TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History's "worst" nun | Theresa A. Yugar
Juana Ramírez de Asbaje sat before a panel of prestigious theologians, jurists, and mathematicians. They had been invited to test Juana's knowledge with the most difficult questions they could muster. But she successfully answered every...
Curated Video
ANCIENT TREES inside Mexico City's largest public park #shorts #cdmx #travel
ANCIENT TREES inside Mexico City's largest public park #shorts #cdmx #travel
Curated Video
The Decline of Monte Albán
Monte Albán was abandoned around 800 CE during a widespread period of upheaval across Mesoamerica, likely due to a mix of internal elite conflict, environmental stress, and growing disconnect between rulers and commoners. While power...
Curated Video
Noble and Common Life in Ancient Monte Albán
During the Classic period, Monte Albán experienced a flourishing of elite culture, seen in its art, rulers’ monuments, richly decorated tombs, and increasingly exclusive ceremonial spaces. Tombs and murals emphasized genealogy, divine...
Curated Video
Monte Albán: Zapotec Metropolis of the Classic Period
Around 200 CE, Monte Albán underwent major political changes marked by the rise of a new elite, internal conflict, and a transformation of its ceremonial core—reflected in the dismantling and reuse of earlier monuments like the danzantes...
Curated Video
Deciphering the Zapotec Writing System
The Zapotecs developed one of Mesoamerica’s earliest and most extensive writing systems, with a large corpus found at Monte Albán—though the script remains mostly undeciphered today. While we can read some calendar glyphs and names, the...
Curated Video
The Danzantes of Monte Albán
Monte Albán’s Building L houses many danzantes—stone reliefs long thought to depict dancers but now widely interpreted as representations of sacrifice, with some scholars suggesting alternative meanings like bloodletting rituals. These...
Curated Video
Monte Albán’s Regional Dominance in Ancient Oaxaca
Monte Albán’s early history is marked by rapid growth and aggressive expansion, transforming it into the dominant power in the Valley of Oaxaca by 300 BCE. As it extended control over surrounding regions through conquest and influence,...
Curated Video
How Monte Albán Became a Center of Zapotec Civilization
Monte Albán, founded around 500 BCE, was built on a commanding mountaintop at the heart of the Valley of Oaxaca, offering spiritual prestige and strategic defensibility. Despite its challenging terrain, the city rapidly grew into the...
Curated Video
The Rise and Fade of San José Mogote
Before Monte Albán rose to prominence, San José Mogote was the leading settlement in the Valley of Oaxaca around 1300 BCE. Thanks to advanced irrigation, it grew into the valley’s largest village and an important ceremonial center. Over...
Curated Video
An Introduction to the History of Oaxaca and the Zapotec Civilization
The Mexican state of Oaxaca boasts a rich pre-Columbian history, having been one of the earliest regions in the Americas to domesticate crops and develop permanent settlements. It was home to the Zapotec civilization, who built urban...
Curated Video
No Single Cause: The Collapse and Resilience of the Maya
The Maya collapse didn’t have one clear cause—it happened in different ways across different regions. While war, environmental stress, and power struggles all played a role, the real story is how the Maya responded by transforming their...
Curated Video
After the Collapse: A New Maya World Emerges
The Maya collapse wasn’t just a Maya event—many other major cities in Mesoamerica fell around the same time. In the Postclassic period that followed, royal power faded and many cities shifted to shared rule by noble families, trade moved...
Curated Video
Foreign Influence and Final Clues: A Changing Maya World
During the 9th century, foreign styles in art, pottery, writing, and buildings began to show up in Maya cities—especially those trying to bounce back. Some rulers even showed themselves with both Maya and foreign features, suggesting...
Curated Video
War and Violence During the Maya Collapse
As the Maya civilization neared its collapse, warfare became more intense and brutal in some regions, with some cities being destroyed and elites massacred. Evidence from sites like Kiuic and Aguateca shows that violence overwhelmed...
Curated Video
Power Shift: How Maya Nobles Rose as Kings Lost Control
In the late 700s and early 800s, Maya nobles started gaining more power as royal authority began to weaken. At cities like Copán and Yaxchilan, nobles built their own monuments and played bigger roles in government, which had been...
Curated Video
Did Drought Doom the Maya Civilization?
A major drought hit the Maya region around 800 CE, putting serious pressure on farming and water supplies in many cities. While some scientists believe this drought helped cause the Maya collapse, others point out that many cities in...
Curated Video
How Environmental Factors Contributed to the Maya Collapse
During the late 700s and early 800s, environmental changes began to affect Maya cities. Some of these problems may have been caused by the Maya themselves - deforestation and soil overuse may have led to food shortages and population...
Curated Video
The Rise of Northern Maya Cities
Even as many Maya cities fell during the 9th century, some places like Caracol, Seibal, and sites in the northern Yucatán managed short-lived comebacks. These cities built monuments and revived traditions for a while, but most eventually...
Curated Video
Did the Maya Civilization Actually Collapse?
At the start of the 9th century, the Maya civilization went through a major crisis—cities were abandoned, kings lost power, and populations dropped sharply. This period, known as the Maya collapse, wasn’t the end of the Maya people, but...
Curated Video
Aztec Mythology and the Origins of Humanity
If the word “Nahua” sounds unfamiliar to you, it’s probably because you’re more used to hearing them referred to as the Aztec. The history is complicated, but the name Aztec was popularized by a German explorer in the 1800s to describe...
One Minute History
008 Cinco de Mayo - One Minute History
Cinco De Mayo celebrates Mexico’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla. Contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with Mexican Independence. After losing half of its national territory to the United States during the...
One Minute History
107 Pancho Villa - One Minute History
Pancho Villa is a national folk hero and an icon of the Mexican Revolution. At sixteen, he drops his birth name, Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula, after killing a man for threatening to sexually assault his sister. He escapes into the Sierra...