Documented Signs and Motifs of the Ancient Americas
25 symbols · PDF / PNG / SVG · Commercial licence included
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25 symbols
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Maya K'in Sun Sign
K'in is a documented Maya hieroglyphic sign read as “sun” or “day”, appearing in written and calendrical contexts across the Maya world.
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Maya Ajaw Lord Sign
Ajaw is a Maya word and hieroglyphic title meaning “lord” or “ruler”, used in inscriptions and calendrical notation to identify status and authority.
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Maya Ha' Water Sign
Ha' is a documented Maya hieroglyphic sign for “water”, part of a writing system rather than a generic wave or universal spiritual emblem.
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Maya Ek' Star Sign
Ek' is a documented Maya celestial sign associated with stars, constellations or planets, appearing in painted and carved contexts rather than as a generic five-point star.
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Maya Maize God Ear Motif
A Classic Maya whistle shows the youthful Maize God emerging from ripe maize, linking one of Mesoamerica's essential crops with growth, regeneration and sacred imagery.
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Maya Water-Lily Jaguar Motif
A crouching Water-Lily Jaguar appears on a Classic Maya vessel within a rainy-season narrative, combining a powerful feline form with aquatic vegetation and celestial storytelling.
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Kukulkan Feathered Serpent Relief
A feathered serpent carved at Chichen Itza evokes Kukulkan, a major Maya deity associated in the cited source with power, government, the heavens and creation.
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Mexica Ollin Movement Sign
Ollin is the Nahua calendrical sign for “movement”, a dynamic glyph whose meaning changes with context and which should not automatically be relabelled as Nahui Ollin, “Four Movement”.
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Mexica Ehecatl Wind Day Sign
Ehecatl, “Wind”, is one of the twenty named day signs of the Nahua Tonalpohualli, where its image works with numerals and ritual sequence rather than as a standalone air symbol.
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Mexica Cuauhtli Eagle Day Sign
Cuauhtli, “Eagle”, is a named day sign of the Nahua Tonalpohualli, where the eagle image functions within a numbered calendrical and divinatory sequence.
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Mexica Acatl Reed Year Sign
Acatl, “Reed”, is one of four signs used with thirteen numerals to name years in the Nahua 52-year cycle, giving it a precise chronological rather than merely botanical meaning.
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Mexica Tecpatl Flint Year Sign
Tecpatl, “Flint”, is one of the four repeating year signs of the Nahua 52-year cycle, where the blade image functions primarily as calendrical notation.
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Mexica Calli House Year Sign
Calli, “House”, is one of the four repeating signs used to name years in the Nahua 52-year cycle, where the house image serves a precise calendrical role.
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Mexica Tochtli Rabbit Year Sign
Tochtli, “Rabbit”, is one of four repeating signs used with thirteen numerals to name years in the Nahua 52-year cycle, giving the rabbit image a precise calendrical role.
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Mexica Atl-Tlachinolli Couplet
Atl-Tlachinolli joins water with burned or scorched imagery in a Nahua graphic and verbal couplet associated in the cited altar with sacred war and devastation.
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Olmec Cleft-Head Maize Motif
A pronounced forehead cleft on a documented Olmec supernatural face has been connected by museum scholarship with maize and the earth from which the crop emerges.
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Zapotec Funerary Urn Deity
This Monte Alban funerary effigy, once described simply as a deity urn, is now identified by museum scholarship as the named ancestor 7 N wearing divine impersonation regalia.
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Mixtec Three Flint Day Sign
Three Flint is a documented Mixtec numeral-plus-day sign in the Tonindeye Codex, where calendrical signs locate events within historical and genealogical narratives.
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Mixtec Eight Deer Name Glyph
Eight Deer is the calendrical name glyph of the historical Mixtec ruler Eight Deer Jaguar-Claw, whose genealogy and political career are recorded in the Tonindeye Codex.
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Andean Stepped Cross Motif
This stepped-cross motif comes from a painted Andean cotton textile, tentatively attributed to Chimu culture, where it appears alongside coiled serpent forms.
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Inca Checkerboard Tunic Pattern
Black-and-white checkerboard tunics were controlled Inca garments associated with military distinction, political identity and prestigious state gifting.
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Inca Quipu Knot Group
Quipus used cords, colours, attachments and knots to organise recorded information in the Inca world; this simplified group represents the system without inventing a message.
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Sican Tumi Ceremonial Knife
Elaborate Lambayeque-Sican tumis were crescent-bladed ceremonial knives associated with ritual display, elite status, power and funerary deposition.
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Muisca Tunjo Votive Figure
Tunjos were Muisca votive objects deposited in sacred and significant places; this study follows a documented female figure holding a smaller person and a baton.
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Taino Zemi Cohoba Stand
This Taino stone figure was likely used as a stand during cohoba ceremony; its context also requires distinguishing the carved object from zemi as spiritual and vital presence.
About this collection
Ancient Americas Documented Signs Motifs gathers 25 symbols shaped around documented glyphs, calendrical signs, manuscript motifs, archaeological reliefs, textiles, metalwork, and ceremonial objects from named ancient American cultures, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.
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Includes a one-click collection pack plus access from every included symbol page.
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