Fejérváry Screenfold
Unidentified Aztec mapmaker
c. 1400-1521
From Codex Fejérváry Mayer

Although it does not look like a map to us, this is a Mesoamerican (Central American) culture's view of the world. This image, found on the opening page of a ritual book, divides the world into five parts. It was used by long-distance merchants along permanent trade routes between central Mexico and the fringes of the Yucatan Peninsula. Holy trees symbolize the four compass points: east at the top, west on the bottom, north to the left, and south to the right.

Courtesy Latin American Library, Tulane University

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