AZTEC SCIENCE

Christian Cooper, Jordan Hale, Katy Knudsen, Ricco Sanchez

Aztecs:A History

The Aztecs were said to have been guided by their God Huitzilopochtli to a new land. Arriving at a lake the Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a cactus in the middle an island. This they felt was a prophecy. So, they settled in that very spot and built Tenochtitlan their capital city.

Things to Know: Aztec civilization was based upon a

polytheistic mythology

Human Sacrifice was practiced for religious reasons. In return for their sacrifice the Gods would give them life and sustenance.

Their religion was strongly based on astronomy which they excelled at understanding.

They were a polytheistic culture (many gods)

Aztec Information

Aztec Writing System

Pictographs: (pictures used as a form of writing).

The Aztecs used Pictographs as their writing system. And even for math!

They used this writing style to represent day to day affairs of the people or entire ideas that needed to be writing down.

We have used Aztec Codex’s (pictographs) to learn much of what we know today.

The Aztec SchoolThe Aztec philosophy:“How to gain stability and balance in an ephemeral world”.

Aztecs developed a school of philosophy focused on dualism, monism and aesthetics called the Calmecac.

Only children of the noble class attended.

Studies included:

Religious study Astronomy Writing Poetry

Warfare was learned at the Telpochcalli school.

The main focus of Aztec schools were to learn how to become a goodcitizen. However the Aztecs were Experts in certain fields.Predominate areas of expertise:

- Astronomy- Herbal Medicine- Math

(Aztec herbal medicine)

Aztec MathAztec math was a complicated mix of equations and fractions in the form

of pictographs.

These pictographs included: Hearts Arrows Eyes others….

Most often these pictures were used to

calculate ground distances.

ArithmeticOne system the Aztecs used was thebase 20 number system.One was shown as lines (-)20 was shown as dots (.)For instance: 22= . - -

The Aztecs had two separate calendars, one pertaining to the solar year which they recognized to have 365 days as well as a 260 day ritual calendar. The solar year was recognized with 18 months of 20 days, with five bad luck days at the end of the year. While the ritual calendar is marked by the combination of 13 day numbers and 20 day signs, which creates 260 differently named days. Thus, the day signs from Crocodile to Flower marked the solar year while the 1 Crocodile, 2 Wind, 3 House combinations tracked the ritual year. As a result, the occurrence of a 1 Crocodile ritual day and a Crocodile solar day happens only once every 52 years, just as a 2 Crocodile ritual day and a Crocodile solar day coinciding also happens only once every 52 years. The beginning of this 52 year cycle is marked by the appearance of the Pleiades, whose appearance marks peace within the heavens and 52 more years of life.

Aztec Calendar

Middle Face of the Stone •The face is believed to be either the sun

god Tonatiuh or the earth god Tlaltecuhtli•Top right- Jaguar•Top left- wind god•Bottom right- water•Bottom left fiery rainThese represent the four prior Universes! Snake - Coatl

Lizard - Cuetzpallin House - Calli Wind - Ehecatl Crocodile - Cipactli Flower - Xochitl Rain - Quiahuitl Flint - Tecpatl Movement - Ollin Vulture - Cozcacuauhtli Eagle - Cuauhtle Jaguar - Ocelotl Cane - Acatl Herb - Malinalli Monkey - Ozomatli Hairless Dog - Itzquintli Water - Atl Rabbit - Tochtli Deer - Mazatl Skull - Miquiztli

The Aztec year consists of 18 months and 20days.

Five dots called Nemontemi were added for intercalary days, making the grand total 365 days

The 20 different days of the Aztec month Interesting Calendar Facts

The date 12/21/2012 C.E has a close bond with the winter Solstice sun. The crossing point is at the Galactic equator (equator of the milky way) and the Ecliptic (path of the sun). This well awaited date have been know of for thousands of years and will come to resolution at 11:11A.M. Some scientists say that we are already in the 6th sun but according to the number not yet. The calendar showed the previous suns but does not show the life of the sixth.

