Fig. 14-5. An Aztec plan of a small portion of the gigantic chinampa system-the artificial "island" gardens ("floating gardens") constructed 2000 years ago in the area of Mexico we now call Mexico City. The major canals were large enough for navigation in flat-bottomed boats. The areas with footprints are paths. The portrait profiles stand for the homes of the farm owners with names in hieroglyphics and some translated into Roman letters by a Spanish scribe.