MESO-AMERICAN

INTELLECTUAL
REVOLUTION
 Anna Nicole Bacaltos
Bea Pamela Abia
Patricia Kate Marcial
PRESENTERS John Lloyd Sabaybay
Nadine Alegre
Ahaden Ahmad
Karen Verdin
Jinky Joyce Cua
BACKGROUND:
MESO-AMERICA
Mesoamerican civilization, the complex
of indigenous cultures that developed
in parts of Mexico and Central America
prior to Spanish exploration and
conquest in the 16th century.
 PRE-REVOLUTIONARY
MESO-AMERICA
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• hierarchical societies
• ruled by kings and emperor's
• often hereditary
✓served
ROLE OF RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
Mythology was intertwined with religion and
to explain the origins of the world, natural
phenomena, and the role of humans in the
cosmic order.
WRITING SYSTEMS AND COMMUNICATION

✓ Hieroglyphic Writing (Maya)

✓ Pictographic Writing (Aztec)
✓ Communication
✓ Oral tradition
✓ Messengers/runners
✓ Visual Communication
 INTELLECTUAL
ACHIEVEMENTS
DURING THE
REVOLUTION
A. MATHEMATICS
AND ASTRONOMY
Vigesimal (base-20) numerical system
employing a combination of
dots and bars to represent
numbers
Did you know?
Symbol for Zero They accurately
allowed them to perform determined the
complex calculations and create length of the solar
a sophisticated calendar system. year to be 365.2420
days, which is
remarkably close to
the modern value of
365.2425 days.
B. CALENDAR
SYSTEM AND Both the Maya and
Aztec calendar
TIMEKEEPING systems
highly
were
intricate
Haab Calendar and incorporated
It consisted of 18 months, each astronomical
with 20 days, plus a five-day observations,
mathematical
period known as the "Wayeb." calculations, and
religious beliefs.
Aztec calendar They were integral
depicted in stone carvings, with to the intellectual
the "Sun Stone" being the most and cultural
famous representation. It
achievements of
Mesoamerican
symbolized the Aztec cosmology civilizations during
and depicted various astronomical the intellectual
and mythological elements. revolution.
C.ARCHITECTURE
AND URBAN
PLANNING
✓ Mesoamerican architecture is mostly noted to for its
pyramids, which are the largest such structures
outside of Ancient Egypt.

La Venta (archaeological site, Mexico)

✓ The site is dominated by a 100-foot- (30-metre-)
high clay mound shaped like a fluted cone, which
some archaeologists believe represents a volcano.
 THE BEST KNOWN PYRAMIDS INCLUDES:

Pyramid of the Sun

✓ Largest pyramid in the ancient city of
Teotihuacán Mexico
✓ The pyramid rises 216 ft. (66mtr) above ground
level and it measures approximately 720 by 760
feet (220 by 230 meters) at its base

Pyramid of the Moon

✓ the second largest pyramid in Mesoamerica
✓ it is about 141 feet tall with a base of 147 meters
west to east and 130 meters north to south
 THE BEST KNOWN PYRAMIDS INCLUDES:

