Sacred bundles are religious objects that have been present in different regions of Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. They are ceremonial wrappings made from several layers of cotton cloth, although some pre-Hispanic bundles were composed of dyed textile, or from amate paper. These objects functioned as repositories of collective memory, the legitimacy of lineages, and the symbolic presence of patron deities. Sacred bundles appear in numerous pictographic, ceramic, and archaeological representations, as well as in colonial-period sources from the Central Highlands, the K'iche' Maya area, and the Mixtec region, where they are identified as tlaquimilolli, “wrapped thing,” among the Mexica; pisom c'ac'al or chok among the Maya; and tnani among the Mixtecs.
The contents of sacred bundles are varied, even today, as they depend on their relationship to the myths, creator deities, patrons, or agricultural cult of each people. For the Central Highlands, bundles are described as containing precious stones, maguey spines, ashes, garments, or emblematic objects, such as Tezcatlipoca's mirror, which functioned as relics of the deities. These sacred bundles were kept in temples and were the focus of religious ceremonies, for they legitimized the bond between the people and their God, that is, the politico-religious structure. In other cases, their contents alluded to Gods of fertility, maize, and rain, demonstrating the importance of these wrappings within the agricultural cult.
Colonial-period sources from Oaxaca describe a sacred bundle venerated by the Zapotecs whose contents consisted of an ear of corn. During the harvests, the corn ear was treated as a deity, being adorned with miniature clothing and precious stones; likewise, it received sacrificial offerings. With the arrival of the planting season, the bundle was covered with deerskin and then buried at the center of the crop fields. This ritual deposit would guarantee the successful growth of maize in the new agricultural cycle.
In the case of the Mixteca Alta, the Codex Nuttall and other pictographic documents attest to the variety of contents and uses of these bundles. Some were offered during enthronement ceremonies together with the sacrificial blood of rulers, with the purpose of legitimizing lineages and their connection to the ancestors. Other bundles contained instruments used to kindle the sacred fires that would mark the foundation of communities. Sacred bundles accompanied peoples during their migrations; for this reason, they appear in documents, both from Oaxaca and the Central Highlands, represented in temples or carried by priests. The sacred bundle of Lord 9-Wind, “Quetzalcoatl,” appears in the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, the site or “town” of Lady 3-Flint and Lord 5-Flower. According to current iconographic interpretations, it is probable that this bundle contained a flint, alluding to the mythical birth of Quetzalcoatl.