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Tzinacantlan.

Headword: 
Tzinacantlan.
Principal English Translation: 

a Tzotzil Maya town and a province in the highlands of the modern state of Chiapas

Attestations from sources in English: 

This Maya town (currently spelled Zinacantán) is famous today for its colorful textiles. It has been studied by anthropologists and linguists. It is named for a biting bat (tzinacantli) that evolved into a "demon" in local lore. In the sixteenth century, it was known for being the origin of the Nahua long-distance traders called nahualoztomeca who disguised themselves, cutting their hair and learning the local language, for example, to penetrate the area prior to its being brought under central-Mexican domination. See the text of the Florentine Codex, Book 9, Folio 18 recto and verso.
Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 9: The Merchants", fol. 18r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/9/folio/18r?spTexts=&nhTexts= Accessed 28 August 2025.