The Mixtec Storyboard
Line 1

The city identified by reeds in the water, Apoala, was a recognizable item. However, after checking the city of Apoala in the Nuttall Codex, I found that I was wrong. The Vindobinennses is not illustrating that city. The picture representing Apoala is different. Here the picture shows the hand holding the reeds, a fish or shell form to the left and star elements in the water. The Nuttall had the same hand holding the reeds but a hag-fish knot on a mat was to the left. There were no star elements above the water.

There is no room for a round mat with the knot to the left of the hand, so it may just indicate a shell form. The star forms above the water, if they do imply gold, probably tells us about a marsh land where the water bearing golden grains exists. The next element tells of a journey through a valley (A double stone scroll over footsteps, within a bowl-like valley surrounded by building stones or mountains). The direction of the footsteps indicate that the codex is read from that date One Serpent, Three Kalli. Kalli is an interpolation because the bottom of the A-O has the rectangular unit associated with a temple form, which interrupts the "O" near the bottom curve of the "A." There is a space of two half circles and one whole which probably indicates the number "three."

The journey must have taken a long time, because the next year element is Nine Rabbit with Five Ehécatl. Here a man stands at a spring or fountain with the gold elements. He seems to be removing the water from the spring. At the end of this line, is a mountain form with a stone scroll above it, but the mountain is so badly eroded its relationship cannot be determined.