Dec. 31, 2004 Dutch researcher Florine Asselbergs has discovered
the Spanish conquering of Guatemala portrayed on an indigenous
painting. This sixteenth-century panel had scarcely been
investigated up until now and provides a detailed overview of
the battles and the landscape. It is an important find, as
relatively little is known about the conquest of Guatemala.
Asselbergs studied the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan, a panel of
more than two by three metres from the Quauhquecholteca, an
indigenous people from Central America. Until recently,
scientists thought that the painting represented campaigns of
conquest by the Quauhquecholteca and Spaniards through Central
Mexico. However, the researcher established that the document
portrays a campaign of conquest through Guatemala by the Spanish
conqueror Jorge the Alvarado in 1527-1529. In about 1400, the
Quauhquecholteca settled in present-day San Martín Huaquechula,
to the south-east of Mexico City. By fighting with the Spanish,
the indigenous people hoped to rid them