4. How do we know what the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan says?
Mountains in Huehuetenango. In the Lienzo this place glyph features a parrot.
River in Retalhuleu, whose place glyph in the Lienzo shows two rivers flanking a ceiba tree.
Chimaltenango, in the heart of Guatemalan territory, was an important trade center.
Dutch archaeologist Florine Asselbergs first published her groundbreaking study in 2004.
Inside view of the Casa de Alfeñique Museum in Puebla Mexico, home to the original Lienzo.
Until very recently, the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan was a somewhat forgotten relic, vaguely thought to refer to conquest activities in the territory of Mexico. It was deciphered in 2001–2002 by Dutch archaeologist Florine Asselbergs from the University of Leiden (the Netherlands). Florine discovered that this was an account of the conquest of Guatemala. Her work was published in the book Conquered Conquistadors.
The interpretation of the pictography and illustrated scenes in the UFM Lienzo de Quauhquechollan project is based on Asselbergs’ book Conquered Conquistadors, and on subsequent research carried out by members of the Explorations on History project at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala.