Teotihuacán Measurement Unit

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The Teotihuacan Measurement Unit (TMU) (German: Teotihuacan Measurement Unit ) is a measure of length that the inhabitants of the Mesoamerican city ​​of Teotihuacán probably used for the construction of buildings, but also for planning the city as a whole.

The exact determination of the length of 1 TMU is difficult, as many buildings are very complex and the residents of Teotihuacán have repeatedly made minor changes or entire buildings have simply been built over. The exact length of 1 TMU has been sought since the 19th century. Most proposals assume a length between 80 and 85 centimeters; the most likely is an estimate between 82 and 83 centimeters. This is supported by the etymology of units of measurement in Nahuatl , where there are the terms cemacolli ("one shoulder ") and cenyollotli ("one heart ") for a length between 80 and 90 centimeters , which means a distance from a shoulder or the heart to the tip of the index finger with an outstretched arm.

literature

  • Saburo Sugiyama: Human Sacrifice, Militarism, and Rulership. Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 0-521-78056-X .