EL CASTILLO at Chichén Itzá

-"El Templo" known as the Temple of Kukulcán.
- The structure is 24m (79ft) high, plus an additional
6m (20ft) for the temple at the top. The square base
measures 55.3m (181ft) across.
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF QUETZALCOATL at Cholula
- The world's largest temple-pyramid hidden under
the mountain of Mexico.
- It has a base of 450 by 450 meters (1,480 by
1,480ft) and height of 66 meters (217ft).
D.MEDICINE AND HEALING
PRACTICES
Herbal Medicine
Rituals and Spirituality
Surgery and Bone Setting
Sweat Baths
Bloodletting
E.ART, SCULPTURE, and
POTTERY
Sculpture
Bas-Reliefs and Stelae
Pottery
Murals
Codices
 PROMINENT
INTELLECTUAL
CENTERS
 TEOTIHUACAN The City of the Gods
Teotihuacan is a sacred pre-
(BETWEEN 1 CE Columbian city and was
AND 600 CE) once the largest in the
Americas
It's origin was a mystery
contains several large
important structures:
Pyramid of the Moon,
Pyramid of the Sun, Citadel,
and the Quetzalcoatl
(Feathered Serpent)
RELIGION ECONOMY
The Great Goddess Farmers– cultivated
surrounding fields
of Teotihuacan was Smiths– ceramics or
depicted as a spider obsidian, a volcanic
goddess glass weapons, tools,
Other dieties and ornamentation
Merchants–
include Quetzalcoatl immigrants from great
(vegetation), Tlaloc distances
(rain), Xupe Totec Priest-rulers– city
(spring), etc. governors; staged
grand religious
Animals and humans pageants and
were sacrificed ceremonies that often
during their rituals involved human
sacrifices.
MAYA
CIVILIZATION The rise and fall of
civilizations
Golden Age to Age of
Disaster
Prevalence of Spanish
cultures
Mayan Warfare
 The mayan highlands, low lands,
and coastal areas were plentiful
in natural and mineral resources.
1500 BCE - 250 BCE was
known as the Pre-Classic period.
Mayan became involved in
regional trade.
THE GOLDEN AGE
✓ Rise of Lowlands Maya.
✓ Rivalry between Tikal and
Calakmul.
✓ End of Golden Age
TERMINAL CLASSIC ERA
• Prominence of Chichen Itza.
• End of Terminal Classic Era
POST-CLASSIC ERA
• Rise of Aztecs
• War against Spanish conquistadores.
MAYAN GOVERNMENT
• Multepal - joint rule system. The Royal
family jointly governed .
• Elites, Middle Class, Commoners.
MAYAN WARFARE
• Nacom- a chief military strategist, responsible for
gathering and organizing armies.
• Atlatl - common weapon
THE LASTING
•Expanding their territory
INFLUENCE OF THE
MAYAN SOCIETY MAYANS
• Chief priest- the ruler • Prevalence of Catholicism
• Challenges of the Mayan
• Human blood - offers to gods
• Polytheistic - religion of the Mayans
•Hzamna - Supreme deity
ZAPOTEC AND
MIXTEC CULTURES
✓ Were groups of Mesoamerican people
who inhabited land at different times in
the valley of Oaxaca in Mexico
✓ Practiced ritual human sacrficed
✓ (Formative) Early,Middle,and Late
(300 b.c.e-150c.e)
✓ (Classic)
>Early (150-650c.e)
>Late Classic (650-900c.e)
>Early Postclassic (900-1200c.e)
>Late Postclassic (1200-1521c.e)
 "ZAPOTEC CULTURE"
✓ Early Zapotecs lived during the Middle
✓ Gruesome message in the form of carvings
Formative period (400-500b.c.e)

✓ Style of art known as Danzates or Dancers

on stelae(stone monument)

"MIXTEC CULTURE"
✓ comes from an Aztec word means "Place of the CODICES

✓ the people "Mixe" use the word "Ayuk" means

Clouds"

✓ they are best known for their elegant book called

"word or language" to describes themselves

Codices which they draw figures that resembled

✓
cartoons
The best known cities were Tilantongo and
Teozacualco
AZTEC EMPIRE Also known as Tenochca,
derived from their capital,
(1200) "Tenochtitlan"
Became wealthy because
of tax collection
Nahuatl— their language,
was dominant during mid-
1350s in Mexico
Montezuma I– father of
Aztec Empire
AZTEC SOCIETY
Introduced mandatory
education for all children
Highly structured society
RELIGION
shared many aspects with
other Mesoamerican religions,
like with the Mayan's and
Teotihuacan's
also had human sacrifice rites

CONTRIBUTIONS
1. Antispasmodic Medication
prevents spasm
and relaxes
muscle
could be used
during surgeries
2. Chinampa FALL OF
Aztech technology for
agricultural farming
land was devided into AZTEC
rectangular areas European invasion led
surrounded by canals
by Hernan Cortes
3. Aztec Calendar smallpox was used as
Based on solar cycle
of 365 days and ritual a weapon
cycle of 260 days Mexico City was built
and became the
4. Invention of Canoe premier European
a light narrow boat
center in the new
used to travel in
water systems world
INCA CIVILIZATION
The Inca civilization was a highly
advanced society that thrived in the
Andean region of South America from
the 13th to the 16th century. Their
civilization was ultimately conquered
by Spanish conquistadors led by
Francisco Pizarro in the 16th century,
marking the end of this remarkable
indigenous culture.
 INCA SOCIETY
Highly stratified; emperor
ruled with the aid of an
aristocratic bureaucracy
repressive
RELIGION ECONOMY
Combined features of Agriculture based (corn,
animism, feshitism, and potatoes, squash, tomatoes,
the worship of nature etc.)
gods Every man was a farmer,
included elabirate forms producing their own food
of divination and the and clothing
sacrifice of humans and Built vast network of road
animals throughout the empire
 OLMEC
CIVILIZATION
The Olmec civilization, which flourished from
around 1400 BCE to 400 BCE in what is now
modern-day Mexico, made several significant
contributions that had a lasting impact on
Mesoamerican cultures.
REFERENCES
✓ Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, April 27). Mesoamerican civilization. Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization
✓ https://www.storyofmathematics.com/mayan.html/
✓ https://www.slideshare.net/donnaruthtalo/lesson-2-intellectual-revolutions-that-defined-society
✓ https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mayac/hd_mayac.htm
✓ https://youtu.be/YW0rLAX3y-c
✓ http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/mixtec-and-zapotec.html?
m=1#:~:text=The%20Zapotec%20and%20Mixtec%20were,cities%20in%20the%20New%20World.
✓ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.01160/full
✓ https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/aztecs
✓https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aztec/Establishment-of-the-Aztec-empire
✓https://www.britannica.com/place/Teotihuacan