This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the development of writing in the region of Ñuu Dzaui (the Mixtec people in Southern Mexico) from its earliest manifestations up to the present. Specialist essays (mostly in English, some in Spanish) present new archeological data, contribute to the decipherment of precolonial pictorial manuscripts, and analyze historical documents written in Mesoamerican languages during the colonial period. From this diachronic perspective much attention is given to the changing social contexts as well as to methodological and interpretive issues. In addition, contemporary projects are discussed, which register oral tradition, create space for native languages within the national school system, and produce new poetic works. The inclusion of two Mixtec documentary films on a inserted dvd provokes important comments on the representation of indigenous American cultures in general.