JANESVILLE, Wis., April 4 (UPI) -- A study by U.S. and Mexican researchers has found evidence of an ancient method of arithmetic in Aztec property records.
Barbara Williams of the University of Wisconsin-Rock County and Maria del Carmen Jorge y Jorge of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico studied more than 2,000 drawings dating back to 1540 that were used to document agricultural properties by the Acolhua people who lived in the city-state of Tepetlaoztoc, the University of Wisconsin said Thursday in a release.
A report, published in the journal Science, said the Aztecs figured out the area of a land parcel using a basic unit of distance measurement and smaller units shown by drawings of hands, hearts and arrows.
"What we found that was surprising, was how accurate the Aztec surveyors were from a mathematical perspective," Williams said.
The system, which the researchers termed as "Acolhua Congruence Arithmetic" appears to fit with what else is known of the Aztecs, such as how they calculated their calendar, the report said.
