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Abstract
This research is a reevaluation of the commonly accepted theory, advocated in 1972 by J. Eric S. Thompson, that Codex Dresden was painted in the vicinity of Chichen Itza around AD 1200-1250. Because the Thompson study did not fully compare certain artistic motifs in the manuscript with analogous motifs present at Late Postclassic Maya sites, and because of the availability of new information, reconsideration of the problem of the provenience and date of the codex is appropriate.
Further investigation of the manuscript and its Late Postclassic counterparts has led to the identification of several sites besides Chichen Itza where Codex Dresden could have been painted, and has indicated that the codex was almost certainly not a prototype for the art of this period. The uniformity of the illustration style has established that the entirety of the codex was painted over a relatively short period, probably no longer than the lifetime of a single artist. While the manuscript was not painted in the style of any of the examples of Late Postclassic Maya art, the differences do not preclude the painting of Codex Dresden during this period.
Additionally, it has been shown that the hieroglyphic content of Codex Dresden is consistent with painting of the manuscript during most of the Late Postclassic. The dating of this period has traditionally been placed between AD 1250 and Spanish contact, although it now seems that it could have begun considerably earlier.
