4. What images represent cultural landmarks?

Towns

The symbol for town, province, or settlement—known in Nahuatl as an altepetl—is called a “place emblem” or glyph. A common place emblem is in the shape of a bell-shaped mountain.

Markets 

The image of one or two individuals seated inside a circle with merchandise represents a marketplace or tianquiztli.     Marketplaces were important not only for trade but because it was here that news of the community was made public.

Roads

All of the place glyphs are connected by roads marked by footprints or hoof prints. This was a graphic tool used to define the narrative structure of the oral text. Roads also symbolize the migration of the Quauhquechoteca people who settled in a new land.

Houses

Houses represent the noble houses of the Central Mexican populations who settled in the area between 1520 and 1530.