Monte Albán: Hilltop Capital in Oaxaca
|
||||||||||||||||
Founded by the Zapotecs around 500 BC in the Valley of Oaxaca, in the southern Mexican highlands, Monte Albán grew to its greatest size during the period 350-800 AD. In this era, art was used mainly by the elite, especially in their burial practices. Monte Albán is represented in this exhibit by artifacts associated with funerary traditions. |
||||||||||||||||
Monte Albán
Monte Albán is the name by which we know the capital of the ancient Zapotecs. The Zapotec name for the site is unknown, but we do know that the Mixtecs called it "Yucucui," meaning "Green Mount." Its present name comes from the Spanish conquistador Diego López de Monte Albán. Other Zapotec settlements that coexisted with Monte Albán are Cerro de la Campana, in the Etla Valley and a group of several small communities in the Tlacolula Valley. Around 800 AD, for reasons as yet unknown, all these urban centers were abandoned.
Archaeologists have divided the history of Monte Albán into five phases:
Researchers estimate that by 200 BC, the city had a population of 30,000, living in a strictly stratified society. They had an elite leadership class, a lower level administrative group, and a large group of commoners responsible for food production and other labor. The city was large enough to be designated as a tula, one of five such cities in Mesoamerica; Teotihuacán, Cholulu, Xochilcalco, and El Tajín were the other four. Descendants of the ancient Zapotecs still live in the Valley of Oaxaca. The Zapotecs developed a writing system of glyphs to record dates, historical events and people's names, but the meaning of these glyphs is unknown. They devised two calendars, one of 365 days and the other of 260 days. At some point in the Classic period, Zapotec art was "appropriated by the elite" and used especially in association with their elaborate mortuary practices. Many of the finest examples of ancient Zapotec art occur in tombs and are often used to connect an elite individual to a deity. |
||||||||||||||||
|
