THE LEGEND OF LORD EIGHT DEER

THE LEGEND OF LORD EIGHT DEER by John M.D. Pohl PART 1 THE WAR THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN Lord Eight Deer, known as Yya Nacuaa in his own language, was a great Mixtec Indian conqueror and legendary hero who lived nearly a thousand years ago, between 1063 and 1115. His biography is portrayed in the Mixtec codices, animal hide religious books that contain the longest continuous history known for any American Indian civilization. The Mixtec Indian people, over whom Eight Deer ruled, occupied the rugged mountains of what is today the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Thanks to the efforts of archaeologists, art historians, and most importantly the Mixtec people living today, the legend can be read from the pictographs contained in their ancient books and tell us a true story of his life. After twenty-five years of research, I have determined that the saga of Lord Eight Deer originated with a cosmic struggle that I call the War that Came from Heaven. [#1] The war began after the lords of two prominent royal families ruling at Hill of the Wasp married princesses from Hill of the Sun between the years 963 and 979. Apparently, these alliances upset a balance of power, for shortly thereafter war broke out. Soon it became a cosmic struggle in which the sun itself was eclipsed and the very stones of the earth and the stars of the sky were called forth to fight as supernatural warriors. When the struggle ended, all the male heirs to the throne of Hill of the Wasp had been murdered. Only two daughters survived the destruction of their kingdom. One princess married the king of Tilantongo, while the other married a lord from a neighboring kingdom that I call Red and White Bundle because the place sign is identified by a sacred bundle of staffs wrapped in red and white cloth for which we know no Indian name. The dynasty of the once mighty Hill of the Wasp was thereby divided between two rival families. [#2] By 1041, Tilantongo and a third kingdom, Jaltepec, had allied their royal houses through two generations of marriage, leading to a period of relative peace in the region. [#3] War erupted again, however, when three princes from Jaltepec were mysteriously assasinated. We can only speculate that Tilantongo was to blame, for the Jaltepec king broke the alliance by marrying his daughter, Lady Six Monkey, to the rival king of Red and White Bundle. A young Tilantongo heir was later found dead under mysterious circumstances, thus ending the kingdom’s first dynasty. Lord Eight Deer, the son of a high priest, usurped the throne of Tilantongo shortly thereafter. When the Jaltepec princes are killed, the legend of Lord Eight Deer begins. EIGHT DEER AND THE PRIESTESS OF THE DEAD In 1083, after the murder of the three Jaltepec princes, the great priestess Lady Nine Grass commanded the nobles of the realm to meet at Chalcatongo. Eight Deer was twenty. His father, the high councilor of Tilantongo, had died the year before and now he had been appointed to represent Prince Two Rain, the child pretender to Tilantongo’s throne. Eight Deer found himself seated before a host of the dead placed on the great scaffold before him. Each mummy had been dressed in a fine cape, their faces concealed by expressionless masks of wood, shell, obsidian, and turquoise. Eight Deer was extremely concious of what powers these relics possessed. No king or queen of the realm could rule without receiving prophecies from the ancestors and only the Priestess of the Dead had the ability to make them speak. To insult her was to invite ex-communication, the loss of one’s kingdom, and exile from the realm. Eight Deer peered at old Eleven Wind, king of Red and White Bundle, and then at Lady Six Monkey, queen of Jaltepec, seated at the other end of the chamber. Only ten years old, she was clearly bewildered by the scene but maintained an air of dignity among the retinue that attended her. Lady Nine Grass entered the cavernous chamber. Lifting a torch, she turned to the scaffold and addressed the host of the dead: “Southern wind, breath of earth’s being, take my prayers to the souls who feast with my brother the Sun.” She offered bowls of food and drink to the corpses’ dessicated lips as a light breeze blew through the cave accompanied by the eerie tinkling sound of the golden bells suspended from the stalagmites hanging overhead. Then the priestess turned and revealed her hideous face; the flesh covering her jaw having been stripped away leaving her with a permanent and menacing grimace. All were unnerved by her appearance as she pointed to the mummies of Six Monkey’s three brothers and exclaimed: “Most noble men and women, how do you plan to end this cycle of pointless violence that plagues your royal houses?” Lord Eleven Wind spoke first: “We gather to hold high converse with the mighty dead, to decide a proper order of marriage, and to reunite our kingdoms with their blessing.” The priestess considered his words carefully: “It is Tilantongo that has always been granted alliances through marriage with Jaltepec. Now you propose that right should be transfered to your own kingdom of Red and White Bundle through Lady Six Monkey?” “Yes, Priestess, Tilantongo’s king is dead, there sits the mummy right along side those three boys he murdered!” Eight Deer lept to his feet and shouted: “There is no proof of that accusation!” “And what of Two Rain, the dead king’s son?” inquired the priestess. “We wish to make him our king, and when he comes of age marry Lady Six Monkey as the law has prescribed.” interjected Eight Deer. The priestess looked at the scaffold thoughtfully and said: “Indeed the ancestors have already given me word of their desire. Prince Two Rain is the child of a courtesan and holds no rank worthy of ruling Tilantongo. The survival of this nation can only be insured if Lady Six Monkey should marry Lord Eleven Wind of Red and White Bundle.” Eight Deer was stunned: “By the gods, Tilantongo has dominated these marriages for generations and now you hand our divine rights to our most bitter rival?” The priestess glared at Eight Deer and hissed: “Would you have your whisper of a faction prevail against the voice of this nation?” Humbled, Eight Deer stared at the ground in silence. “The ancestors have other plans for both you and Prince Two Rain.” said the priestess. Eight Deer had every right to be disappointed by the pronouncement. He had been raised to believe that power was his right. His dreams and ambition could have taken him to the highest rank of royal councilors and warlords. Now he found himself cursed by the judgement of Lady Nine Grass and could only watch in silence as this priestess took Two Rain from him and sanctified the union of Lady Six Monkey and Lord Eleven Wind. Eleven Wind grasped Six Monkey by the hand and smiled a devilish grin. She seemed none to pleased with such an old man even though it would be years before they would be married. She glanced furtively at Eight Deer, the bronzed warrior of twenty. She could not remember when she had not loved him, but to honor her father’s wishes, she could not let him know it. When the engagement ceremony was completed, Nine Grass summoned Eight Deer to her throne and explained what more she had interpreted from the voices of the gods. “You are to establish yourself as warlord of Tututepec, then you are to take command of an army and conquer the coast of the southern sea. You will prosper and bring us all great wealth!” she commanded. But what of Tilantongo said Eight Deer. “Two Rain will go to live with the priests at Hill of the Monkey...” she said, “...while your brother, Lord Twelve Earthquake will serve as regent at Tilantongo.” There was no arguing with the priestess. The warrior bowed dutifully and left to prepare for his departure. When Eight Deer returned to Tilantongo he told Lord Twelve Earthquake all that had taken place with the Priestess of the Dead. The two brothers were sad for they knew that it would be many years before they would see each other again. Then Eight Deer said farewell. “May the sun shed light on your path!”, Twelve Earthquake called as he watched his brother set out over the rugged mountains. The little army traveled for a hundred miles over the trecherous mountain passes to reach Tututepec. We can only imagine what they must have thought of their new homeland once they had arrived. The Pacific coast of Oaxaca was a hot, desolate country overgrown by an impenetrable forest of low trees, brush, and cactus. There were few sources of fresh water and almost no usable agricultural land. The nearest port was ninety miles to the east. Eight Deer soon found himself surrounded by many enemies only too eager to capture or kill him and so he set about building a fortress. Secure behind five towering walls, the warlord began a series of campaigns to conquer the surrounding chiefdoms at Hill of the Flute, Hill of the Snake, River of the Jewel, and a score of others. With each victory, Eight Deer’s fame grew, but he was merciful and spared his enemieslives, thereby earning respect as a benevolent overlord. By 1090, Eight Deer had transformed his realm into a tiny empire that extended for nearly two hundred miles. Tututepec had become rich by trade and conquest. When local fishermen discovered a purple dye extracted from a rare species of shell fish that thrived in the tidewaters, great sailing rafts of foreign traders arrived with turquoise, a gem more precious than gold, from the north and cacao, a bean so valuable that it was used as money, from the south. Having