EVIDENCE OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY
DURING PRE-COLUMBIAN
TIMES
OLMEC CIVILIZATION
Location: the first great
Mesoamerican civilization. They
thrived along Southern gulf
coast of Mexico, mainly in the
present day states of Veracruz
and Tabasco from about 1200
to 400 B.C. Culture was greatly
influential on later societies,
such as the Maya and the Aztec.
Science and Technology Development:

The name “Olmec” means “rubber

people” in Nahuatl, the language of
the Aztec. The term “ rubber people”
refers to ancient practice, spanning
from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs of
extracting latex from Castilla elastic, a
rubber tree in the area. The juice of a
local vine, Ipomoea alba, was then
mixed with this latex to create rubber
as early as 1600 BCE.
Rubber Tree
Science and Technology Development:

Olmec's Writing and the phonetic

hieroglyphics, which are a
combination of syllabic and logo
graphic signs. The first Olmec writing
started out with glyph representing
calendrical events, and then later logo
graphs(line drawing for single ideas).
Science and Technology Development:

Olmec constructed permanent city temples complexes at

San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, La Venta, Tres Zapotes and
Laguna de los Cerros. The principal architectural structure
found in La Venta ruins was the vast clay pyramid
decorated with elaborate carvings. Common among places
is the colossal heads that is made from basalt which
symbolizes thrones. There are also monuments and other
major pieces of Olmecs art such as mask and figurines.
La Venta Great Pyramid
OLMEC STONE MASK
OLMEC COLOSSAL
HEAD
OLMEC FIGURINE
Science and Technology Development:
• Olmecs are known to cultivate cacao, rubber and
salt. It is also observed that they are using an
elaborate water and drainage system. They
manufacture chocolate drinks.

• Olmec traded goods such as obsidian, ceramic,

jade, serpentine, mica. Rubber, pottery, feathers and
polished mirrors of limonite and magnetite.
CACAO OLMEC DRAINAGE SYSTTEM
OLMEC OBSIDIAN
 Pottery
Ceramic Jade
• There are evidences that suggest the Olmec
practice human sacrifice and cannibalism. The
calendar used in Mexico may also have originated
from the Olmec. They also studied astronomy sine
they are obsessed with the timing of religious ritual .
Animal gods were features of Olmec culture.

• La venta went to decline around 400 BC. And the

Olmec civilization vanished along with it.
Olmec Cannibalism
Olmec Calendar
MAYA CIVILIZATION
Location: The ancient Mayans are a
diverse group of indigenous people who
lived in parts of present-day Mexico,
Beliza, Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras. It is regarded as one of the
most important pre- Columbian
Mesoamerican cultures. The Mayas are
credited with a number of remarkable
scientific achievements in various
scientific fields such as astronomy,
engineering and mathematics.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT:
Palenque was a Maya city
much smaller in size
compared to huge sites
like Tikal and Chichen Itza.
Palenque engineers
constructed elaborate
subterranean aqueducts.

