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A Mathematical Description of the Agricultural Fields of the Acolhua Codices Vergara and Santa María Asunción
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2021
Abstract
We carry out a mathematical analysis of the quadrilateral fields from Codex Santa María Asunción and compare it with similar previous results from Codex Vergara, as well as analyze fields with more than four sides from both codices. We also provide a computational tool to draw all the possible shapes of the fields. Finally, we use the concept of maximum area to test the feasibility of the areas recorded in the codices and conclude that the Acolhua were very good surveyors.
En este trabajo estudiamos desde el punto de vista matemático los Códices Vergara (CV) y Santa María Asunción (CSMA), que datan de mediados del siglo dieciséis y provienen de la región de Texcoco en el centro de México. La gran cantidad de información matemática contenida en estos códices permitió analizar anteriormente diversos aspectos de los terrenos de cuatro lados del códice Vergara sobre el cálculo de sus áreas, factibilidad de las áreas registradas, así como sus formas posibles. Además se hizo la comparación del área Acolhua de la localidad Topotitla del CV con su medida satelital. En este trabajo analizamos de forma análoga los terrenos de cuatro lados del CSMA y comparamos los resultados con los del CV. Mejoramos la comparación con el área satelital de Topotitla. Mostramos un análisis completo de los terrenos con más de cuatro lados para ambos códices y presentamos una herramienta de cómputo que permite reconstruir la forma de cualquier terreno dados sus lados, para cualquier área posible. Utilizamos el concepto de factibilidad para CSMA y concluimos que los Acolhuas eran muy buenos agrimensores.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology
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