achieved great wealth for his people in this way, Eight Deer sat on the steps of his palace one evening and gazed northward where the mountains of his homeland reared upwards through the red, wind-swept dust like some angry fire lizard of legend. It had been seven years since he had seen his home. He was concerned about the fate of his brother Twelve Earthquake, the kingdom of Tilantongo, and the indomitable Princess Six Monkey. QUEEN SIX MONKEY Six Monkey had just turned seventeen. As a child she had been educated in all the manners and customs expected of a noblewoman. She quickly mastered the art of weaving brocade, creating designs of astounding intricacy. Before long, she became reknowned for her skill in spinning rabbit hair into a silk-like thread creating masterpieces of art ornamenting the richest palaces in the land. But fearing for her welfare after the murder of her three brothers, her priests and councilors now took the precaution of having her trained in the arts of war. Six Monkey knew that to rule Jaltepec as her father had, she must command both respect and tribute from all of her subjects including two rebellious princes living at Hill of the Moon. Her authority must not be challenged or she could be overthrown as rightful heir to the realm. She had to consider that the outlaws had recently sworn fealty to Tilantongo, a hollow gesture meant to disguise their attempt to formulate an independent kingdom of their own. Although her impending marriage to Lord Eleven Wind of Red and White Bundle would all but reduce Tilantongo to the status of a principality, there was the pretender Lord Two Rain to consider as well as Twelve Earthquake, Tilantongo’s regent. She could only wonder to what extent either were actually instigating the rebellion. The Jaltepec queen therefore thought it wise to meet with the princes of Hill of the Moon herself in order to try to determine their resolve and end the dispute without blood shed. Six Monkey was bundled into a basket, and lifted up on to the back of a muscular porter, her usual fashion for travel. The day’s journey was short but arduous and Six Monkey was looking forward to a rest. She arrived at Hill of the Moon early in the afternoon and dismounted to present her vassals with gifts. But the two princes responded to her offerings with insults: “Behold brother, here is the little embroiderer who would pretend to be our ruler!” said the first. “I wonder if her weaving is half as pretty as her figure?” said the second. Six Monkey was shamed by these remarks and shouted in anger: “Swear your allegiance to me or you will be punished severely!” “We’ll kill you... we’ll kill you here and now before we’ll submit to the rule of a seamstress!” shouted the princes in unison. Although she was accompanied by her loyal captain, Three Crocodile, he and his men were hardly prepared to attack the palace and Six Monkey directed her men to hurry on to Chalcatongo to consult with her benefactor the Priestess of the Dead. “Damn them!” cried the priestess. “Do they not know that by insulting you they insult me? It is time that you proved yourself a warrioress!... or you will never be free from such rogues. Your priests have taught you well the art of combat. Now lead my army to triumph!” Lady Six Monkey immediately returned to Hill of the Moon and demanded that the two princes surrender. When the first prince burst out laughing and mocked her again, Six Monkey was not afraid. She had already seen much of the brutality of war in her short lifetime. She immediately dashed forward with such speed that her pole-axe went hard through her enemy’s shield bringing the man to his knees. The second prince was shocked and rushed forward swinging his axe. Then, seeing the fiercesome army that now moved into position behind the princess, he was struck with terror, dropped his weapons, and fell to the ground begging for mercy. Six Monkey knew that she must make an example of these brigands and directed her men to bind them as captives to be taken away and publically executed. Then the warrior princess of Jaltepec appointed her captain, Three Crocodile, to rule Hill of the Moon as her vassal. Upon her return to Jaltepec, Lady Six Monkey was bestowed a great honor by her people for her bravery in battle. The priests dressed her in a new cape exquisitely ornamented with chevron bands signifying her prowess in warfare. Then she submitted to the demands of Lady Nine Grass and prepared for her marriage with Lord Eleven Wind. Though he was over forty-five years her age, he was the highest ranking lord of the Mixtec land and would insure the survival of her kingdom and her people. Eleven Wind sent messengers to negotiate the terms of the marriage with Six Monkey’s council of priests and elders. They presented Jaltepec with rich bridewealth including hundreds of woven cotton and feather garments as well as jewels made of gold, silver, turquoise, and jade. After days debating who would inherit their lands and property if their should be children; the council consented and two priests accompanied the queen to Red and White Bundle. Eleven Wind had prepared a great public feast to honor the marriage attended by no less than two thousand men, women, and children. There they pronounced Lady Six Monkey to be queen of Jaltepec and Red and White Bundle, and not long thereafter, Lady Six Monkey gave birth to two sons named Four Wind and One Crocodile. EIGHT DEER RETURNS When Eight Deer heard of the battle at Hill of the Moon and Six Monkey’s marriage, he knew that he must return home to defend his lands and property from the ambitious Lord Eleven Wind. He left Tututepec in the hands of his ablest captain and set out alone. After several days traveling, he stopped to refresh himself by a spring of water where he used to play as a child. As he knelt down to drink, he became enchanted by the sound of someone playing a flute. Looking up he saw a noblewoman sitting on the opposite bank. Eight Deer thought that a goddess could hardly be more beautiful. “Oh, that I could be the joyful subject of such a song of love!” Eight Deer shouted awkwardly. The noblewoman was startled by the soldier’s scruffy, road-worn appearance and called to her servant to drive the intruder away. Late that night Eight Deer arrived in Tilantongo. His brother greeted him warmly, and the two shared a meager meal by the fire in the palace. “We are so poor now, that we can barely afford salt.” said Twelve Earthquake. Eight Deer opened a leather pouch and shook out a hundred nuggets of turquoise. Twelve Earthquake could not believe his eyes: “The stone more precious than gold!... by god, you come back to us a rich man!” Then Eight Deer told his brother about the woman he saw in the forest. Twelve Earthquake was concerned: “That woman was none other than Lady Six Monkey herself!” Although he knew she could be his enemy, Eight Deer continued to go to the spring hoping to catch a glimpse of Six Monkey. One evening he saw her. He could not help himself. he was enchanted and called out once again. To his surprise, Six Monkey sent her servant away and beckoned Eight Deer to join her. “I know who you are Eight Deer.” said Six Monkey. “I have never forgotten you, for you captivated my heart even as a child. How strange it is that we should still be drawn to each other. Can we really defy the will of our gods and ancestors?” The two sat talking, telling each other about themselves, their dreams, and their desires. They promised to meet again and before long they became lovers. ASSASSINATION In 1096, Eight Deer received shocking news. Two Rain, the pretender to Tilantongo’s throne, was dead at the age of twenty-one. His corpse had been found at Serpent River. “No one knows for sure how it happened,” said Twelve Earthquake, “They say it was suicide; an arrow driven through his chest by his own hand. Nevertheless, it was surely no coincidence that the body was discovered by one of Six Monkey’s priests. You should never have trusted that witch, my brother.” Blinded by rage, Eight Deer ran to the spring. He waited most of the day, seething with anger. Then he saw Six Monkey. “You and Eleven Wind had Two Rain killed didn’t you!” screamed Eight Deer. “You’re mad. He killed himself. My priest told me so!” shouted Six Monkey. “Last year you seized Hill of the Moon and now you kill the heir to our throne!” “I seized the lands of brigands who threatened my life. As for Two Rain, he was never destined to be your king, and you were a fool to hang your fortunes on that bastard son of a murderer. Have you forgotten that it was his father that killed my own brothers and that even I have a stringer claim to your throne?” Blinded by rage, Eight Deer vowed his venegeance and ran from the forest. Six Monkey was stunned. She fell into the grass and cried, regretting what she had said for she knew she would never see Eight Deer again. Eight Deer’s own prospects for claiming Tilantongo’s throne were remote at best. Without Nine Grass’s blessing who would support the claims of the son of a mere priest, much less the child of his father’s second wife. What success he had achieved in life only came through much struggle and sheer chance. Now there seemed little hope. Then one fateful day an ominous visitor arrived at Eight Deer’s palace. He was a big muscular man and his hunched-back lent him a sense of supernatural power. He had painted himself black from neck to toe and rubbed ash around his eyes. Upon entering the court, the mysterious visitor raised his great red staff, pounded it into the ground, and pronounced: “I have come