This is a visual record of the tributes paid by individuals from an unidentified Nahua town made circa 1550. The strip is divided into at least sixteen rows and is read from bottom to top. Each row shows the person(s) who provided the tributes, their personal names in pictographic form, and the items given. In registers 6, 8, and 12 is an Indigenous gobernador (governor) named Coatl (Serpent) on a seat of woven reeds with a back rest or tepotzoicpalli, a sign of his rank and position. The Indian judge Izcuintli (Dog) is featured on register 13, holding a topilli or staff of office A Spanish official, perhaps the encomendero, appears on registers 7 on top of a calli (house) glyph, indicating that the Indians from this town built a house for him.

Note: Possible connection between this fragment and 4045.2585. Many of the individuals depicted appear in both tribute records, including the Indigenous governor Coatl (Serpent) and the Indigenous judge Izcuintli (Dog). The style and colors of both fragments is similar as well.  

Description provided by Ana Pulido Rull, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville