4. What images represent cultural landmarks?


Cultural landmarks

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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.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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Houses

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