to pay tribute to the great Lord Eight Deer from the priest, Lord Four Jaguar, of the Tolteca Chichimeca!” Eight Deer knew the Toltecs, a people who lived far to the north in the land of the volcanos. After the fall of great Tollan, they had followed the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl, south to Cholula and where they erected a great shrine to the man-god and later began to establish centers of his cult in northern Oaxaca. The Toltecs were very powerful and Four Jaguar was their great leader. Eight Deer inquired as to the purpose of the ambassador’s visit and discovered that Four Jaguar had heard of the death of Two Rain and the plight of Tilantongo. He wished to remedy the wrong that had been made against his kingdom and offered him the title of a Toltec king. But first he would have to endure an ordeal. “And what is the test?” Eight Deer inquired. The stranger responded: “Lord Four Jaguar challenges you to a game of rubber ball, my lord. If you win he will bestow upon you all the titles of a Toltec king and protect you from those who would seize your lands. “What if I lose?” demanded Eight Deer. “Then you must forfeit your life!” It was all or nothing but tempting none the less. Eight Deer knew that the Toltecs could turn the tide of war against any foe in Oaxaca. As things stood, Eleven Wind’s ambitions clearly knew no limits. Eight Deer could soon find himself living in exile at Tututepec. The warlord thought of his childhood and how he and his brother Twelve Earthquake had played the ballgame with such skill. He could have been a contender if he had followed that path to glory. He weighed the consequences and accepted the challenge. The game was set to be played at the palace of Tulancingo. THE BALL GAME The object of the ball game was intensely territorial with two teams volleying a heavy solid rubber ball back and forth until one side is no longer able to keep it in the air. At the point where the ball hit the ground, referees marked the territory that was lost to the opposition. The match was forfeit when one team is driven so far into the end zone that they can no longer effectively maneuver. The games bordered on social mania with kings wagering their entire fortunes on the outcome of a single game. Eight Deer sized up his opponent standing at the opposite end of the ballcourt. Four Jaguar was indeed fiercesome looking with an oversize nose and close set eyes. He had painted his body with long, thin red stripes that appeared to be blood. All around him stood high ranking nobles wearing robes of scarlet, purple, and blue. Most had painted their faces with the same ashen color as the ambassador. Some sported outrageous displays of jewelry, their noses pierced with amber, crystal, and turquoise ornaments while the women wore embroidered capes of silky rabbit fur. Their faces were painted yellow and their hair is dyed dark blue or purple. Many had stained their teeth red. Suddenly the ten pound solid rubber ball fell into the center of the court with a loud thump. The assembled lords and ladies lept to their feet shouting as Four Jaguar ran forward and struck the ball with a leather mit sending it flying back up into the starlit sky. Eight Deer raced backwards to receive but it was too late... the ball hit the ground with a crack and rolled out of bounds. A referee ran to the center of the court and announced: “...and Four Jaguar wins the point!” Eight Deer was sweating profusely as he glanced over his shoulder at the burly executioner standing behind him. Hisses and boos from the Tilantongo side of the court sent the referee scurrying over to the Tulancingo sideline. As the match proceeded throughout the day, Eight Deer realized that Four Jaguar was a tougher opponent than he could have anticipated. He was hard pressed to keep the game at a draw. The final round of the match began when Four Jaguar rebounded a low ball off the flat round stone in the center of the court. Eight Deer fell to his knees and rolled beneath it striking hard with his thigh. The ball bounced back up into the air towards Four Jaguar and the fierce round of vollying began once again. Now fighting for his life Eight Deer mustered his last reserves of strength and soon drove Four Jaguar into the end zone of his side of the court. Left with no room to manuever, the Toltec lord made one last attempt to return a high fly, but he failed. The ball passed out of reach and rolled dead to the ground. Utter chaos broke out among the guests. Everywhere benches were overturned and drinks were thrown. Many would lose a fortune in wagers that day. Accusations of cheating were followed by a good round of insults between the Tilantongo and Tulancingo factions until armed men surrounded the court and the referees called a halt to the fighting. Four Jaguar got to his feet, lifted Eight Deer off the ground and embraced him shouting to all who attended the competition: “This is a most worthy opponent, now we will feast in honor of his victory!” Exotic delights were set out on woven mats across the center of the patio of Four Jaguar’s palace; platters of white tamales formed like sea shells, turkey smothered in a spicy chocolate sauce called molé, rabbit baked in ground squash seeds and tomatoes. The food was exquisite, but Eight Deer was so exhausted he could hardly eat. He sat sipping a fermented wine called octli and thought about how lucky he had been as he listened to the sounds of laughter and delight. He had his brother to thank for teaching him to play the ball game that well; who among them could have thought all those many years ago that he would have to defend his very life with such a skill. After many hours of drinking and eating, the guests had settled their debts amicably and began to retire. Then Four Jaguar sat down beside Eight Deer and said: “You’ve proven that you are ready to forfeit your life to defend your kingdom, but what can you show us of your military prowess?” Eight Deer swallowed the last few drops of octli remaining in his goblet, pondered a moment, and then responded: “I’ll go to the Hill of the Moon and return in three days with a gift of proper military tribute.” At dawn, Eight Deer set off with his men to attack the fortress held by Six Monkey’s vassal. The fight was vicious but brief. Lord Three Crocodile found himself abandoned by his terrified men. He was promptly captured and immediately sent to Four Jaguar. The Toltec was very pleased and fixed the date for Eight Deer’s initiation as a “tecuhtli,” the designated patriarch of a royal Toltec family, as he had promised. On the day called One Wind in the year 1097, Eight Deer stood at the foot of the Temple of the Plumed Serpent. He gazed upwards at the assembly of Toltec priests who awaited him. He had spent many days and nights fasting and performing penance before the images of their gods. Now he was prepared to receive the high honors that would empower him as a rightful king among them. Musicians performed a solemn tune with flutes and drums as Eight Deer mounted the temple staircase. When he reached the summit he was led to a throne covered with jaguar skin, directed to sit down, and lean his head backward. Four Jaguar then applied a long needle made of jaguar bone above his right nostril and drove it hard through the cartiledge. Eight Deer winced, but the priest pinched the wound to stop the flow of blood. Then Four Jaguar carefully worked the pin of a shimmering turquoise jewel through the incision and fastened it above the left nostril. Eight Deer was helped to his feet. Though momentarily blinded by the seering pain, the new king could hear the cheers of his men all around him. JOURNEY TO THE ORACLE OF THE SUN Eight Deer returned to Tilantongo where he received the tribute of over a hundred ambassadors representing Nahua, Popoloca, Chocho, Cuicatec, Mazatec, Zapotec and a score of other kingdoms from throughout Mexico’s central and southern highlands. Each bowed as Tilantongo’s new head of state took his place on a throne carved from a boulder of solid bed-rock set into the middle of the palace court. With his brother Twelve Earthquake beside him, Eight Deer addressed the throng declaring: “You have made me king of this venerable house. May its ancestors now grant me the wisdom and knowledge to lead it to greatness!” The ambassadors rose and shouted in unison: “You hold great wealth and power in your hands, it is yours to give strength to us all. We give you thanks and we praise the majesty of your name, Lord Eight Deer. May you be exalted for eternity!” Eight Deer then walked among them and expressed his gratitude personally by distributing many gifts of gold and turquoise jewels; part of the extraordinary riches he had secured from trading on the coast of the south sea. “These jewels represent power and power is to be desired! Now great lords, join me for my feast!” The ambassadors spent many days partaking of Tilantongo’s hospitality and each departed well rewarded for his pledge of loyalty. Now Four Jaguar proposed yet another bold plan to Eight Deer: “I have made you a king among the Toltecs, Eight Deer, but I can never bestow upon you the title you need to declare yourself the divine founder of a new lineage.” Eight Deer only laughed: “Ha!, the Priestess of the Dead will never recognize any claim of mine over that of Eleven Wind or even Six Monkey.” “But there are is another more powerful than she who can bestow the honor,” added Twelve Earthquake. Eight Deer thought a moment. He knew that his brother was alluding to the great priest One Death, the divine incarnation of Father