Frances Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt (1992, vol. 1, p. 230) write that the cap for Yopico "was so characteristic of the god Xipe that it served as an ideograph for the group of people most closely associated with the 'Flayed God,' the Yopes. This glyph also appears on folio 47r of the Codex Mendoza and 13r of the Matrícula de Tributos, representing the month of Tlacaxipehualiztli, during which this deity was especially honored."
auh in oaciqz cempoualilhuitl nimã ye ic ui i yopihco. ompa quitlalia in imeuayo niman contepeua oztoc uel huecatlã ompa contoca = And when they had come to [the end of] the twenty days, thereupon they went to Yopico. There they laid away their skins; then they cast them down in a cave, a very deep place, and there buried them. (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 8 -- Kings and Lords, no. 14, Part IX, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 86. in isquichtin omicqz mamalti moch onneaquilo in imeuayo. oncan mocenquistia i yopihco in diablo itualco. = Of each captive who died, their skins were all worn. Then they assembled at Yopico, in the courtyard of the devil. (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 8 -- Kings and Lords, no. 14, Part IX, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 85. Iopico, also called iopiteucalli = the Temple of Iopitli, an important part of a ritual sacrifice in the month of Tlacaxipehualiztli. Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2 -- The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 50.auh ynic mjtoaia quaujtl eoa: vncan necia, vncan onjxnecia, yn izqujntin oaoanozque temalacac: yoan in quexqujch çan miquiz, moteneoaia qujnquavitleoaltiaia yn oaoanti: vmpa ovico yiopico, yn iteupan Totec: vmpa qujntlaieecalviaia, in quenjn mizquizque, qujmeltequja: çan oc qujntlaiecultiaia: iotlaxcalli, anoço iopitlaxcalli, ynic qujmeletequja = And at the time called Quauitl eua, there on the round sacrificial stone appeared and came into view all those who were to be sacrificed victims. And of all those who were thus to die, it was said: “They raise poles for the striped ones.” They were brought to Yopico, [Xipe] Totec’s temple. There they made them fight in mock battle, in the same manner as they would later die, [when] they would tear their hearts out of them. They counterfeited this with them. [Using] tortillas of ground corn which had not been softened in lime [as mock-haters], they thus cut their hearts out. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 44.auh iopico conujcaia, amo çan nen oalqujçaia, amo çan nen caoaloia, itla ic moqujxtiaia, itla ic onanoia, aço totoli, aço quachtli qujtemacaia. Et.a = And they carried him to the Temple of Iopitli; and not for nothing did he come out, not for nothing was he let free. Something was given as ransom; something was taken—perchance a turkey-hen, mayhap a great cotton mantle he offered, etc. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 49.auh in iquac y, aiacachpixolo vmpa iopico: auh ça iehoanti, in calpulueuetque, vmpa pouhque iopico, cujcatoque, aiacachtoque, ye ouetzi cemilhujtl = And this was when the rattle boards were sown there at the Temple of Yopitli. And they, the old men belonging to the Temple of Yopitli, sat singing and rattling their rattle boards until the day was done. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 55.auh çan no iquac eoatlatilo, onmotlatia, onmocacaoa, yn jmeoaio tlaca, vmpa iopico onaactiuj = And also at that time were hidden away the human skins—placed aside, abandoned. There at the Temple of Yopitli they were all buried. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 55.auh yn oaxioac, yn eoatlatiloian, yn icpac teucalli iopitli, iopiteucalli: nauhcampa ceceiaca ontlaiiaoaia, in tlamanjme ontlenamacaia, conjiaoa yn jntlema, conujujxoa = And when they had arrived at the place where the skins were hidden away, on the top of the Temple of Yopitli, Yopitli’s Temple, each one dedicated [incense] to the four directions; the captors offered incense, raising [toward the sky] their incense-ladles, and shaking them. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 56.