Biconical God Figurines from Cholula and the Codex Borgia

Abstract

The origin of the Codex Borgia has been under discussion since it was first published. Although there exists a consensus that it, along with the other manuscripts of the Borgia Group, corresponds to the Mixteca-Puebla style, opinions vary as to its specific provenience within the area where this style is found. The majority of the arguments proposed involve stylistic and iconographic similarities between elements represented in the codex and those found on ceramics and Prehispanic mural paintings, particularly in the Valleys of Puebla-Tlaxcala and Tehuacán, but a direct relation with any aspect of material culture remains tenuous. Recent archaeological excavations in Cholula have provided a large collection of peculiar Postclassic figurines that appear to correspond to the ritual "jars" represented on various pages of the codex. Because the distribution of these pieces is limited to the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, and they have not been reported for other parts of Mesoamerica, we suggest that their repeated occurrence in the Codex Borgia provides yet more evidence to claim a Puebla-Tlaxcala origin for this document.