One of the most remarkable pre-Columbian centers in southern Mexico is Monte Alban, whose ceremonial importance was so great that it was used as a royal burial site long after the city itself had been abandoned.
Monte Alban was located in the Valley of Oaxaca, where the three great branches of the valley converge. Zapotec Indians from the valley selected the site because of its strategic and ceremonial importance, not because the site was particularly practical. It was perched on an artificially flattened mountaintop 1,300 feet above the valley floor, which would have made it extremely difficult for its inhabitants to secure adequate supplies of food, water, and fuel.
The city rose to prominence in the preclassic era and shows strong Olmec influences. Some of the earliest written texts from Mesoamerica are located at Monte Alban, showing calendrical information as well as actual history. The importance of astronomy and calendrics is evident from the precise location and orientation of several buildings in Monte Alban’s main plaza, and it is clear that at least one building served as an astronomical observatory. Monte Alban’s greatest period was during the classic period (beginning around a. d. 200), along with Teotihuacan, Cholula, and the Maya. During this time the city reached a population of 15,000 to 20,000. The Zapotec developed a unique art style that was highly valued in Mesoamerica, and it is clear that there were trade links between Monte Alban and the other great cities. For example, Zapotec appear to have established an ethnic enclave in the mighty city of Teotihuacan. Monte Alban also established its own sphere of influence, but it is not clear how tightly the surrounding regions were controlled. The city had great ceremonial importance, and several gods are depicted at the site. Prominent among these are the rain god Cociyo, the Bat God, the Corn God, and a local variant of the Feathered Serpent (see Quetzalcoatl). More than 170 royal tombs were located at Monte Alban, giving it great importance as a royal necropolis.
After 600 the city began a long, mysterious decline. The city’s dramatic site probably worked to its disadvantage—in times of economic recession or drought, it would have been difficult to keep the city adequately supplied. Some time around 700, Monte Alban was all but abandoned. It remained a holy site for centuries thereafter. By 1350 Mixtec Indians from western Oaxaca had taken control of the rich Valley of Oaxaca through a system of conquest and royal marriage. The Mixtecs maintained Monte Alban as a sacred center and buried their own kings in the old Zapotec tombs. Several of these tombs, undisturbed since antiquity, were rediscovered in the mid-20th century. The large assortment of Mixtec goldwork from Monte Alban is the only testimony we have of the ancient Mexican’s skills at metallurgy. After the conquest, the Spaniards built the city of Oaxaca at the foot of Monte Alban’s mountain.
Further reading: Michael D. Coe, Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 4th ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 1994); Joyce Marcus and Kent V Flannery, Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley (London: Thames & Hudson, 1996).
—Scott Chamberlain
World History
