I say, "partially," because graphic methods, of some kind, were widely
used. We may as well omit from consideration, in this connection, the
merely pictographic signs of the hunting tribes, although they were used
for mnemonic purposes. Let us rather proceed, at once, to the highest
specimens of the graphic art in ancient America, and inquire their
scope. In Mexico, in Yucatan, in Nicaragua, and in one or two districts
of South America, the early explorers found systems of writing which
seemed to resemble that to which they were accustomed.
The Aztecs manufactured, in large quantities, a useful paper from the
leaves of the maguey, and upon it they painted numerous figures and
signs, which conveyed ideas, and sometimes also sounds. An early
authority informs us that their books were of five kinds. The first
detailed their method of computing time; the second described their holy
days, festivals and religious epochs; the third gave the interpretation
of dreams, omens and signs; the fourth supplied directions for naming
children; and the fifth rehearsed the rites and ceremonies connected
with matrimony.[9] Besides these, we know they wrote out tribute rolls,
the ancient history of their tribes, the fables of their mythology, the
genealogy of their sovereigns, and the geographical descriptions of
territories.
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