•Piedras Bolas aqueduct

-The water pressure may
have been used for
providing running water to
the palace and other
buildings.
• El Castillo or the Pyramid of Kukulkan
- at Chichen Itza is one of the most famous
Maya structures. Its 365 steps equal the
number of days in their solar calander and
52 panels on each side represent their 52
year Calendar Round. Its most famous
feature is that during the two equinoxes (
nearly" equal amount of daylight and
darkness), the sun casts a series of
triangular shadows against the north-west
balustrade, creating a display of a feathered
serpent “crawling” down the steps of the
pyramid. This phenomena is intended to be
the manifestation of their deity Kulkulkan,
the feathered serpent
As far as astronomy was concerned, they
tracked the movement of the stars and
planets across the sky, and were able to
accurately predict celestial events such as
eclipses. To the Mayan, Venus was the most.
important astronomical object.The most
important planet by far to the Maya was
Venus, which they associated with war......
Venus was the patron planet
of warfare for the Mayans.
That is why the dates of
several battles are connected
with a key position of Venus
cycle. From the historian
Sahagun we know that when
Venus (the morning star) rose,
people stopped up their
chimneys so that no harm
from its light could get into
their houses
The first, known as the
Calendar Round, was
based on two overlapping
annual cycles: a 260-day
sacred year and a 365-
day secular year This
calendar gave each day a
name, much like our days
of the week. There were
20 day names,
represented by their
respective symbols.
 The written language of the
Mayan was made up of about
800 glyphs, or symbols. Each
one represented of a word or
a syllable, and could be
combined with the others on
an almost infinite number of
ways. As a result, there were
three or four different ways to
write almost every word in
Mayan's language.
The Mayans were also
talented in building
elaborate temples, and
great cities without the
essential tools like
metals. It is believed
that Mayans were
producing rubber
products.
The Maya took the latex from
rubber trees and mixed it with juice
from morning glory vines to
produce rubber. Earliest use of
rubber in Mesoamerica has been
dated to 1600 BCE. The Maya, like
several other Mesoamerican
cultures, used bouncy rubber balls
to play the famous Mesoamerican
Ballgame - Pok-A-Tok
Pok-A-Tok
 INCA CIVILIZATION
Location: Flourished in the Andean region of South America from the
early 15th century. A.D up until its conquest by the Spaniards in the
1530's. One of the Inca civilization's most famous surviving
archaeological sites is Machu Picchu, which was built as a retreat
place for an Incan emperor. The Incas called their empire
Tawantinsuyu, the "land of the four corners" and its official language
was Quechua; it was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
The inca empire originated at the city of Cuzco in what Is today Peru.
To support this empire, a system of roads stretched to almost 25,
000 miles.
Science and Technology Development:
a. They are rich in maize (corn) and dried
Llama, coca leaves and alcohol. Other
consumable goods includes sweet
potatoes, quinoa, beans and chili peppers.
Coca leaves were used in moderate
amounts to lessen hunger and pain during
work, but were used for religious and
health purposes as well as during surgeries
as an anesthetic.
b. Mummification of individuals
was an important part of Inca
funerary rites.
C. November is described as being the "month of
carrying the dead" a time when people would try
to feed mummies of their ancestors.
d. Striking artistry were its textiles;
finest grade of cloth was called
cumpi, being reserved for the
emperor and nobility. Clothes were
woven out of wool from dried
Ilamas and alpaca or vicuna wool or
cotton.
f. Inca calendar were strongly tied to
astronomy. The inca calendar was
essentially lunisolar, as two calendars
were maintained in parallel, one solar
and one lunar. Twelve lunar months fall
11 days short of a full 365 day solar year.
Equinoxes, solstices and
AZTEC CIVILIZATION
Location: The Aztecs established
their city Tenochtitlan, present day
Mexico city in 1325 A.D. The Aztecs
are best known as a violent people
who expanded their empire through
ruthless warfare. They also had a
reputation of making human
sacrifice in elaborate rituals that
often involved the removal of
beating hearts, to appease their
many gods.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT
 Science and Technology Development:

A. THE ADVANCES DEMONSTRATED IN AZTEC

TECHNOLOGY ARE SO REMARKABLE THAT
THEY ARE STILL LOOKED UPON ADORINGLY
TO THIS DAY. JUST A FEW OF THE AZTEC
ACCOMPLISHMENTS HAVE BEEN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICS, THE
CANOE, THE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED AZTEC
CALENDAR, AND REMARKABLY HELPFUL
FORMS OF MEDICINE.
AZTEC Calendar
 AZTEC
MATHEMATICS
THE CANOE
Science and Technology Development:
B. AZTEC TOOLS WERE MADE WITH
OBSIDIAN AND CHERT. NEAR THE TIME THEY
WERE OVERCOME BY SPANISH
CONQUISTADORS, ADVANCES IN AZTEC
TECHNOLOGY LED TO EXPERIMENTATION OF
MAKING TOOLS WITH COPPER. AXE BLADES ,
BOWS AND ARROWS WERE BEING MADE
WITH EITHER STONE OR COPPER. AZTEC
TECHNOLOGY WAS SO ADVANCES THAT
THEY EVEN MADE DRILLS WHICH WERE
MADE OF REED OR BONE.
Science and Technology Development:

C. AZTEC TECHNOLOGY WERE FAMILIAR

WITH THE WHEEL. THE WHEEL HOWEVER
WAS ONLY USED IN TOYS.

D. AZTEC DEVELOPED DUGOUT CANOES

WHICH THEY TRANSPORTED THEMSELVES
AND THEIR GOODS THROUGHOUT THE MANY
CANALS, LAKES AND WATERWAYS FOUND IN
THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.
 THE WHEEL
INVENTED IN AZTEC CIVILIZATION
THE CANOE
Science and Technology Development:
E. THE AZTECS WERE VERY ADVANCED
SCIENTIFIC THINKERS AND MATHEMATIANS.
THE AZTEC NUMBER SYSTEM WAS FAR
ADVANCED THAN OTHER CULTURES AT THE
TIME.

F. AZTEC ASTRONOMY WAS ALSO AN

IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THEIR
CALENDAR, WHICH REFLECTED HEAVILY ON
THEIR GODS.
 AZTEC
MATHEMATICS
Science and Technology Development:

G. THE AZTEC WERE ALSO ADVANCED IN THE

DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICINE. IN FACT, AZTEC
MEDICINE WAS FOUND IN MANY FORMS, SUCH AS
OINTMENTS, DRINKS AND SALVES.

H. THIS SPECTACULAR ARE OF AZTEC

TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN RECORDED IN THE
BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT, WHICH WAS CREATED BY
AZTEC IN 1552.
 AZTEC
MEDICINE
THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT
THANK YOU!