Sun himself: “They say he can only be reached by crossing a great river that divides the world of the living from the world of the dead.” “It is a dangerous journey... but remember, any thing worth while is only achieved at a price and there is always suffering where one’s life is gambled.” said Four Jaguar. The warlords set out on the path of conquest. Together they attacked towns and captured many noblemen, from each of whom they demanded: “Show us the way to One Death, the oracle of Father Sun!” But few could do more than say: “Noble conquerors, all that I have is yours, but as for Lord One Death... I only know that he rules in a land beyond time, beyond space.” Finally after many weeks of searching, Eight Deer and Four Jaguar were met by Lord Nine Water, the prince of Sparrow Mountain. “I have heard there is a house of the Sun at Achiutla but no one living has ever looked upon the face of One Death. He is protected by the spirits of those who had fought in the War of Heaven itself. I can take you to the river that divides the living from the dead, but I must warn you that if we venture beyond, we enter the heart of the earth itself.” The warlords were undaunted. When they arrived at the bank of the river, they launched canoes into the swift current. Eight Deer marveled at the shimmering canyon walls. At times it seemed as if the sky itself were set upon the pillars of stone that arched overhead. But soon the river was roaring so loudly that the men were afraid and their hands nearly dropped from their paddles. It seemed as if the canoes would shake to pieces on the seething torrents, but Nine Water urged them on and told them how to steer. Twelve Earthquake came very close to being sucked down into a whirlpool that suddenly exploded up from the depths, spraying foam to the very tops of the cliffs. Then Eight Deer shouted and pointed to the mouth of a great cave looming out of the opposite bank and the men steered toward it. Once they had passed within its gaping jaws the water became very dark and still like the surface of an obsidian mirror. Daylight gave way to blackness and bitter cold. “Deep are the caverns that lie beneath this mountain for this is the path by which the sun returns to the east,” cried Nine Water. The sound of his voice echoed from the stalagmites that loomed around the men, great spouts of water frozen in eternity. Eight Deer could just make out a tiny speck of light ahead and soon the cavern began to open itself up to a burning golden light. As the men continued to paddle they were soon astounded by what they saw. All around them grew fruit trees shimmering in brilliant colors of yellow, orange, and red. There were flowers everywhere and the air was intoxicating with their perfume. Looming above this sacred grove was a great blue palace that sparkled with precious gems. “I fear we travel in a world outside human understanding,” Four Jaguar warned as the adventurers dragged their canoes up onto the river bank and started up the palace staircase. “You do indeed!” hissed the voice of a shadow in the doorway of the palace. “Show yourself!” shouted Twelve Motion as he drew his spear thrower. The warlords were dumbfounded at the sight of an army of monsters seemingly materializing from thin air at the summit of the great staircase. Many were misshapen even frightening in their appearance. Some had no flesh on their bones, little more than walking skeletons. Others possessed the body of a man but the head of some animal. “Oh, but the living smell good... the scent of their blood makes my mouth water,” muttered one hideous dog-headed warrior. “Who or what are you?” shouted Eight Deer. “We are the souls of those who fought and died in the War of Heaven. Now we serve Father Sun.” responded a living skeleton. “Show us to your master then,” said Twelve Earthquake boldly. “It is forbidden. Only those who have died in some great battle may enter here. You trespass and therefore you must die!” The frightening horde moved down the stairs to surround the heroes. The skeleton man charged first and swung his copper headed axe at Eight Deer’s gut, but the warlord lept backward, pulled the misshapen creature past him by his shield arm and sent him crashing into a heap of bones at the foot of the stairs. At that same moment Twelve Earthquake narrowly missed losing his head to the dog-headed warrior. Four Jaguar was quick to strike that demon in the back; frozen where it stood, a black slimy ooze dripped from the gapping wound and then incredibly the spirit simply vanished into thin air. The warlords fought hard. Possessing no blood, no living flesh and muscle, the souls of the dead were hardly a match and yet for each one that they killed it seemed as if two more took its place. Finally Nine Water and Twelve Motion succeeded in reaching the summit of the palace. They loosened one of the pillars that supported a beam over the entryway. Pushing the stone away they sent the ornate stone facade crashing down on the shadow army, stopping their mercilous onslaught long enough for Eight Deer and Four Jaguar to slip up the stairs to join them. Then Nine Water ripped a torch from the wall and tossed it into the loose thatch. The thick black smoke was blinding. Dazed and confused, the spirit army panicked and began to turn on one another. “Now go inside, make your demand on Father Sun. Leave the defense to Nine Water and I,” said Twelve Earthquake. Inside, sitting before them on a great turquoise encrusted throne, was One Death himself; his head crowned with golden hair and his red face shinning so brightly that it burned their eyes just to look upon it. “What do you demand that you would dare to make war against the sun itself!” bellowed the oracle. Holding his shield up to protect himself from the intense heat, Four Jaguar spoke first. “You who see everything, you who know everything....we come before you repentent, but we claim your palace by right of conquest and now demand a favor in tribute.” “And what favor is that?” Then Eight Deer stepped forward and spoke: “I do not defile the house of man or god, I am here before you to ask you to confirm upon me your divine powers, Lord One Death. Reshape me, recast me, a man-god that I may found a new dynasty for my kingdom.” One Death rose from his throne and said: “You vain and foolish man, do you not think that I know why you are here. It was my desire that you come. The fact that you and your companions even stand alive before me is testament enough to my blessing of divinity.” “But I will give you proof so that your vassals will know that you have truly looked upon the face of your creator.” One Death instructed Eight Deer in the rituals that he must teach his people in order to properly worship him as a man-god and seek his blessings for eternity. Then One Death revealed to Eight Deer and Four Jaguar three kingdoms reflected in a great hole in the sky. Two they recognized as their own realms, Tilantongo and Tulancingo. They saw that their people were happy and prosperous; the third they had never seen before. It was called Place of Flints. “It is only the shadow of some future event. It does not concern you now.” said One Death ominously. Eight Deer and Four Jaguar then left the oracle of Father Sun and found their companions still keeping watch by the palace entrance. “When the veil of smoke lifted, incredibly the enemy had all gone.” said Nine Water. “But your face, Eight Deer, it shines, it radiates like that of some god. Truly you are now our divine lord, brother!” said Twelve Earthquake. The heroes were very grateful to Nine Water for showing them the way to One Death and rewarded him. Then once they had made their way safely back to the world of the living, they said farewell and returned to their kingdoms. PART 2 VENGEANCE At Red and White Bundle, Eleven Wind and Six Monkey listened in shock as the messenger told them of Eight Deer’s exploits. They couldn’t comprehend how he had persuaded so many of the lords of the realm to accept him as their true king, much less the oracle of the sun himself. “These Toltec usurpers infest our palaces like moths, slowly, silently eating away at our most revered institutions,” brooded Eleven Wind, “Are you not saddened by the death of your own Captain Three Crocodile, my lady?” “Not even a river of blood could wash away the stain of this disgrace.” whispered Six Monkey tearfully. Eleven Wind decided to consult his eldest sons, Ten Dog and Six House. “Father, You should have killed Eight Deer many years ago. Now he and Twelve Earthquake have become too rich and powerful for you and to attack we must adopt sham and trickery as our tools of policy.” said Ten Dog. Then Six House added: “Twelve Earthquake is our uncle and he holds higher rank in that family than Eight Deer. Yet he has never married. Since our own mother, so long ago deceased, was both Twelve Earthquake’s sister and your first wife, then it is we that should claim Tilantongo from Twelve Earthquake’s family upon his death!” “But Twelve Earthquake is not dead yet.” said Eleven Wind. “It so happens that we have just learned that Twelve Earthquake is sick with fever after his journey to the forbidden land of Father Sun and is traveling to seek a cure by purifying himself at a sacred sweatbath located not far from here. We have devised a plan.” said Ten Dog. Sweatbaths were very small adobe chambers in which a few men or women could sit or lie down at the same time and pray to their ancestors to forgive them for their transgressions and ask for the cure to their ailments. Attendants built a raging fire against the