Aztec Arithmetic: Positional Notation and Area Calculation

Harvey, H. R.; Williams, Barbara

doi:10.1126/science.210.4469.499

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The Aztec system of linear measurement employed the following units in Tenochtitlan and probably Tlatelolco: maitl (hand) 1.65 m; omitl (bone) 0.55 m ( l h maitl); yolotli (heart) 0.825 m 0/2 maitl); and mitl (arrow) 1.2375 m (% maitl) (Harvey and Williams 1980).…”

Section: Possible Nonenvironmental Factors Affecting the Orientation:mentioning

confidence: 99%

Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Aveni¹,

Calnek²,

Hartung³

1988

Am. antiq.

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In the light of the recent excavations of the Templo Mayor in downtown Mexico City, we explore the problem of the role of astronomy, calendar, and the landscape in the design and orientation of the building and of the city in general. We employ ethnohistoric data relating to the foundation myth of Tenochtitlan as a means of generating hypotheses concerning astronomical orientation that can be tested by reference to the archaeological record. We find that eastward-looking observations (implied in dismantling and reconstructing the myth) that took place around the time of the equinox may have been related to an attempt to transform a true east orientation from the natural environment into the architecture via a line that passed through the center of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli (the more southerly temple of the pair constituting the top of the Templo Mayor). It also is possible that the notch between the twin temples served a calendrical/orientational function. Evidence is presented to support the view that the mountain cult of Tlaloc, represented in the environment on the periphery of the Valley of Mexico by Mount Tlaloc, also may have directly influenced the orientation of the building and that it was part of a scheme for marking out days of the calendar by reference to the position of the rising sun at intervals of 20 days from the spring equinox. In this regard, we discuss the connection between the Templo Mayor and an enclosure containing offertory chambers atop Mount Tlaloc, which is located on a line extended to the visible horizon 44 km east of the ceremonial center. The ethnohistoric record implies that this place had been used for sacrifices to the rain god after whom the other of the twin temples of the Templo Mayor was named.

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Section: Possible Nonenvironmental Factors Affecting the Orientation:mentioning

confidence: 99%

Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Aveni¹,

Calnek²,

Hartung³

1988

Am. antiq.

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“…As a result, adding after the point the quantity that appears in the tab: + =37 + = 37.5 T So, the area registered on the plot results to be: 37.5 x = 750 T 2 37.5 x 20 = 750 T 2 The numerical system that is appreciated in the measures of the lands done by M. C. Jorge workgroup, becomes an anthropocentric model that determines a universe of numbers that are playing a role, this is evidenced by other researchers [2], [3] and [4]. Under this point of view, this must be seen as an approach model in which mistakes are on the center of the main numerical set.…”

mentioning

confidence: 78%

Astronomical magnitudes in the Santa María la Asunción codex

Camacho¹

2017

IOSR JHSS

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Abstract:-In this document are the results of the research to the codex Santa María la Asunción y Vergara, it contains the plots of land that are located in the acolhua region of Texcoco, Mexico. The plots show their perimeter size in T units. It is important that the size of length and area correspond both to the astronomical dimensions of the planet movements that astronomical acolhuas people observed regularly. The planetary revolutions establish correlations between them, which determine a control of their own movements. It also presents the twentieth-thirteenth numeric system, which supports the activities that allowed the measurement of lots, astronomical observations and building monuments. This research was developed from a multidisciplinary vision highlighting astronomy, mathematics (arithmetic and elementary geometry) and surveying.

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“…Los registros de medida cuadradas de terrenos tlăwĕlmantlĭ, literalmente 'la cosa igualada', muestran un sistema posicional extraordinario. Éstos se encuentran en los documentos catastrales de Tepetlaoztoc y fue descifrado por Herbert Harvey y Barbara Williams (1980). Los terrenos se representan como rectángulos, en su parte superior a la derecha aparecen pestañas (Figura 4c).…”

Section: Signos Numéricos Básicosunclassified

Signos numéricos y registros de cuenta en la escritura jeroglífica náhuatl

Davletshin

García-Gallo²

2019

Rev. Esp. Antropol. Am.

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Por primera vez los signos numéricos y el sistema de numeración náhuatl se examinan desde el punto de vista gramatológico, como una parte integral del sistema logosilábico de escritura. Entre otras cosas se identifican valores de lectura para los numerogramas y se proponen reglas de su transliteración. La diversidad de las formas de escribir numerales en este sistema de escritura es sobresaliente: hay tres diferentes sistemas de unidades básicas de 1 a 19, dos signos para 20, tres principios utilizados para representar cantidades encima de 20, tres formas diferentes de registros de cuenta, etc. Se ha podido comprobar que los numerogramas funcionan como signos palabra en algunos contextos y como signos de notación en otros.

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Aztec Arithmetic: Positional Notation and Area Calculation

Cited by 23 publications

References 6 publications

Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Astronomical magnitudes in the Santa María la Asunción codex

Signos numéricos y registros de cuenta en la escritura jeroglífica náhuatl

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