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Mictlantecuhtli (Amatl Paper)
$30.00
It was a prepared paper pounded from the inner bark of the trees. Used almost as far back to the Early Formative period by the Olmecs (900 BCE) and used throughout later Mesoamerica 1500 CE by the Mexica, Mixtec, Maya, etc.
Amatl was used prominently for ceremonial and religious purposes. Splashed with blood, copal, and rubber to burn them as sacrificial offerings.
Many deities in the Mesoamerican pantheon were adorned with paper ornaments, like Mictlantecuhtli.
This paper served as important material for screen fold books and religious codices, like all 4 known Maya codices. These books were also known as tonalamatl, divinatory books.