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Information about Amate

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Part of the Huexotzinco Codex, printed on amatl.
Amatl (Nahuatl: āmatl, Spanish: amate or papel amate) is a form of paper that was manufactured in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The paper is made by boiling the inner bark of several species of trees, particularly fig trees (genus Ficus) such as F. cotinifolia and F. padifolia.[1] The resulting fibrous material is then pounded with a stone to produce a stretchy and somewhat delicate paper, colored light brown with corrugated lines.

Its use in Mesoamerica is likely to date back to at least the Early Preclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, in the early 1st millennium BCE. Iconography (in stone) dating from the period contains depictions of items thought to be paper. For example, Monument 52 from the Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán illustrates a personage adorned with ear pennants of folded paper.[2]

Word origin

Although its manufacture and use was common throughout Mesoamerican cultures, the material is generally and contemporarily known and referred to by its Nahuatl-language name, amatl.[3] The Spanish word amate directly derives from the Nahuatl term. 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".

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Amate tree growing in northern Guerrero, Mexico.

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.

Papel amate as modern folk art form

Beginning in the early 20th century, several tribes among the Nahuatl language speakers of Mexico began developing paper amate paintings as an art-form primarily for trade or sale to tourists or other outsiders. Today, examples of the form can be found throughout southwestern Mexico, particularly in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Jalisco, ranging from low-art and very inexpensive prints on papel amate to elaborate narrative scenes that can fetch much higher prices in city markets and fine art galleries.

Like most folk art forms, very few papel amate painters have achieved individual recognition for their work—most pieces are purchased because they follow a tradition of representation rather than express an individual voice. A few exceptions do exist, with most comprised of family members who learned to paint together, including Inocencio Jimenez and Felix Jimenez Chino, Marcial, Juan and Felix Camilo Ayala, and Roberto and Abraham Mauricio Salazar.

Notes

1. ^ Miller and Taube (1993, p.131)
2. ^ Miller and Taube (1993, p.131)
3. ^ Nahuatl languages were spoken by, among others, the Aztecs. At around the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest, Classical Nahuatl served as a lingua franca through much of central Mexico and surrounding regions, and Nahuatl terms were further spread and popularized by subsequent conquistador expeditions.

References

Further reading

External links

Mexico
(Mexico (state), Distrito Federal, Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Morelos, Oaxaca, Michoacán and Durango)
Total speakers: 1.7 million
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 Spanish, Castilian}}} 
Writing system: Latin (Spanish variant)
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Spanish (
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Paper is thin material used for writing upon, printing upon or packaging, produced by the amalgamation of fibres, typically vegetable fibers composed of cellulose, which are subsequently held together by hydrogen bonding.
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The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents.
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Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Spanish: Mesoamérica) is a region in the mid-latitudes of the Americas, namely the culture area within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the
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Ficus
L.

Species

see text

Figs, dried
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 0 kcal   0 kJ

Carbohydrates     64 g
- Sugars  48 g
- Dietary fiber  10 g  
Fat 1 g
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest evidence of human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
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2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of successive empires. The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids.
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San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán (or San Lorenzo) is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located southeast of Veracruz, Mexico. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture.
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Yucatec Maya ("Yukatek Maya" in the revised orthography of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala) is a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, northern Belize and parts of Guatemala.
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The Classic Maya language is the oldest historically-attested member of the Mayan language family. It is the main language documented in the pre-Columbian inscriptions of the Classic Era Maya civilization.
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The Maya script, also commonly known as Maya hieroglyphs, was the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only deciphered Mesoamerican writing systems.
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Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Spanish: Mesoamérica) is a region in the mid-latitudes of the Americas, namely the culture area within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the
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Maya codices (singular codex) are folding books stemming from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican paper, made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or Amate (Ficus Glabrata).
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Aztec codices (singular codex) are books written by pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


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(and largest city) Mexico City

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Guerrero

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Location within Mexico
Country  Mexico
Capital Chilpancingo
Municipalities 76
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Oaxaca is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the state. For the city, see Oaxaca, Oaxaca; for the ship, see Oaxaca (ship).

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Jalisco

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Capital Guadalajara
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Folk art describes a wide range of objects that reflect the craft traditions and traditional social values of various social groups. Folk art is generally produced by people who have little or no academic artistic training, nor a desire to emulate "fine art", and use established
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Abraham Mauricio Salazar is a Nahuatl Indian living in Oaxaca, Mexico. For most of his life, Salazar has been working as a farmer, painter, and teacher. His primary medium is papel amate, a folk craft tradition that the Nahuatls have used for over two millennia.
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The Aztec world
Aztec society
Nahuatl language
Aztec calendar
Aztec religion
Aztec mythology
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture
Aztec history
Aztln
Aztec codices
Aztec warfare
Aztec Triple Alliance
Spanish conquest of Mexico
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Classical Nahuatl (also known as Aztec, and simply Nahuatl) is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the Valley of Mexico — and central Mexico as a lingua franca
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A lingua franca (Italian literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology below) is any language widely used beyond the population of its native speakers. The de facto status of lingua franca
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