Watch: 2000 Years of Paper Making Continues

The Códice Maya de México, now on display at the Getty Center Museum, is the oldest surviving book made on the American continent.

From 12th-century Mesoamerica, it survived colonial attempts to destroy all Maya writing, and endured a 40-year dispute over its authenticity.

However, the legacy of the codex is far from over. Much of what we know about ancient Maya astronomy, religion, and writing comes from just four books, of which the recently-authenticated Códice Maya de México is one. That makes it an invaluable intellectual document and a window into pre-Hispanic Maya culture, language, and customs.

In the verdant, rural mountain town of San Pablito, Pahuatlán, artisans continue to make a modern version of the 11th-century amate on which the Códice Maya de México was made.

We invite you to watch this video to hear biologist Susana Xelhuantzi and fourth-generation amate artisan Jose Daniel Santos de la Puerta discuss the book’s significance to Mesoamerican culture, and to learn more about a traditional method of paper making.