All eyes were focused on the now cleaned ceramic box. Perched on a steel table in a lab adjacent to Dr. Madero’s college office, its secrets beckoned under a bank of fluorescent lights.
Madero treated the lid’s sealed edges with a solvent, then heated the seams with a small hair dryer. The combined effects softened the natural latex and loosened its bond. Madero tested the gooey material with a plastic putty knife.
“It’s quite sticky,” he said. “I think it will open right up.”
Grasping the lid with a gloved hand, he gave it a gentle tug. The lid popped right off.
Standing on either side of Madero, Dirk and Summer leaned close. A small piece of green felt blanketed a square object inside. Madero pulled away the felt, revealing a tablet of coarse pages.
“It looks like a small book,” Summer said.
Madero’s eyes were as wide as platters. Using tweezers, he opened the blank top page, revealing a colorful cartoon-like image of several warriors carrying spears and shields.
“Not simply a book.” Madero’s voice quivered with excitement. “A codex.”
Summer was familiar with the Mayan and Aztec codices, pictographic manuscripts that recorded their culture and history, but she had never seen one in person. She was surprised when Madero pulled up the first page and the subsequent ones unfolded in accordion fashion. Each contained a pictorial image with multiple glyphic signs.
“Is it Mayan?” Dirk asked.
“No, classic Nahuatl.”
Summer frowned. “Nahuatl?”
“The language of the Mexica, or Aztecs. I recognize the glyphs as classic Nahuatl symbols.”
“Can you decipher it?”
Madero unfurled the codex across the table, counting twenty panels. He photographed each panel first and then carefully studied the images. He kept his thoughts to himself as he moved from one panel to the next. The early panels depicted a battle, while later ones showed men carrying a large object. After several minutes, Madero looked up.
“It seems to describe a local conflict. An account of the battle was recorded in stone, which was split in two and carried away for some reason.” He shook his head. “I must profess to being a little out of my element here. A colleague of mine, Professor Miguel Torres, is an expert in Nahuatl. Let me see if he is available.”
Madero returned a moment later, trailed by two men.
“Dirk, Summer, this is my esteemed associate Dr. Miguel Torres, head of the archeology department. Miguel, my friends from NUMA.”
A bearded man with a smiling cherub face stepped forward and shook hands.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on your amazing discovery.” His eyes darted to the codex. He suppressed his curiosity long enough to introduce the man behind him.
“May I present Juan Díaz of the Cuban Interior Ministry? Juan is here performing research on his own Aztec artifact. Like myself, he is excited to view your discovery.”
Díaz smiled. “Apparently your find is much more interesting than the small figurine I possess.”
“You found an Aztec artifact in Cuba?” Summer asked.
“It likely found its way there through later trade,” Torres said. “While Aztec nautical voyages in the Caribbean are a possibility, we have no recorded evidence of any occurrences.”
The professor turned his attention to the codex. “Eduardo already showed me the ceramic box. A wonderful discovery in itself. But a codex inside as well?”
“Please,” Summer said, “take a look and tell us what you think.”
The archeologist could barely contain his excitement. He slipped on a pair of cotton gloves and approached the codex.
“The paper is classic amatl, constructed from the inner bark of the fig tree, which was then whitewashed. That is consistent with several known Aztec codices. It is crisp, bright, and in excellent condition. Simply amazing, after being submerged for centuries.”
“Fine craftsmanship from the ancients,” Madero said, “as we’ve seen many times before.”
Torres studied the first panel. “It appears similar to the Borturini Codex at the National Anthropology Museum.” He pointed to several symbols below the image of the warriors. “That codex dates from the colonial era.”
“Do you mean the arrival of the Spanish?” Summer asked.
“Yes. In 1519, to be precise. That’s when Cortés landed near Veracruz.”
Torres initiated a running narrative of each panel. A loose tale quickly emerged from the images.
“The Aztecs are mourning some sort of defeat in the early panels,” Torres said. “It was associated with a large number of deaths. It is unclear if the opponent was a regional enemy or the Spanish.”
“Or disease?” Madero asked.
“Quite possibly. Smallpox arrived with the Spanish and ultimately killed millions. I think it references a conventional battle, however. In the second panel, we see a group of warriors dressed in feathers and beaked helmets. These were the cua¯uhtmeh, or Eagle Warriors, an elite group of skilled veterans.”
Torres pointed to a trail of footprints painted across several pages that signified travel. “As a result of the battle, they are taking something of a major journey.”
“Their trip continued on water?” Summer asked, pointing to the next panel, which showed seven canoes at the edge of a body of water.
“Apparently so. The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was built on an island in a lake, so we know they used small canoes.”
“These appear significantly larger,” Madero said.
The Cuban Díaz inched forward with interest. “Numerous warriors are depicted in each boat. It also appears they have loaded provisions aboard. And that may be some sort of sail.” He pointed to what looked like a pole with a loose sheet around it.
“Yes, very curious,” Torres said. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen an Aztec depiction of a large vessel like that. We may have to consider the possibility they were navigating in the Bay of Campeche.”
“Or beyond?” Díaz asked.
“That might explain why we found the codex in Tabasco,” Madero said. “There must have been some connection with their departing or returning point on the coast.”
“There is much we don’t know,” Torres said.
They all studied the next panel, which showed the seven canoes heading across the water toward the sun. The following image showed a single canoe returning.
“Now things get interesting,” Torres said. “The next panel shows an Eagle Warrior, presumably from the surviving canoe, describing his voyage to a stonecutter. Then we see the related images being carved into a large circular stone.”
“It resembles the Sun Stone,” Madero said.
“Where have I heard of that?” Summer asked.
“It was discovered in 1790 during renovations of the Mexico City Cathedral and is now displayed in the National Anthropology Museum. Some twelve feet across, it contains a myriad of Aztec glyphs, many related to known calendar periods.”
“If the scale is accurate,” Torres said, “this stone would be considerably smaller.”
Dirk looked at the image, still contemplating the canoes from the earlier panels. “Any idea about the nature of the voyage?”
“The purpose isn’t clear, but it appears they were transporting something of great significance. That is implied by the presence of the Eagle Warriors as escorts. Perhaps a special offering to one of the deities.”
“Would that include items of intrinsic value,” Díaz asked, “such as gold or jewels?”
“The Aztecs valued and traded such objects, and they are reflected in their religious artifacts, so that would be likely.”
The next panel showed the stonecutter with his handiwork, standing in a house, while men wearing steel helmets and breastplates assemble outside.