The First Correlations of the Indian Cyclography or Nahua Calendar

Abstract

In the face of the need for a new review of colonial chronicles that describe the indigenous calendar from Central Mexico, a series of sources are reviewed that generally have not been adequately considered with regard to how they are related to, and derive from, each other. Most of the chronicles derive from what are apparently three traditions, each of which proposes a correlation between the Christian and Nahua calendar. One of these representative dates is 1 March, which we will analyze, exploring its connections and implications. Above all, the review will emphasize Friar Toribio Benavente Motolinia and Friar Diego Durán, authors widely used by contemporary researchers but to date not thoroughly studied and understood with respect to their statements on the calendar system.