The cartographic tradition of Mesoamerica is amply attested in the documents produced in the 16th and early 17th centuries—in the wake of the Spanish conquest. Media and supporting materials serve to create the dichotomy between mapas (produced on sheets of paper) and lienzos (rendered on large sheets of textiles). Despite the differences in media and physical scale, the thematic content and format are generally one and the same, although some variation exists, often blending geographic references and historic events in the same space. Whereas most attestations of Mesoamerican cartography can de dated to the first few decades following the Spanish conquest, this tradition is of much greater antiquity. In fact, its gestation is now well-documented among the Epiclassic cultures of Central Mexico (c. AD 650-1000), and key features and traits can be traced even further back, to the rich representational conventions of the Classic metropolis: Teotihuacan (c. AD 200-650). In this presentation, the main characteristics and features of mapas will be presented, competing interpretations of what these sources represent in structural and narrative terms are discussed, all the while illustrating a wide variety of mapas and lienzos, before delving back to their Precolumbian origins, showing the evolution and progression of this lengthy tradition.