Landscapes of Guanajuato according to a cartographic codex of the 16th century

Abstract

This work studies the 16th century landscapes of northern Guanajuato through elements represented in the painting accompanying the Relación Geográfica de las Villas de San Miguel y San Felipe de los Chichimecas, one of the richest and most complex pictographic sources from Nueva Galicia. Historical, codicological, paleographical, geographical, botanical, zoological, and ecological approaches are combined. The analysis of the document starts with reference to the Hispanic legal basis that generated it, its objectives, elements of composition and context, coupled with the analysis as a codex of Mesoamerican tradition, whose indigenous origin marks conceptual and plastic differences that distinguish it from the European maps of that time. Through the study of more than 200 figures -which include natural and cultural elements of the landscape- and the transcription of 38 glosses, the original orientation of the map is identified, a central area drawn in greater detail is proposed with a reference polygon, and surrounding areas and their possible landscapes are suggested. Different landscapes are recognized through the analysis of depicted native flora and fauna, as well as the introduced livestock husbandry: plains with seasonal wetlands, rocky gentle hills with nopaleras, semiarid grasslands on plains and rolling hills with moderately deep soils, different forest types according to elevation, and riparian vegetation. Finally, the nopaleras of the Tunal Grande are discussed as habitat and resources for the Chichimeca and other peoples that have occupied the region afterwards.