outside of one wall and the occupants threw water on it from the inside to produce clouds of steam that were believed to cleanse the body. Sometimes the sick would gather bunches of special herbs and use them to strike each other lightly on the back, arms, and legs to stimulate the skin believing that the pores would open and release the fever into the air more swiftly. When Twelve Earthquake came to the sweatbath, he could never have known that the man who entered behind him had concealed a weapon within such branches. No sooner had the hapless patient lain down on his back to pray, then the assasin plunged a knife into his chest, killing him instantaneously with one powerful blow. When Eight Deer arrived on the murder scene he was appalled for he dearly loved his brother. They had been through much together, indeed they shared the throne of Tilantongo. Eight Deer had his brother’s body carried to Tilantongo where it was carefully washed, placed in a scaffold, and burned. “The voice of my brothers’ blood cries to me from this ground. It tells me that I must now find the courage to be evil just to survive.” Eight Deer proclaimed. Then he directed his priests to collect the fire-blackened bones and bundle them in cloth. The next day a feast to was held in honor of Twelve Earthquake’s memory and then his remains were placed in a vault in the center of the courtyard of Tilantongo’s palace. Eight Deer could never prove that Eleven Wind and Six Monkey had planned this insidious murder. But then he didn’t have to. They had both coveted Tilantongo as surviving members of the kingdom’s first dynasty. Now Ten Dog and Six House claimed that they should rule the kingdom as the rightful heirs of Twelve Earthquake himself. Eight Deer had no other choice but to attack Red and White Bundle and to destroy it, burn it, and insure that its accursed kings and queens should never again bring such death and destruction to his land. THE FINAL BATTLE In the fall of A.D. 1101, the harvest was in and Eight Deer marched out of Tilantongo at the head of a massed army of over a thousand men. The troops spent the morning carefully negotiating the mountain pass finally reaching Red and White Bundle in the late afternoon. Eleven Wind and his sons had spent many weeks preparing for this seige. Their palace was built on a narrow plain bounded on three sides by a deep gorge that descended some four hundred feet into the river below. He had only to use his men to defend his north flank where he directed them to construct an earthen wall to resist any direct assault. At seventy-four, Eleven Wind was far too old to engage in any fighting himself. Nevertheless, he directed his servants to dress him in his armour. At the very least his appearance before his palace might inspire his troops. Eight Deer walked slowly forward to within an arrow’s shot of the enemies fortifications and shouted: “Who are that man and woman you serve but bloody tyrants! Both the gods and those wronged souls slaughtered for what they now possess fight on our side!” Receiving no sign of willingness to surrender, he then gave the signal and the blast of a conch shell trumpet sent his heavy infantry forward at a dead run through a furious hail of sling shot. Miraculously Eight Deer reached the fortification unscathed and called to some men behind him to bring up a scaling frame. With one great heave they threw the cane and rope structure against the embankment and climbed over to join the enemy in vicious hand to hand combat. Eight Deer used his axe to slash his way through the first line of soldiers and immediately found himself face to face with Ten Dog and Six House. “Though you are blood of my blood, I’ll slaughter you here if you do not lay down your arms.” cried Eight Deer. “If we are to be conquered let a legitimate lord conquer us, not some base pretender!” hissed Ten Dog. He drove an atlatl dart straight through Eight Deer’s shield as Six House swung his own hatchet down splitting his helmet in two. Eight Deer was stunned by the blows and collapsed to his knees unconcious. Only the immediate arrival of his own men kept the two brothers from slaughtering him. Surrounded at spear point, Ten Dog and Six House were disarmed, bound, and hurried to the back of the line. While some tried to revive him, the rest of Eight Deer’s men now moved against Red and White Bundle’s fortified palace using a log ram to break down the barricades. Once inside, they found Eleven Wind and Six Monkey standing in the middle of the plaza surrounded by their servants. “Someone bring me a pike or an axe that I may defend my family!” cried Eleven Wind. Exhausted and outnumbered, the servants knew their fate would lie with the sacrificial stone if they did not surrender. They sank to their knees and begged for their lives as the old king was dragged helplessly away to his execution. When Eight Deer finally regained conciousness, he mustered his strength and ran to the palace. There in the patio Lady Six Monkey lay mortally wounded desperately trying to conceal her children. Tears came to Eight Deer’s eyes as he knelt down beside her, cradled her head in his lap, and whispered: “Oh my poor Six Monkey, what filthy victory is this that I have won? Now death sucks the honey of your breath away and I can never more hope to hold you in love’s embrace... I am doomed.” Six Monkey looked upward and gasped: “We have been unable to alter the destinies that the gods decree for us afterall. The boundaries between life and death are vague, who can say that we may not meet again in paradise.” Eight Deer watched the life slip from Six Monkey’s body. Then he took her sons Prince Four Wind and Prince One Crocodile by the hand and led the boys away from the palace. THE DEATH OF EIGHT DEER AND THE LEGACY HE LEFT Ten Dog and Six House were kept as hostages for a year and then formally executed in military rituals, to appease the gods during a terrible drought that plagued the land in 1102. Arrayed in the white paper garments of sacrificial victims, the two brothers stood trembling at the center of the patio. Before them rose a great scaffold extending like some extraordinary stairway into the red dawn sky. When the shimmering morning star ascended over a dark mountain in the distance, the eerie silence of the palace was shattered by the thunder of drums and bellowing conch shell trumpets. An old man rose from the gathering of noble men and women and sang a divine proclamation to the court from a painted book of pictographs. His recitation commited the princes to their fate by declaring the legitimacy of the great Lord Eight Deer, who sat silent, brooding before the palace entryway. Soldiers escorted the condemned forward to waiting priests. Six House was lifted and bound to the scaffold, while his brother was tied to a heavy circular stone carved with the image of the dawn star. A priest approached Six House and let loose a barage of spears. Six House screamed and then collapsed in death. Just as suddenly, men disguised in terrifying jaguar costumes with razor-like obsidian claws lept into the patio and set upon Prince Ten Dog who was armed only with mock weapons. The attackers engaged their victim in an ominous game of predator and prey, but after a furious gladiatorial combat, the exhausted Ten Dog too, fell to brutal blows. [#22] Following the execution of his two half-nephews Eight Deer made the kingdom of Jaltepec a tributary but allowed Six Monkey’s children to live there in peace. In 1103, Eight Deer married Eleven Wind’s eldest daughter from a previous marriage, a half-niece named Lady Thirteen Serpent, thereby uniting Red and White Bundle’s bloodline with his own to create a new dynasty at Tilantongo. For the next twelve years, the great war lord ruled over a vast domain extending from Tilantongo south to Tututepec, only to die as vilolently he had lived. One summer evening in 1115, Eight Deer was hunting birds with Six Monkey’s son Lord Four Wind, who was now 23. Although he had treated Four Wind like his own child, the prince was forever reminded that it was Eight Deer who had killed his mother. Determined to revenge her death, he arranged to have Eight Deer ambushed by an assasin hidden in a cave concealed by bushes. On his signal, the enemy ran forth driving a knife into Eight Deer’s chest so violently that it killed him instantaneously. [#23] Prince Four Wind held up a torch and knelt to examine the corpse for it was hard for him to believe that the great warlord was really dead. He directed his servants to have Eight Deer’s body taken to Lady Nine Grass and placed on the scaffold with the mummies of the greatest kings and queens of the land. Angered by the death of his friend and ally, Lord Four Jaguar attacked Four Wind, but the two eventually reached an agreement and in 1140, Four Wind established a small palace among the ruins of the more ancient ceremonial center of Place of Flints. Four years later, he married Eight Deer’s daughter and thereby united all of the factions born out of the War that Came from Heaven. The great celebration was attended by more than a thousand men and women of noble blood. Everyone ate the most exotic dishes of meat and fruit. They drank the most delicious beverages of chocolate and exchanged many gifts with one another. The singing and dancing lasted for many days for all everyone knew that this union would bring lasting peace to the land of the Mixtecs. THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY The Mixtec codices portray a world of kings and queens that is at once awe inspiring, even beautiful, but also brutal. I have often wondered what these remarkable stories meant to the ancient royal families who so carefully painted and preserved them. We know that the books were sacred, bibles of Mixtec liturgy that contained messages of devotion for the mind and heart. They spoke to the heroic spirit, of valor, and ideals of both good and bad conduct. The struggle of a man standing alone in the face of adversity has always been a compelling theme throughout the world’s great literature; still we see in the legend of Eight Deer that the hero inevitably pays the ultimate price, no matter how worthy his cause. Queen Six Monkey and Lord Eleven Wind also possess noble traits, but like Eight Deer, vengeance for past wrongs, together with single-minded ambition is what finally causes their downfall. Ultimately, the awful cycle of callous murder that characterizes this tragedy startles and may even fighten us, not so much through its graphic violence, but by awakening in us the fear that we might all confront some inducement that could turn our own hearts dark with murderous ambition and the hunger for vengeance if faced with the same challenges. Today the Mixtec people believe that the earth is sacred, every hillside, every valley, p1ain, and grove has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. The very stones and dirt on which they stand are rich with the blood of their ancestors and their feet are always concious of their touch. Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone calling my name shook me from my thoughts of the ill-fated princes Ten Dog and Six House. It was Don Crispín Lopez Zarate a resident of Tilantongo, today a small village located in the remote mountains of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. I had asked my friend if he knew any place names and stories about the ruins I was excavating. “Sure,” he said confidently, “you know that road that leads up to the ruins behind the church? Its called Ichi ndaa ndehui.” “What does that mean,” I asked. “The road that goes up to heaven,” Crispín responded and then he told me a remarkable legend about two heroes who survived terrible misfortune until they came to this place and found two ropes hanging down from the sky. One climbed up the first rope and he became the sun. The other climbed up the second rope and she became the moon. “and that’s why we call this ruin you’re excavating the House of Heaven.” Said Crispín. I was dumbfounded and showed my friend the pictograph of the House of Heaven in the codex. As I sat on the ruins of the ancient pyramid, I kept replaying the frightening scenario over and over in my mind, trying to determine where the brutal murders might have taken place. Spread out before me were copies of ancient pictographic books called codices. Using a magnifying glass I could just barely make out the figure of Lord Eight Deer brutally assassinating his nephews in a bloody ritual before a temple. The question in my mind was whether the pyramid I was now investigating was this same place. Lord Eight Deer, known as Iya Nacuaa in his own language, was a great conqueror and legendary hero who lived nearly a thousand years ago between A.D. 1063 and 1115. His biography is portrayed in the Mixtec codices, animal-hide religious books that contain the longest continuous history known for any American Indian civilization. The Mixtec Indigenous people, over whom Eight Deer ruled, occupied the rugged mountains of what is today the Mexican state of Oaxaca. They were famous for creating astounding masterpieces of art in miniature; not only the codices, but also jewelry of gold, silver, and turquoise, intricate weaving and embroidery of cotton so fine it was compared to silk, mosaics of feathers from rare tropical birds, and ornamental paintings in ceramic and fresco. Using their prowess as both artisans and war lords, the Mixtecs eventually intermarried with the royal families of the Zapotecs to the east and the Toltecs to the north, founding confederacies of city-states that dominated southern Mexico between A.D 1100 and 1521. Fearless in defense of their mountain homeland, the Mixtecs have always defied outside invaders; first the Aztecs of the Valley of Mexico and later the Spaniards. Today over four hundred thousand Mixtec people continue to live in western Oaxaca. Many lead lives as farmers growing maize, beans, and other agricultural products in much the same way as their Pre-Columbian ancestors. They are fascinated with the ruins of ancient palaces and temples and continue to invoke the legends of the ancient kings and queens. Regretfully, the Spaniards recorded little about the codices, aside from noting that they were displayed in the palaces. It was in these noble surroundings that the heroic legends were recounted by a royal poet who used the painted images to inspire his recitation during theatrical reenactments of the events by costumed performers at royal feasts. The tales of love affairs, marriages, wars, murders, and political intrigue rival the works of Shakespeare, Sophocles, or Homer. By fortunate circumstances, eight outstanding examples of the pre-Columbian style codices have survived centuries of neglect following the 16th century Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Today these priceless artifacts are preserved in various libraries and museums around the world. My own interest in them began as a university student in archaeology. Having once worked as a staff artist for the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, I was always searching for novel ways to bring the past to life through dramatic or artistic reconstructions. I was attracted to the potential of motion pictures and thought that the Mixtec pictographs were perfectly adapted to character animation. I made a short film of Eight Deer battling his nephews before the House of Heaven and showed it to several experts in the field. I was dumbfounded to learn that very little was known about where the actual events took place and decided to pursue a study of the Eight Deer saga for my graduate work. “You can’t take them seriously as real history, they have no basis in archaeological fact. They’re either mythology or aristocratic propaganda!”, so one professor scolded me when I proposed my dissertation topic. Fellow students could hardly believe that anyone would seriously consider the codices as anything but primitive cartoons. Nevertheless, I was captivated by the painted images and began to work carefully through scholarly writings on the subject by myself. The most convincing evidence that these were not fable but true histories was not only the continuous five hundred year chronology of events, but also the fact that Eight Deer’s direct descendants were known to the Spaniards personally. It was the famous Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso that first proved conclusively that the eight codices were even Mixtec. In 1932, Caso had discovered a tomb in the Valley of Oaxaca that contained a Mixtec treasure of gold and other gems. Most of the jewels were magnificently carved or cast with figures recognizable from the painted books. Many years later, Caso published a landmark study of a Colonial Mixtec painting on linen, the Mapa de Teozacoalco preserved at the University of Texas in Austin. Caso was the first to note that the map depicted Eight Deer and his descendants up through the time of the Conquest. A Spanish text identified the dynasty of the great king as that of Tilantongo, a remote village in the mountains of the Mixteca Alta. The map proved to be a rosetta stone for determining the location of not only Eight Deer’s kingdom but even the House of Heaven symbolized by a temple with stars ornamenting its roof. Mary Elizabeth Smith, who worked closely with Caso up to his death in 1970, subsequently identified the nearby town of Jaltepec as the kingdom of Lady Six Monkey, the queen who challenged Eight Deer’s right to rule. It was the pioneering work of these two individuals that led me to travel to these remote mountain valleys to investigate the ruins of their ancient palaces. After thirty-years of researching the story, I have determined that the saga of Lord Eight Deer and Lady Six Monkey originated with a tragic dynastic conflict that I call the War that Came from Heaven waged over a millenium ago between A.D. 963 and 979. This war began after the lords of two prominent royal families ruling at Hill of the Wasp, married princesses from Hill of the Sun. Apparently these alliances upset a balance of power, for shortly thereafter war broke out. There were several participating factions, including a group of people who appear as if they were made of stone. At the outbreak of the war, the Stone Men first attacked Hill of Flints but they were repelled by the mighty Mixtec god, Lord Nine Wind. Then they attacked the palace of the royal family at Hill of the Wasp where they not only sacrificed one lord and lady, but all the male heirs to the throne as well. Two daughters, children of a second couple, were either spared or escaped the destruction of their kingdom. One princess married the king of Tilantongo while the other married the lord from a neighboring kingdom that I call Red and White Bundle for lack of a more precise identification. The dynasty of the once mighty Hill of the Wasp was thereby divided between two rival families. By A.D. 1041, Tilantongo and a third kingdom, Jaltepec, had allied their royal houses through two generations of marriage leading to a period of relative peace in the region. War erupted again however when three princes from