John & Susy Pint

 By John Pint Recently I stumbled upon a Facebook thread discussing the meaning of candle-light drawings scratched on the wall of a Spanish-Inquisition jail cell in the early 1500s. The sponsor of this conversation, an organization called Ruta Conquistadores, had published photos of the “mural” which had been copied and made available for public viewing in the Museo Histórico de Llerena, a small town in Spain’s Extremadura region. The drawings seem to show Spanish soldiers, native Mexicans and several huge snakes possibly adorned with feathers. Among soldiers and horses, a woman can be seen. Could she represent La Malinche? Quetzalcoatl in the calaboose Who might have been drawing conquistadores and Quetzalcoatl on the wall of a Spanish calaboose at such an early date?  Fortunately, I was able to contact Luisma Domínguez, director of Ruta Conquistadores, who kindly passed on to me explanations of the curious drawings, by local historian Manuel Toro and archivist Francisco Mate...