CARTOGRAPHY
Maps are a symbolic expression of social and natural processes of a specific time and space. That is why in the case of the Cuahutinchan II (MC2) map, the function of locating places is not fulfilled, as current maps do. The topographic forms that were represented in MC2 do not correspond exactly to the coordinates of these places. Instead, the objective of this map is to establish the order and composition of the landscape, in accordance with the worldview and social dynamics of its creators. Its orientation has a deviation of 16 degrees, with respect to the north. For this pre-Hispanic orientation, its north was the city of Teotihuacán, from this cartography it is possible to begin to understand the particular way of seeing the world and of explaining it, that these social groups had.
Space and time are categories for understanding the organization of the universe in a given society. Each society has a particular way of posing its space-time dimensions, from which they construct symbolic representations of what surrounds them. These referents provide order and meaning to social practice and are constructed in relation to the dynamics and processes of power, negotiation, kinship, conflict and cooperation.
This configuration of space follows a pictorial tradition pre-Hispanic, in which a cosmos with a hegemonic center delimited by four directions is represented.
SPACE
It is the geographical dimension where the orographic quality (elevations that may exist in a particular area such as a region, or a country, etc.) and its description, acquires a spatial relevance, since the landscape is assimilated as a projection of what said society expressed iconographically through a canvas.
Popocatepetl volcano
Hill that smokes
Iztacíhuatl
White woman
Matlalcueyetl
Blue skirt
Poyauhtécatl
Mount of the Mist
WEATHER
It is a mental construction, from this the symbols and the notion of present, past and future are configured. Time can be understood as a product through which society is regulated and organized, in order to develop its ideas, beliefs and knowledge.
For Mesoamerica, time was socialized and organized based on a cyclical calendar, which divided time into fractions that were repeated annually. This model was based on two structures: an irregular one, which consisted of the climate and plant growth, and a regular one that corresponded to astronomy. By observing the stars and the horizon as a physical reference, sunrise and sunset became the moments of the day that allowed us to appreciate the movement of the sun between the mountains. Both the summer solstice and the winter solstice became key points to understand two important aspects: the extent of the solar disk and its reach to the north and south; and the trajectory that in the middle of these positioned the equinox. This made it possible to establish units of measurement with time intervals, so that the irregularities of the mountainous landscape served as a basis for temporal orientation. Due to this, the communities built observation points from certain specific points where they could study and unify their concepts around time.