CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY

DAYAO SATELLITE COLLEGE

DAYAO, ROXAS CITY

SCIENCE , TECHNOLOGY AND

SOCIETY
 LESSON 6
EVIDENCES OF SEIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DURING PRE- COLUMBIAN TIMES (1500 B.C-A.D.
1500 IN THE NEW WORLD)
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The students will be able to:
1. Describe the development of Science and technolo8Y made by the Olmec, Mayans, Inca
and Aztecs;
2. Explicate and recognize the significance of the contribution of Olmec, Mayans, Aztecs and
Inca in the development of science and technology.

DISCUSSION
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 Nahuat, the language of the
Aztec. The term "rubber people" refers to the ancient practice, spanning from
ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, of extracting latex from Castilla elastica, a rubber
tree in the area, 1he juice of a local vine, Ipomoea alba, was then mixed with
this latex to create rubber as early as 1600 BCE.
Olmecs constructed permanent city-temple complexes at San Lorenzo
Tenochtitlan, La Venta, Thres 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

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thrones. There are also monumentsand other major pieces of Olmec art such as
mask and figurines
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.
There are evidences that suggest the Olmec practiced human sacrifice and
cannibalism; The calendar used in Mexico may also have originated from the
Olmec. They also studied astronomy since they are obsessed with the timing of
religious ritual. Animal gods were features of Olmec culture.
Olmec traded goods such as obsidian, ceramics, jade, serpentine, mica,
rubber, pottery, feathers and polished mirrors of limenite and magnetite.
La Venta went into decline around 400 [Link]. and the Olmec civilization
vanished along with it
Maya Civilization
Location: The ancient Mayans are a diverse group of indigenous people who
lived in parts of present-day Mexico, Belize, 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
scientiñc achievements in various scientific fields such as astronomy,
engineering, medicine, and Mathematics.
Science and Technology Development:
a. The Mayan not only made the great progress in agriculture, but also made a
big break in technology.
b. The architectural and engineering skills were manifested in the grandeur of
their tall pyramids of limestones, with small temples on the top constructed like
an arch supported by two side walls bridged by a row of flat stones and
ornamented by steeples or roof combs. They are usually made of cherts,
obsidian, siliciified limestone, and jade.
c. 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.

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d. The Mayans also discovered an accurate calendar. The ritual calendar that
developed in Mesoamerica used a count of 260 days. This calendar gave cach
day a name, much like our days of the week. There were 20 day names,
represented by their respective symbols
e. The written language of the Mayan was made up of about 800 glyphs, or
symbols. Each one represented a word or a syllable, and could be combined
with the others in an almost infinite number of ways. As a result, there were
three or four different ways to write almost every word in the Mayan language.
The Mayans were also talented in building elaborate temples and great cities
without the essential tools like metal. It is believed that Mayans were producing
rubber products.
Aztec Civilization
Location: The Aztecs established their city of 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 sacrifices in elaborate rituals that often involved the removal of beating
hearts, to appease their many gods
They practiced a highly organized system of government and a language -
Nahuatl
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.
b. Aztec tools were made with obsidian and chert. Near the time they were
overcome by Spanish conquistadors, advances in Aztec technology led to the
experimentation of making tools with copper. Axe blades, bows and arrows
were being made with either stone or coppe. Aztec technology was so advanced
that they even made drills which were made of reed or bone.
c. Aztec technology were familiar with the wheel. The wheel, however, was
only used in toys.

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d. Aztecs developed dugout canoes with which they transported themselves and
their goods throughout the many canals, lakes, and waterways found in the
Valley of Mexico.
e. The Aztecs were very advanced scientific thinkers and mathematicians. The
Aztec number system was far more advanced than other cultures at the time
f. Aztec astronomy was also an important component of their calendar, which
reflected heavily on their gods.
g. The Aztecs 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 area of Aztec technology has been recorded in the Badianus
Manuscript, which was created by Aztec artists in 1552.
Inca Civilization
Location: Flourished in the Andean region of South America from the early 15 th
century A.D. up until its conquest by the Spaniards in the 1530s. One of the
Incaa civilizations most famous surviving archaeological sites is Machu Picchu,
which was built as a retreat place for an Incan emperor. The Incas called their
empire lawantinsuyu, the "Land of the Four Corners and its offcial language
was Quechua: it was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The
IncaEmpire 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 include sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans and chili peppers.
Coca leaves were used in moderate amounts to lessen hunger and pain during
work, but were mostly 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
whenpeople would try to feed the 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 llamas and alpaca or vicuna wool and cotton.

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e. Objects were made out of gold and silver. Inca stone-working was also
considered to be very fine. Their craftsmen fitted building stones together
perfectly without using any mortar, such that an object as thin as a razor blade
could not be inserted between the stones.
f. Inca calendars 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 Venus cycles are observed.
g. The Inca used assemblages of knotted strings, known as Quipu, used as
mnemonic devices or to record numerical data and also believed to record
history and literature.
h. The Inca made many discoveries in medicine. They performed successful
skull surgeries, which involved cutting holes in the skull in order to alleviate
fluid buildup and inflammation caused by head wounds.
i. Physical measures employed by the Inca were based upon human body parts.
Fingers, the distance between thumb to forefinger, palms, cubits, and wingspans
were among those units used. The most basic unit of distance was thatkiy or
thatki, or one pace.
j. The Inca weaponry included: Bronze or bone-tipped spears; Two-handed
wooden swords with serrated edges; Clubs with stone and spiked metal heads;
woolen slings and stones; Stone or copper headed battle-axes; Bolas (stones
fastened to lengths of cord).