Jaltepec were mysteriously assassinated. We can only speculate that Tilantongo was to blame, for the Jaltepec king broke hthe alliance by marrying his daughter, Lady Six Monkey, to the rival king of Red and white Bundle. A young Tilantongo heir was later found dead under mysterious circumstances, thus ending the kingdom’s first dynasty. Lord Eight Deer, the son of a high priest, usurped the throne of Tilantongo shortly thereafter. he spent four years carefully negotiating new alliances with the Toltec kings to the north and finally prepared to reestablish his kingdom’s venerated position. By one account, war was declared in A.D. 1100, when Eight Deer’s half-brother was assassinated. This time we surmise that Lady Six Monkey and her husband were to blame, for Lord Eight Deer led an assault on Red and White Bundle assasinating not only Queen Six Monkey but all of the male heirs to that kingdom including his own nephews. He then forced their sister into marriage. By executing the last heirs to the throne of Red and white Bundle, and fusing their dynasty with his own, Eight Deer had finally destroyed Tilantongo’s powerful rival, after nearly a century of regicide that began with the War of Heaven. Lord Eight Deer later took several wives and had many children. By the time of the Spanish Conquest in 1521, the dynasty of Tilantongo kings was the most exalted in Oaxaca. I have spent much time analysing the sequence of warfare and alliance in the War of Heaven and Eight Deer periods. Outside of the place sign identifications of Tilantongo and Jaltepec, little was known of the locations of any of the other kingdoms particularly with regard to the remarkable accounts of the War of Heaven. Caso believed that what we call Hill of the Wasp for example, was a great metropolis, yet no archaeological site as large as that was known for the Mixteca. The codices had become like a treasure map for some real geographical space, yet for the most part, I was at a loss to identify where that piece of geography might lie. Tracing the royal families of Tilantongo and Jaltepec back to their roots at Hill of the Wasp , Hill of Flints, and Red and White Bundle, I concluded that the War of Heaven and Eight Deer conflicts were for the most part very localized. This in turn meant that the settlements represented by the place signs in the codices must have been relatively small, perhaps simply elite palaces or isolated ceremonial centers and not large communities at all. Together with a colleague named Bruce Byland, I began to make settlement maps of the ruins around Tilantongo and Jaltepec. Initially we had wanted to survey the region if nothing more than to prove that the place signs in the codices applied to small elite estates and not entire cities as others had proposed, but before long we encountered many farmers who knew actual Mixtec names for the ruins as well as ancient legends. Some scholars think that Eight Deer may have proposed marriage to Lady Six Monkey. Indeed, he appears in the codices as if he were her consort. Others have speculated that they were lovers. One day I was showing my friend Don Crispín a picture of Eight Deer and Six Monkey together and he told me a remarkable story. “There was once a Tilantongo prince who wished to be the queen of Jaltepec’s lover. The queen was very fond of him as well.” Don Crispín said. “Unable to resolve a dispute over who amongst them should be her favorite, the queen directed her suitors to gather on a mountain there to the east where they made a wager that he who could throw a stone farthest towards the spring where the queen was bathing could indulge her. Each stepped forward and took his turn, and being semi-divine many could throw their stones very far. But the king of Tilantongo was very clever. He had concealed a small grey bird in his cape and when it came to be his turn he threw the bird instead of the stone. The bird flew those many miles over the valley to exactly where the queen was bathing. The others were astounded but still fooled by the trick and so the king of Tilantongo won the bet and became the queen’s lover.” The story fascinated me. Obviously the people of Tilantongo and Jaltepec had been passing on an oral tradition of pre-Columbian legends for over five hundred years that was directly related to what I was seeing in the codices perhaps even the legned of eight Deer and Six Monkey themselves. A few weeks later, my survey team encountered ruins on Hill of the Bet, but it was the adjoining temple complex located a few hundred yards away that really fascinated me. I asked a farmer working nearby what he called the place. “Yucu Yoco, Maestro... Hill of the Wasp!” he said. The name matched the place sign in the codices that marked the royal house involved in the War of Heaven. I made a sample collection of pottery and other artifacts and hurried down the side of the mountain. That night Byland and I examined the pottery collection from Hill of the Wasp intently. “There’s nothing later than Las Flores period ceramic material here... that means that the noble families who first built the temple at Hill of the Wasp abandoned it sometime between A.D. 950 and 1000.” Byland said. My jaw dropped. “That’s precisely the time of the War of Heaven and the destruction of Hill of the Wasp in the codices!” I shouted. Now I was convinced that we were finding the actual sites portrayed in the codices. After three further field seasons of survey and excavation, Byland and I were able to identify most of the major sites involved in the War of Heaven and Eight Deer periods in the codices including Eight Deer’s palace at Tilantongo. During the Jaltepec survey, we not only discovered the ruins of the palace of Six Monkey but also other sites across from Hill of the Wasp that we believe are the ruins of Red and White Bundle and Hill of Flints which was also involved in the war. By correlating our archaeological dates for the abandonment of Hill of the Wasp, Hill of Flints, and Red and White Bundle with the dates for the War of Heaven and Eight Deer’s conquests in the codices, an interesting conjunction in data has emerged. Both the codices and archaeological reconnaisance tell us that before A.D. 1000, powerful centers like Hill of the Wasp had been ruled by multiple royal families who administered their surrounding estates and tributaries jointly. These families bound themselves together and maintained their privledged status through intermarriage. Eventually the aristocracy became quite large and kinship relations became very complex. We know from the War of Heaven story that different families then sought to better their rank by making alliances with kingdoms outside the normal alliance scheme. Unfortunately, this practice destabilized family corporate rule creating internal strife, disunion, and abandonment. Today piles of stones marking the community borders between Tilantongo and Jaltepec are set upon the ruins of Hill of the Wasp, a testimony to the outcome of the War of Heaven. Neighboring sites like Hill of Flints and Red and White Bundle are said to be bewitched as though the very land itself has been cursed, even though some of it is the most fertile in the region. War was created by the gods and so it had been sacred to the ancient Mixtec rulers. They believed it provided the supreme offering, nourishment in the form of sacrifice to the sun, the rain, and the earth. But men and women, corrupted by greed and a lust for power, used war and sacrifice only to further their own selfish ambitions. That is where the legend of Lord Eight Deer and Lady Six Monkey begins. SIDEBARS The Tree of Ancestors Mixtec nobles believed that their ancestors had been miraculously born from trees. This enabled their descendants to claim they were divinities. The ancient Mixtec word for “king” or “queen” was Yya but it also signified “god.” By advocating kinship to the gods, the Mixtec aristocracy had irrefutably fixed their role as society’s mediators with the supernatural. By being literally descended from parts of the landscape, they could maintain proprietary claims unattainable to the lower classes by divine right. Marriage was the means by which the Mixtec aristocracy enriched themselves, perpetuated control over their people, and linked their communities into large political constellations. The codices relate the genealogies of Lord Eight Deer, Lady Six Monkey, and Lord Eleven Wind. By 1521, every noble house claimed descent from the epic heroes. From This World to the Next When a Mixtec king or queen died, the funeral observances were carried out with great rituals and feasting. The body of the deceased was mummified to preserve it for eternity and wrapped in many layers of finely woven cloth. A mask of turquoise mosaic was placed over the face. Gold jewelry and other ornaments adorned the neck and hands and a crown was placed on the head. Offerings were then set before the corpse and the relatives of the deceased spoke to it as if it were alive. At midnight, four priests carried the corpse into the mountains and placed it in a cave with the remains of the deceased ancestors. Observances were held every year on the day of the birth of the deceased. The Mixtecs carefully preserved the royal dead by mummifying their remains and wrapping them in layers of woven cloth. The face was ornamented with a wooden mask, those for the nobles being encrusted with turquoise mosaic. The mummies were then taken to remote caves where whole extended families were buried for generations. This mummy bundle of a Mixtec priest was found in Coixtlahuaca below a patio