A type of bark paper made from the inner bark of fig trees, traditionally used in Mexico for art and ceremonial purposes.
From Nahuatl 'amatl,' the Aztec word for this bark paper. The term entered English through Spanish colonial contact with Mesoamerican cultures, preserving the indigenous name for this ancient writing material.
The Aztecs were writing on amate paper over 500 years ago—long before the Spanish arrived—and artists still make it the same way today by beating bark until it forms sheets, making it one of the oldest continuously-used paper technologies in the world.
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