a type of tar, asphalt (see Karttunen); bitumen (see Sahagún); it was mixed with tobacco; also, a person's name (gender not made clear)
In chapuputli: ontlamantli inic monequi. Inic centlamantli ic monequi: iietlalli moneloa ic mauialia in iietlalli centlalli momana in iiauiaca iietl chapupuio. = Bitumen is used for two [purposes]. The first [purpose] for which it is used is to be mixed with pulverized tobacco, so that the pulverized tobacco may be made pleasing. The pleasing scent of the tobacco with bitumen spreads over the whole land. (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Chapopotli, which was collected from the shore of the sea, was mixed with tobacco to make smoking it more pleasant, and it was chewed by unmarried women and older women. The women mixed it with axin, making chicle. They used chicle to make their breath fresher. Men sometimes chewed too, but only in private, secretly. Some male gum chewers were considered "effeminates" and "sodomites," in the terms used by the translators of the Florentine Codex. (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Clay figurines dating from 2,00 years ago in the Gulf of Mexico are sometimes found to have this painted on them. It can still be brilliant, lustrous. Historically, chapopotli has been found in abundance on the coast of Tamaulipas. It differs from petroleum in that it contains more oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen, but it comes from much the same sources as petroleum, such as the deposits in the Gulf.
Chapopotli (bitumen) is said to come onto the shore of the sea from the ocean in accordance with the time count and the phases of the moon (metztlapoalpan, or metztlapohualpan) in the Florentine Codex.
Chapopotli was a tribute item paid to the Aztecs from the Huastec capital city of Chila, modern day Tampico.
ytoca chapo[lli (crossedout)]po = named Chapopo (Cuernavaca region, ca. 1540s)
"Chapopote" es el nahuatlismo que se usa en México hoy día.