts only five have survived
the destruction by the Spaniards during the conquest and the
following colonization. Nevertheless, a remarkable consistency
of style, iconography, and contents among these manuscripts
has been recognized.2
Early colonial and seventeenth century documents are the
main interpretative sources of indigenous pictography. These
documents portray religious customs and ritual practices as
they existed before the political and religious colonization.
Since the Borgia Group manuscripts date to a period just prior
to the European contact, a direct historical approach can be
used to interpret the iconography.
The original ritual context of the pre-Hispanic codices
can be inferred from writ
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