Subaltern Recogito
Analysing sixteenth-century maps of New Spain
Since the conclusion of our series of Citizen Science Mappathons, our team have been working on collating all the data that was produced as part of this process. Across the twenty maps of the Relaciones Geográficas de Nueva España (RGs), which were annotated using Recogito, we have a total of 2883 individual annotations. These annotations contain a great variety of the information depicted on these invaluable historical sources, and the extraction of this information should allow for new methods of analysis.
If you’d like to read more on the background of this project, and the Mappathons themselves, read our previous posts, linked below:
Summary of Data
Before looking at our further plans for analysis of these materials, we will take a quick look at the types of information that has been extracted from these maps through the process of annotation. As an indication, here are a few examples of the frequency of annotation entities:
Route of Transportation: 813
Architecture: 510
Water body: 334
Toponym: 310
Location: 271
NOTE: ‘Location’ refers to non-descript locations such as a market, whereas ‘Toponym’ refers to named places, such as Tenochtitlan.
“Route of Transportation” is the most frequently used term in the dataset, with 813 individual occurrences, but this number is significantly skewed, in part, as a result of footprints accounting for numerous individual annotations — these footprints (as shown below) appear frequently across the maps, being used to indicate routes.
These statistics can give us a superficial insight into the types of information included across these maps, and could potentially, at a larger scale, enable tracing trends across maps of a certain style/authorship/time period. However, by itself, the annotation data cannot give us a complete picture. Any analysis of this type of data must consistently refer back to the original source material, as well as taking into account the broader historical and socio-cultural contexts.
Potential Applications
Of particular interest to us is the potential to use this data for analyses using QSR (Qualitative Spatial Representation) and Semantic Triples. These experimental methodologies could offer an alternative way of expressing complex spatial information that can’t, and often shouldn’t, be expressed using conventional GIS (Geographic Information Systems) approaches. This is especially relevant for cases such as the maps of the Relaciones Geográficas, where spatial information is intertwined with historical, cultural and ideological information.
These complex relationships simply cannot be expressed coherently using GIS. Where GIS, by necessity, ‘flattens’ reality to a series of lines and points in order to facilitate the ability to perform complex spatial analyses, QSR and Semantic Triples together allow for analysis, with complexity built-in.
As a brief explanation, QSR works by creating descriptive statements which explain spatial relationships between elements, reflecting the principles of Semantic Triples — these ‘triples’ are statements built from two elements (one subject, one object), with a third element (a predicate) which describes a link between them. So, for example, [subject: Tenochtitlan] [predicate: is located on] [object: Lake Texcoco]. This triple establishes the relationship between ‘Tenochtitlan’ and ‘Lake Texcoco’, which can then, on a larger scale, be used to create a network of relationships which aren’t restricted by, but can also include, geographic relationships.
If you’d like to read a more detailed exploration of the potential applications of QSR and Semantic Triples, using the case study of the RG map of Atengo-Misquiahala, see Murrieta-Flores, Patricia, Mariana Favila Vázquez, and Aban Flores Morán. ‘Spatial Humanities 3.0: QSR and Semantic Triples as Means of Exploration of Complex Indigenous Spatial Representations in 16 Th Century Early Colonial Mexican Maps.’ International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 2019. doi:10.3366/ijhac.2019.0231.
The hope with applying the principles of QSR and Semantic Triples to data, such as the data extracted from the maps of the RGs, is to enable new methods of analysing complex, multi-layered information. In the case of the maps of the Relaciones, meaning is conveyed through numerous aspects present on the maps. Most recognisable to the non-specialist reader is the presence of textual ‘glosses’ which can detail a whole range of information including, for example, toponyms and descriptions. Beyond this, however, the map reader will encounter more complex methods of depicting information. Toponyms depicted in indigenous styles, for example, contain all the information necessary to understand which settlement it is, without the need for a textual gloss.
Settlements are typically depicted with the glyph for ‘hill’, but further information is attached to this ‘base’ glyph in order to specify exactly which settlement this is. In the example above, which shows a snake within the glyph for a hill, the settlement can be identified as ‘Coatepec’, a placename derived from the combination of the Nahuatl words coatl (snake), and tepetl (hill).
In addition to the complex meanings within individual elements of the maps, there are a broad variety of elements present within and across each of the maps, which only adds to the complexity. Historical and genealogical information can often be found, for example, and depictions of individuals (e.g. rulers) come with their own set of signifiers. The example below shows a ruler of Misquiahuala, who we know to be Quauhtzin (or Cuauhtzin) because of the accompanying glyph for cuauhtli, meaning ‘eagle’ in Nahuatl.
Going forward, there is a great deal of potential to expand this dataset and to explore the use of alternative methods of analysis. Whilst this initial series of Citizen Science Mappathons resulted in a set of twenty, fully annotated maps of the Relaciones Geográficas of the sixteenth century, there are more maps within this corpus to annotate, as well as hundreds of other sixteenth-century maps of Mexico that are held by the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico. We will be also be working together with members of our team at LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, at the University of Texas, Austin, to create a space to host the Recogito workspaces created during the Citizen Science Mappathons.
To follow our future work with these maps, and our other work on sixteenth-century Mexico, make sure to follow us on Twitter and visit the Digging Into Early Colonial Mexico website.
Our team:
Lancaster University: Patricia Murrieta Flores & Katherine Bellamy
University of Texas at Austin: Albert A. Palacios & Kelly McDonough
UNAM: Mariana Favila Vázquez
ENAH: Javier López Camacho
INAH: Diego Jiménez-Badillo
University of Lisbon: Bruno Martins
