Amatl
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Amatl (from the Nahuatl "paper") or Amate (Spanish) is a type of paper developed in Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. The paper is made by boiling the inner bark of several species of fig trees (genus Ficus) and pounding the resulting fibers with a stone. The paper is light brown with corrugated lines. It is stretchy and delicate.
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[edit] Word origin
The Spanish word amate derives from the Nahuatl language word amatl which was spoken by, among others, the Aztecs. In both the 16th century and contemporary Yukatek Maya language, the equivalent word is kopo' (modernised orthography, also rendered as copo in earlier orthographies). In the Classic Maya language, which was the main language appearing in most of the Maya hieroglyphics inscriptions, the equivalent is likely to have been huun (or hun), which also had the broader meaning of "book" or "bark".
[edit] Uses
The paper had both religious and secular uses. The paper would be painted using a brush and rolled up or folded for storage. It was used as a base material in the construction of several Mesoamerican cultures' accordion-folded books, including Maya codices and Aztec codices.
[edit] References
- Mesoweb resources Boot, Erik. A Preliminary Classic May - English / English - Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings, 2002.
- http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic29-02-001.html Sylvia Rodgers Albro and Thomas C. Albro. "The examination and conservation treatment of the Library of Congress Harkness 1531 Huejotzingo Codex." JAIC 1990, Volume 29, Number 2, Article 1 (pp. 97 to 115)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Construction of the Codex In Classic- and Postclassic-Period Maya Civilization Maya Codex and Paper Making
- 'Codex Espangliensis' Modern Art Codex printed on Amatl Paper
