San Miguel Tecpan, a “cabezera”

This detail, numbered “1” by the artist/mapmaker, represents “SAnct Miguel Tecpan,” and is described as a “cabezera” (cabecera, a Spanish loanword, meaning “head town”). The church, as usual, is emblematic for the town, but we also see additional buildings of various shapes and sizes on the hill or mountain next to the main church, which is on the valley floor. Given that all of these towns are shown as occupying a hill or mountain, one suspects that this is a visual representation of the -tepetl of “altepetl” (principal Nahua socio-political unit). For a cabecera would have been an altepetl, rather than a tlaxilacalli (barrio or neighborhood). This church has two towers on either side of the central nave, and a cross adorns the top of the roof of the central part of the church. The attention to this church suggests that San Miguel Tecpan, like San Andrés, was a somewhat more important local altepetl. The word “Tecpan” (Nahuatl for ruling palace) appears to have been incorpated into the name of the community. [SW]