Aztec script
| Aztec | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | Pictographic and logosyllabic
|
| Creator | The Nahua peoples |
Period | Most extant manuscripts from the 16th century |
| Direction | Top-to bottom, left-to right |
| Languages | Nahuatl |
| Related scripts | |
Sister systems | Mixtec |
| Unicode | |
| Not in Unicode | |
| Aztec civilization |
|---|
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| Aztec Empire |
| Aztec society |
| Aztec history |
The Aztec or Nahuatl script is a pre-Columbian writing system that combines ideographic writing with Nahuatl specific phonetic logograms and syllabic signs which was used in central Mexico by the Nahua people in the Epiclassic and Postclassic periods. It was originally thought that its use was reserved for elites; however, the topographical codices and early colonial catechisms, recently deciphered, were used by tlacuilos (scribes), macehuallis (peasants), and pochtecas (merchants).