El altepetl nahua como paisaje: un modelo geográfico para la Nueva España y el México Independiente

Altepetl, in Nahuatl, was the concept that signified the relationship between indigenous communities and their vital environment. This paper proposes a model that incorporates the features of this key concept, in order to understand not only the history of the Mesoamerican towns but their geography at a local scale. Altepetl refers both to the people and to their sovereign territory including the natural resources within it. The Spaniards negotiated with the people of the altepetl they encountered and many traditional practices continued and can still be seen in various forms today. This model takes into account the evolution of the concept through a Longue duree history doing both field work and ethnohistorical analysis and proposes the use of the concept of landscape in order to make the altepetl more comprehensible and applicable for decision making.