CRADLES OF EARLY SCIENCE

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE IN MESOAMERICA

❖ Entire area of Central America from Southern Mexico up to the

border of South America. ❖ Maya Civilization lasted for approx.
2000 years.
❖ Incorporated their advanced understanding of astronomy into their
temples and religious structure.
● The El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza is situated
at the location of the Sun during the spring and
fall equinoxes.

❖ Predicting eclipses
❖ Astrological cycles in planting and harvesting
❖ They built observatories so their priests could watch the stars and
plan the best time for festivals, religious rituals
and cultural celebrations.
❖ Maya astronomers studied the heavens and kept
careful records
of their religious observances because the
Maya believed
sacrifices to the gods had to be carefully
timed. The Maya used
two calendars. An everyday calendar with 13
months of 20 days
each was probably related to the appearance of the planet Venus.
❖ Hydraulics
 ❖ Weaving looms
❖ The Maya hieroglyphic writing is arguably
one of the most
visually striking systems of the world. It is
also very
complex, with hundreds of unique signs
or glyphs in the
form of humans, animals, supernaturals, objects, and
abstract designs.
❖ THE MAYAN ZODIAC SYMBOLS AND NAMES

DECLINE OF THE MAYAS

● About 900 A.D, the Mayas abandoned their cities, leaving
their great stone palaces and temples to be swallowed up
by the jungle.
● No one knows for sure why Mayan civilization declined.
Possibly, frequent warfare forced the Mayas to abandon their
traditional agricultural methods. Or overpopulation may have
led to over farming, which in turn exhausted the soil.
● Heavy taxes to finance wars and temple building may have
sparked peasant revolts. ● One thing is for certain. At the time
of Spanish arrival in the 16th century, the Mayans, as an
advanced civilization, did not exist.

THE INCA CIVILIZATION

● Largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the
largest empire in the world in the early 16th century.
● Flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1533 CE.

INCAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

● Polytheists: worshiped many Gods of Nature
● Inti (the sun of God) was the most important God.
● Had religious festivals to honor Gods.
 1. Roads paved with stones
2. Stone buildings that surmounted earthquakes
3. Irrigation system and technique for storing water
4. Calendar with 12 months
5. First suspension bridge
6. Quipu
7. Inca textiles

Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

Mexica (Aztec) civilization
350,000 residents
● The Aztecs were an advanced and prosperous
civilization who built beautiful and sophisticated cities.
● The highly developed empire had an elaborate leadership
and society that consisted of four classes.
○ Nobles (highest power)
○ Commoners (the majority of population, were mostly farmers)
○ Serfs (worked land for the nobles)
○ Slaves (consisted of those captured and indebted who couldn’t pay

1. Mandatory education
2. Chocolates - cacao beans
3. Antispasmodic medication
4. Chinampa - irrigation systems
5. Aztec calendar
6. Invention of the canoe

AZTEC INTELLECTUAL &

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS -
CALENDAR
● 365 day calendar and a 260 day ritual calendar.
● Calculates the end of the world as December 21, 2012.