floor. Priests were sworn to poverty and so the corpse was wrapped in simple grass mats. A plain wooden mask ornaments the face. Dishes and drinking vessels alowed the deceased to participate in both the feasts of his ancestors and his descendants in the afterlife. A Mixtec funerary mask magnificently crafted of turquoise and shell. Ritual Dress and Personal Adornment Clothing and personal adornment served as more than symbols of prestige. As Mixtec nobles engaged in fiercely competitive systems of dowry and gift exchange, many would be quick to see that the greater a royal house’s ability to acquire exotic materials and to craft them into exquisite jewels, textiles, and featherwork, the better marriages it could negotiate. The better marriages it could negotiate, the higher the rank a royal house could achieve within an alliance network. Turquoise was imported through Tututepec from the American Southwest. Combined with amber and spondylous shell, it used to create beautiful necklaces as well as intricate mosaic sculpture. The long shimmering green plumes of the quetzal bird from Guatemala were highly prized for headdress and back ornaments. Gold was discovered in the mountains south of Jaltepec and crafted by royal artisans into works of astounding design. How to Read a Codex The Mixtec codices were not meant to be read simply as books, They could be displayed as “storyboards.” A poet recite the text from the codex to musical accompaniment, while actors performed parts of the saga in costume. The setting for these literary and theatrical presentations was the royal feast. Imagine a banquet in which the participants were literally part of the art of the performance. They attended wearing garments painted with figures of culture heroes and gods while drinking and eating from polychrome pottery decorated with scenes from the codices, and exchanged gifts of gold, shell, bone, and turquoise engraved with images of the founding ancestors of the highest ranking dynasties Thanks to the writings of the Colonial Spanish historians we know that the Mixtec kings: “...had many books...that the historians inscribed with characters so abbreviated, that a single page expressed the place, the site, province, year, month, and day with all the names of the gods, ceremonies, and sacrifices, or victories that they celebrated, and recorded in this way by the sons of the lords...their priest had instructed them since infancy to illustrate the characters and memorize the histories... I heard some elders explain that they were accustomed to fasten these manuscripts along the length of the rooms of the lords for their aggrandizement and vanity, they took pride in displaying them in their councils.” (Friar Francisco de Burgoa, A.D. 1674) Pages 42 and 43 of Codex Zouche-Nuttall details the genealogy of Lord Eight Deer. Red guidelines direct the reader in an up-and-down meander pattern from left to right. Therefore one begins in the lower right hand corner where the place and date of the events is depicted. Moving upwards we see a marriage between Lord Five Crocodile and Lady Nine Eagle. Moving left we see Lord Twelve Earthquake, the first born child. Below Twelve Earthquake is the second born child, Lord Three Water. Moving left again we see the third born child called Lady Six Lizard. At the top of the third column in the reading order we see Lady Eleven Water who was Five Crocodile’s second wife followed by her son Lord Eight Deer and other children of the marriage. The account of Eight Deer’s life proceeds in this fashion for the next forty pages. Drinking vessels found with the deceased depict scenes from the codices. The rim of this example is ornamented with symbols representing mushroom and morning glory. Such hallucinogenic plants were believed to grant one powers of extraordinary mental and visual perception and thereby communicate with the dead. For the most part, Mixtec codex scholars do not make their interpretations directly from the pictographs. They analyse sequences of events and study the narrative structure. Note the formulaic quality of marriage, birth, war, and death so typical of an epic saga. The people portrayed in the codices were named after their birthdays in a sacred calender. This divinatory calendar consisted of two hundred and sixty days believed to represent nine months, the average period of human gestation. All days and numbers were ascribed either positive and negative qualities in the spiritual universe. Ascribing the predictions for a numeral and day sign in the divinatory day count to an actual day of birth in the 365 day solar calendar allowed court diviners to make predictions as to the fate of a child. Year dates in the Mixtec codices can be calculated backwards by using Colonial Mixtec and Spanish documents and inscriptions from the sixteenth century. For example, the Christian year 1555 A.D. appears on a dedicatory monument carved on the church of Cuilapan together with the pictograph for the Mixtec year 10 Reed. Using the genealogy of Eight Deer’s descendants to establish a basic time frame, one can count backwards through the fifty-two year cycles until we reach Eight Deer himself. Eight Deer’s birth in the year Twelve Reed was therefore equivalent to A.D. 1063 and his death in the year 12 Reed was equivalent to 1115. Battles in Lord Eight Deer’s World For the most part war was limited and practiced between ruling houses bent on seizing one another’s lands. Peasants and farmers only participated as a prerequisite of tribute. Only males of a certain age and strength were recruited, representing about ten percent of the population. Armies of upwards of about a thousand men were called out and organized into seven units, each headed by a ranking nobleman. War was often officially declared and a battleground was predetermined. Since these wars were wars of lineage dispute, sometimes, the king or queen who was defending often found it more worthwhile to let his councilor-captains meet the aggressor. Battle lines were drawn up and officers selected other officers with whom they chose to engage in combat as champions, while the peasants fought among themselves. Mixtec shields were ornamented as works of art in and of themselves. This example was carved of wood and a codex-style scene was carefully inlaid with turquoise mosaic. Feathers were once attached to the holes in the rim. When limited combat was escalated Mixtec princes discarded the atlatl and closed with the deadly copper axe which could weigh as much as two pounds. The codices show us that the Mixtecs prefered the spear thrower to any other weapon. It consisted of a wooden stick about two feet in length with a hook on one end for throwing a spear with a hundred percent more force than with the arm alone. A battle was preceded by a vigorous round of insults between champions as they hurled spears at one another. When combat escalated, the spear thrower was discarded and the warriors closed with the deadly copper axe. Shields were prized possessions and were ornamented with as many as 10,000 individual pieces of turquoise. Putting the Pieces Together In settlement pattern archaeology, scientists use aerial photographs as maps. Working in teams of usually three or more people, the landscape is traversed systematically in an effort to record as many archaeological sites as possible within a defined geographical area. Here codex specialist John Pohl holds an aerial photograph mounted to a drawing board. Behind him are Hill of the Fortress and Hill of the Wasp. Each site can be dated to a chronological period by the presence or absence of the different styles of pottery collected from the ground’s surface as broken shards. Ceramics from each site are carefully analysed in the laboratory to establish a relative date in either the Classic or the Postclassic. Classic period ceramics are thick and grey with little ornamentation. Postclassic ceramics are thinner, harder and often painted with elaborate designs and colors. Tilantongo is an old Aztec name meaning Black Town. The Aztecs conquered the Mixtecs. When the Spaniards arrived they continued to use the Aztec terms as common usage that continues today. The Mixtec themselves called Tilantongo, Ñuu Tnoo-Huahi Andehui which means Black Town-House of Heaven. The large pyramid ruin in the background is still called the House of Heaven. The royal palace of Eight Deer at Black Town is shown in the foreground during the course of excavations. Jaltepec is an old Aztec term still used widely today. The proper Mixtec name is Añute meaning Place of Sand. During the course of archaeological survey the actual palace of Lady Six Monkey was discovered on a low hill overlooking the modern town. Identifications of Tilantongo and Jaltepec gave investigators two key reference points for placing the world of Eight Deer and Six Monkey onto a real landscape. Scholastic collaboration between archaeologists and the Mixtec people themselves led to the identification of numerous other names for places appearing in the War the Came from Heaven and Eight Deer sagas and bear testimony to the accuracy of legends still told over a millenia after they took place. Archaeologists found that much of Lord Eight Deer’s residence was destroyed by the subsequent construction of a church at Tilantongo during Spanish Colonial times. However, enough of the foundation survived that we know it would have looked very much like another palace that is still preserved at Mitla. It was built by Eight Deer’s descendants who had intermarried with a Zapotec dynasty at the end of the thirteenth century.