Top of page

View 134 images in sequence.

About this Item

Title

  • Codex Vergara.

Summary

  • Codex Vergara is an Aztec cadastral document, drawn up in 1539 by the Spanish conquerors of Mexico, on behalf of the king of Spain, in order to facilitate the collection of taxes from the native population. The document records the landholdings of the Aztec villages of Calcantloxiuco, Topotitlan, Patlachiuca, Teocatitla, and Texcalticpac. These villages and their locations and sizes are represented on the document. The first seven pages show the genealogy of the families of landowners and their connections to the various plots of land. In the upper-left corner of the page, the chantli (family home) is shown, followed by a human head without a body that represents the head of the household, which is connected to other family members by a horizontal line. Above the head, a phonetic symbol indicates the person's name. The actual cadastral document starts on the sixth folio. Plots of land are represented as groups of four or five dominos stacked on top of each other. The codex is one of the two most significant census and cadastral surveys of an ancient state in the Americas (the other is the Códice de Santa María Asunción). It records the surface areas of fields as well as perimeter measurements with a mathematical accuracy that compares well with Western surveys made several centuries later. This document is crucial to our understanding of colonial Mexico. It includes, along with other information, approximately 500 family names. The codex is written in pictograms and in the Nahuatl language on European paper, imported by the Spanish into Mexico.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1539.

Headings

  • -  Mexico
  • -  1539
  • -  Aztecs
  • -  Codex
  • -  Genealogy
  • -  Indians of Mexico
  • -  Indigenous peoples
  • -  Land titles
  • -  Mesoamerica
  • -  Pictorial works
  • -  Real property
  • -  Surveying
  • -  Taxation

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 56 folios : European paper ; 22 x 31 centimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Jorge, María del Carmen, Barbara J. Williams, C.E. Garza-Hume, and Olvera, Arturo, "Mathematical Accuracy of Aztec Land Surveys Assessed from Records in the Codex Vergara," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (September 2013): 15053-57.|Williams, Barbara J., and H.R. Harvey, "Content, Provenience, and Significance of the Codex Vergara and the Codice de Santa Maria Asuncion," American Antiquity 53, no. 2 (April 1988): 337-51.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of France.
  • -  Content in Classical Nahuatl and Spanish.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668120

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Codex Vergara. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1539] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668120/.

APA citation style:

(1539) Codex Vergara. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668120/.

MLA citation style:

Codex Vergara. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1539] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668120/>.