Geospatial and Symbolic Hypothesis for the Foundation of Tenochtitlan Based on Digital Elevation Analysis of the Valley of Mexico

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel hypothesis about the foundation of Tenochtitlan by combining digital elevation modeling with historical and symbolic analysis. Using geospatial data from EarthExplorer, we simulate various historical water levels in the Valley of Mexico. The resulting lake configurations reveal possible locations for ancient settlements near now-vanished shorelines, suggesting a dynamic transformation of sacred geography that aligns with key Mexica myths. We identify Santa María Aztahuacan as a strong candidate for the historical Aztlan and propose a reinterpretation of foundational codices in light of geomythical correlations.

7 pages, 3 figures. Source code available at: https://github.com/jsonata/mexica-geospatial-model