quetzal feathers

In this detail we see nine bundles of 20 quetzal feathers. This was worth nine loads of 20 mantles each, according to contextualizing documents. Values were still counted in the cloth equivalent, which was a pre-Hispanic practice. Some of these feathers might have gone into the green border of the banner of the Virgin and child. Some may have been sold or traded to get feathers of blue and red for the banner. [SW]