First:
Sam, you seem awfully sensitive. By “ even in Mexico” I just meant they would have a different perspective on things then we do in the US, but that I thought her superiors would still not accept a “channeled” conversation as a basis for a scientific discovery.
Second:
I have done some internet digging on this story. I am not a subscriber to Science magazine so I cannot look at the story as it appeared there. But the Mexican math professor had a U of Wisconsin colleague. This is the press release as it appeared from her school;
UW-Rock County Professor Uncovers Evidence of Ancient Math
Janesville – From the abacus to slide rules, from calculators to computers, and from learning “new” math to “everyday” math, cultures have, over time, used many methods for making calculations. An ancient -- and previously unknown -- method of arithmetic was recently discovered by a researcher from the University of Wisconsin-Rock County studying Aztec property records from the 16th century.
Barbara J. Williams, Ph.D., professor emerita of geography/geology, and her colleague Maria del Carmen Jorge y Jorge, Ph.D., of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico outline their discovery in an article published in the April 4 issue of the journal Science.
The researchers studied more than 2,000 drawings dating back to about 1540 that were used to document agricultural properties by the Acolhua people who were part of the Aztec empire and lived in the city-state of Tepetlaoztoc, which is near present-day Mexico City.
“Just as modern governments require careful land surveys and records of value for taxation, the Aztecs were diligent bookkeepers when it came to landholdings and real estate transactions,” explains Williams.
The Aztecs used a system that included symbols of hearts, hands and arrows as alternatives to using fractions to measure and record land parcels. The study of these hieroglyphic records shows that the Aztecs used their own calculation system to figure out the area of a land parcel that relied on 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,” says Williams. She explains that their system used a method of finding averages that didn’t rely on the fractions or decimals that we would employ today to solve the standard length-times-width calculations used to find the area of a property.
The system, termed “Acolhua Congruence Arithmetic” by the researchers, appears to fit with what else is known of the Aztecs, such as how they calculated their calendar, and would have allowed an ancient version of today’s register of deeds to maintain highly accurate property records.
Williams received her doctorate from UW-Madison and taught courses at UW-Rock County for nearly 30 years, before retiring in 1999. Her interest in Mexican and Atzec culture was sparked in childhood and she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and minored in anthropology. She merged these fields with her graduate work in geography and geology when she did field research in Mexico on soils and methods of traditional agriculture. She’s built on that research with studies of Aztec property descriptions, the results of which were published in the journal Science in 1980. Further exploration of the documents led to the most recent discovery of Acolhua Congruence Arithmetic. She plans to delve deeper into understanding just how accurate the ancient Aztec surveyors were.
Not in this press release, or in any of the other news stories I found was the word “channeled” used.
I did find a reference to the Aztec numbering system be based on 20 vs. 10 and that may have been the reason for the “Sumerian algorithm” mention.
But, just to be sure I have sent the following e-mail to Mexico:
Madam:
Please excuse my use of English, but I do not know the Spanish language.
I am a member of an international Archeological Internet Forum. We have been discussing your discovery of the Aztec math used to levy real estate taxes.
Two questions came up that we would like some clarification on, if possible.
The first question has to do with the word “channeled” used by David Biello in his report in the Scientific American magazine. The word was used in describing your coming to understand the mind of the Aztec land surveyor. Some members think this means you, in some way, had an actual conversation or some kind of contact with this ancient person. Others feel this may be a case of bad translation, and the meaning was closer to something to the effect of “learning to think like an Aztec surveyor.”
The other question relates to the reference in Brian Handwerk’s story in the National Geographic to the Aztec’s using a “Sumerian algorithm” in their calculations. Was this meant to suggest there was some kind of contact between the Sumerian’s (or their decedents) and the Aztec’s. Or do you feel this may just be a case of independently coming to the same solution?
If you like, you can reply to me directly at
kbs2244@yahoo.com
or to the forum itself. The site is
http://archaeologica.boardbot.com/viewforum.php?f=4
and the discussion is “Aztec Math”
You will most likely have to register as a member before you can post a answer directly.
I thank you in advance for your time and effort.
All this is nothing personal Ish. I belive in the sprirt realm.
I just don't think it aplies to this case.
Hopefully, we will find out.