MEXICA SUN STONE(AKA AZTEC CALENDAR STONE)

•Excavated December 17, 1790•12 ft in Diameter, 4ft in thickness, weight 24 tons•Located in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City What is it? A symbolic portrayal of the four disasters that lead to the extinction of the four prior universes in Aztec cosmology

Hieroglyphic and Pictographic layout of how the Aztecs measured time but you can’t tell the precise date and time on it

Restored Sun Stone

•The Aztecs believed and still do that we are in the 5th and last creation of the world•Each creation is called the sun because movement of the sun maintained human life•The building of the calendar took 52 years to complete, due to the use of stone tools

Aztec MedicineAztec Physical

Medicine The Aztec medicine

men were the doctors of their day.

Doctors practiced medicine and operations from the dead corpses of human sacrifices and from bodies from war.

-At the time of the Aztec society their knowledge in medicine was better if not the same as the European medicine of the time.-Kings were said to have sent scientist to learn and steal herbal remedies.

Knowledge Through the Years

Many of the herbal remedies and medicines the Aztecs used are still used in many ways today

Aztec Medicine Today

Aztec Medicine Cont.

Types of Medical Practices

-Spiritual Healing

-Spiritual Healing was vital in any aspect of an Aztecs life.-Prayer to the gods was essential to everyday Aztec life. -The Aztecs had a love hate relationship with their gods.-The gods were capricious and if people did not prayer it was believed that the gods would curse them with illness.-Aztec people were very superstitious.

-Herbal Remedies from various plant were constantly used.

-Herbal Remedies

-The Aztecs had extensive knowledge about their herbs and plants possibly some of the best in the world at the time

This is a picture of a bath house. The Aztec people would use a public bath house if they had a fever. They would use herbs that were believed to be evaporated in the steam and inhale them to cure their fever. Also by sweating, it was believed they would sweat out the evil spirits.

Aztec AstronomyContrary to modern science, Aztecs had their own reasoning for observing the various phenomena of astronomy. The importance of astronomy to their culture and religion surpasses the connection of such in the 21st century. However, the process of observation was rudimentary, as all observations were made with the naked eye. Sticks were placed in an ‘X’ at the point where notable phenomena could be directly observed. Aztec astronomers were keen to record only phenomena that fell on special days of their ritual calendar, as these were days to be marked by sacrifice and celebrations in the future.

The Citlaltlachtli constellation depicts a ball court in the skies where the Gods play to decide the fate of humankind.

Solar eclipses were feared in the chance that they may bring eternal darkness. In order to appease the Gods and assure the life of the sun, numerous human sacrifices were made. Common belief was such that “If the eclipse of the sun was complete, it will be dark forever! The demons of darkness will come down, they will eat men!” - Sahagun

Lunar eclipses were feared by pregnant women. Their fear was derived from the thought that the phenomena would have them produce monstrous children. In order to protect their child, mothers would put obsidian in their mouths and on their chests for protection.

Aztecs noted Venus’ shifting pattern from an evening star to a morning star, and was lost from sight during its shifting period. This process of disappearing and reappearing occurs five times in eight solar years. As a result Aztecs paid much tribute to the phenomena that Venus could be observed to repeat its precise positioning every eight years almost exactly to the day.

Aztec constellations are all positioned near the Ecliptic.

Left Column 6) Tianquiztli (the marketplace) - Pleiades 7) Citlaltlachtli (ball court) - Gemini 8) Citlalpol - Venus 9) Citlalpopoca (smoking star) - Comet 10) Citlaltlamina - Shooting star 11) Xonecuilli - Little Dipper 12) Citlalcolotl - Scorpio

Right Column 1) Tonatiuh - Sun 2) Meztli - Moon 3) Solar Eclipse 4) Lunar Eclipse 5) Mamalhuaztli - Orion’s Belt and sword

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