Editing History of science (section)

==Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica==
{{further|Ancient American engineering|Mesoamerican calendars|Maya astronomy|Maya numerals|Maya calendar|Maya architecture|Maya medicine|Aztec medicine|Aztec calendar|Aztec architecture}}
[[File:La Mojarra Estela 1 (Escritura superior).jpg|thumb|266x266px|Detail showing columns of glyphs from a portion of the 2nd century&nbsp;CE [[La Mojarra Stela 1]] (found near [[La Mojarra]], [[Veracruz]], Mexico); the left column gives a [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar|Long Count]] [[Mesoamerican calendars|calendar date]] of 8.5.16.9.7, or 156&nbsp;CE. The other columns visible are glyphs from the [[Epi-Olmec script]].]]

During the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Middle Formative Period]] (c. 900 BCE – c. 300 BCE) of [[Pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]], the [[Zapotec civilization]], heavily influenced by the [[Olmec civilization]], established the first known [[Zapotec script|full writing system]] of the region (possibly predated by [[Olmec hieroglyphs|the Olmec]] [[Cascajal Block]]),<ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|page=226}}</ref> as well as the first known astronomical [[Mesoamerican calendars|calendar in Mesoamerica]].<ref name="Mesoamerican civilization, Britannica">Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mesoamerican civilization". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', 3 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization. Accessed 13 February 2024.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Price|first=T. Douglas|title=Images of the Past|author2=Gary M. Feinman|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2005|isbn=0-07-286311-0|edition=Fourth|location=New York}} p. 321</ref> Following a period of initial urban development in the [[Preclassic Maya|Preclassical period]], the [[Classic Maya|Classic]] [[Maya civilization]] (c. 250 CE – c. 900 CE) built on the shared heritage of the Olmecs by developing the most sophisticated systems of [[Maya script|writing]], [[Maya astronomy|astronomy]], [[Maya calendar|calendrical science]], and [[Maya numerals|mathematics]] among Mesoamerican peoples.<ref name="Mesoamerican civilization, Britannica"/> The Maya developed a [[positional numeral system]] with a [[Vigesimal|base of 20]] that included the use of [[zero]] for constructing their calendars.<ref>Smith, David Eugene and LeVeque, William Judson. "Numerals and numeral systems". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', 17 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/numeral. Accessed 13 February 2024.</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|page=227}}</ref> Maya writing, which was developed by 200 BCE, widespread by 100 BCE, and rooted [[Epi-Olmec script|in Olmec]] and Zapotec scripts, contains easily discernible calendar dates in the form of [[logograph]]s representing numbers, coefficients, and calendar periods amounting to 20 days and even 20 years for tracking social, religious, political, and economic events in 360-day years.<ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|pages=226–227}}</ref>