NOTE: No activities for this lesson.

CONGRATULATIONS!
-End of Lesson 6-

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 LESSON 7
The State of Science and Technology during the Middle
Ages (A.D. 400- A.D. 1900 in the Western World)
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The students will be able to:
1. Describe the development of Science and technology during the Middle Ages;
2. Elucidate and recognize the significance of the different inventions to the society during
the Middle Ages.

DISCUSSION
Medieval Times, Middle Ages, and Dark Ages are generally referring to the same
period of time from 500 to 1500 AD. That's 1000 years! It covers the time from the fall of the
Roman Empire to the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Europe experienced an intellectual
revitalization, especially with regard to the investigation of the natural world.
The Medieval period saw major technological advances, including the invention of
vertical windmills, spectacles, mechanical clocks, greatly improved water mills, building
techniques like the Gothic style and three-field crop rotation. Here are some of the famous
inventions during Medieval times:
1. Military technologies such as:
a. Counterweight trebuchet is a revolutionized medieval siege weapon which uses
counterweights and hurling of huge stones to very far distances. It was first used in the
eastern Mediterranean basin.
b. Longbow with massed, disciplined archery was used by the English against the French
during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). The Longbow was powertu, accurate and
contributed to the eventual demise of the medieval knight clas.
c. Steel crossbow was the first hand -held mechanical crossbow. This European innovation
came with several different cocking aids to enhance draw power
d. Complete Full plate armour appeared by the end of the 14th century. The armor chain mail
was made from thousands of metal rings and the armour was a long cloak called a hauberk.
Plate armour is considered the best in personal armour in terms of body protection and
showed the skills involved in working metal.
2. Agricultural Innovations such as the heavy wheeled plough, three-field system, horse
collar, the stirrup, and horseshoe were developed.

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a. Heavy wheeled plough was important in the cultivation of rich, heavy, often wet soils of
Northern Europe that advanced their agricultural practices.
b. Horse collar went through multiple evolutions from the 6th to 9th centuries. It allowed
more horse pulling power, such as with heavy ploughs, while Horseshoes let horses adapt to
rocky tertrain, mountains and carry heavier loads. They may have been known to the Romans
and Celts as early as 50 BC.
c. Artesian well is composed of a thin rod with a hard iron cutting edge placed in a borehole
and repeatedly struck with a hammer. Underground water pressure forces the water up the
hole without pumping. Artesian wells are named as such for Artois, a region in France, where
the first was drilled by Carthusian monks in 1126.
d. Wheelbarrow is used in construction, mining. and farming for carrying materials from
place to place. Wheelbarrows appeared n stories and pictures between 1170 and 1250 in
North-western Europe.
Other inventions
a. Blast furnace or cast iron first appeared in Middle Europe around 1150.
b. Hourglass was made rom a dependable, affordable and accurate measure of time, believed
to be a medieval innovation first documented in Siena, Italy. Mechanical docks is a European
innovation, these weight-driven clocks were used primarily in clock towers.
c. Vertical windmills is a pivot able post mill efficient at grinding grain or draining water.
The first mention of one is from Yorkshire in England in l185.
d. Spectacles is composed of convex lenses to help far-sighted people to see.
e. Chess-it is said that the earliest predecessors of the game originated from India, in the 6th
century AD ánd spread through Persia and the Muslim world to Europe. The game evolved to
its current form in the 15th century.
f. Mirrors were made in 1180 by Alexander Neckham who said "Take away the lead which is
behind the glass and there will be no image of the one looking in”
g. Oil paint was invented by a Flemish painter Jan van Eyck around 1410 who introduced a
stable oil mixture. Oil was used to add details to tenpera paintings
h. A tide mill 1s a special type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a
conduit is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a
reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one-way gate, and this gate
closes automatically when the tide begins to tall. When the tide is low enough, the stored
water can be released to turn a water wheel. The earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787
AD, is the Nendrum Monastery mill on an Island in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.
i. The spinning wheel was probably 1nvented in India, though ts origins are ambiguous. It
reached Europe via the Middle East in the European Middle Ages. It replaced the earlier
method of hand spinning, in which the individual hbres were drawn out of a mass of wool
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held on a stick, or distaft, twisted together to form a continuous strand, and wound on a
second stick, or spindle.
By 1000s, the first universities were developed - they trained the middle class of the
cities in theology. medicine, and law. By 1100s, modern universities emerged throughout
Western Europe such as Oxtord and Cambridge in England.
In the 14th century. Crisis of the Late Middle Ages was underway. A plague called
Black Death came, it wiped out so many Ives it affected the entire system. It brought a
sudden end to the previous period ot massive scientiFic change. The plague killed 25-50% of
the people in Europe, especialy in the crowded areas of the towns, where the heart of
innovations lay. Quarantine technique was established, initially a 40-day-period, the
Quarantine was introduced by the Republic of Kagusa to prevent the spreading of diseases
like the Black Death. Venice began quarantines, then the practice spread around in Europe.

ACTIVITY: Answer the following question briefly.

1. Make a reflective journal of some of the inventions during the Midieval ages that are
still useful today. Justify your answer.

CONGRATULATIONS!
-End of Lesson 7-