320 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 28 



most of ihese cases with the white or red and white striped paint- 

 ing of the body. It is fairly stereotyped as to form and extension; 

 but a variation exists, inasmuch as in one of the manuscripts ( Borgian 

 codex) there is only a plain patch of black paint, while in the others 

 (Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection, 

 Sahagini manuscript) this black surface has a border of little circles. 

 In the Aztec Sahagun manuscript, this painting of the face is desig- 



FiG. 80. I'rocession and sacrifice, from t lie Sahagun manuscript and tlie Borgian codex. 



nated as the " face-cage marking " and the " face-star marking which 

 is called darkness (tlayoualli) '". The expression " cage marking " 

 refers, it would seem, to the stripes on the face. It is therefore evi- 

 dent that tlie technical designation " star marking, darkness " refers 

 to the design resembling a black domino. This nomenclature not 

 only explains the nature of the thing itself, but is also a proof that all 

 the intricate and manifold symbols Avhich Ave find as attri]:)utes of the 

 personages of the Mexican Olympus were no thoughtless repetitions 



