Passage
For centuries, Mesoamerican societies relied on a rich tradition of oral storytelling, supplemented by pictographic records, to preserve their history, cosmology, and genealogies. However, the arrival of Spanish chroniclers in the sixteenth century initiated a complex transition toward the written alphabetic codex. While Spanish missionaries sought to document indigenous practices primarily to facilitate religious conversion, indigenous scribes (tlacuilohque) seized this new medium to safeguard their heritage. These early colonial codices, such as the Codex Mendoza, were not simple translations; they represented a hybrid form of expression where traditional Mesoamerican iconography coexisted with Spanish glosses. Tlacuilohque meticulously painted glyphs depicting tribute lists, historical conquests, and dynastic successions, while bilingual friars added explanatory notes in Spanish and Nahuatl using the Latin alphabet. Although the Spanish administration valued these documents for administrative purposes—using the tribute lists, for instance, to calculate imperial taxes—for the indigenous communities, the codices served a far more profound purpose. They were active instruments of cultural resistance, preserving a collective memory that the colonial apparatus sought to systematically dismantle.
Which statement best summarizes the author's primary argument regarding the Mesoamerican codices of the early colonial period?
- AThey contained meticulous records of tribute lists and dynastic successions that colonial administrators utilized to calculate taxes.
- BThey marked the complete elimination of Mesoamerican oral tradition in favor of European alphabetic writing.
- Although used by colonial authorities for administrative and religious purposes, the hybrid codices served primarily as a means for indigenous peoples to preserve their cultural heritage.Answer
- DThey were commissioned by Spanish missionaries to ensure that traditional Mesoamerican religious practices were accurately preserved.