Explore the Codex Zouche-Nuttall: A Rare, Accordion-Folded Pre-Columbian Manuscript

An introduction to one of the few surviving pre-Columbian manuscripts, a deer-skin pictographic record of Mixtec history and the life of ruler Eight Deer Jaguar-Claw.

This Open Culture article highlights the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a rare accordion-folded manuscript made of deer skin that serves as a vital record of Mixtec history. Although completed around 1556, scholars consider it to be of pre-Hispanic origin due to the total absence of European stylistic influence. The codex contains two narratives: the history of important Mixtec centers and the genealogy and military feats of the ruler Eight Deer Jaguar-Claw. Discovered in a Florentine monastery in 1854, this pictographic “storyboard”—which would have guided complex oral recitations—is now available digitally, offering a glimpse into the sophisticated literary traditions that persist alongside the resurgence of indigenous languages in modern Mexico.

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