Monte Alban

Today we made our first trek into the area surrounding Oaxaca City. At about 11:30 this morning we caught a tourist bus (a 15 seat van) up about three miles west of the city to Monte Alban, the ruins of a Zapotec town. Half the adventure really was the ride up the mountain as we avoided or drove slowly through massive potholes, wound around hairpin turns, or careened off the road to bypass oncoming traffic. Along the way we picked up some passengers who were headed to the sight to sell jewelry, food, or hats to tourists. The bus let us off in a parking lot just below the site. After a short walk uphill we got to the museum and paid our entrance fee of about 4 dollars. We started at the museum and got some more basic information about the excavation of the site, which has been ongoing for about 90 years. There were also various artifacts on display, from rather large monoliths of the "danzantes," dancers, to much smaller fare like pottery and different depictions of deities. The Zapotec people populated Mte. Alban between 500 B.C. to about 750 A.D. so the artifacts span different periods within the heyday of the city, with some more obvious intricacies in the work closer to the later days.

Then it was on to the actual ruins. What a sight to behold. The stone work just rises out of the lush undergrowth and manicured lawns, the yellow, grays, blacks, and reds of the stones a stark contrast to the green, and later the grey-blue clouds. It is a pretty huge place, the main plaza measuring 1,000 feet by 666 feet (2/3rds of the length) begins to give a sense of the size, but the areas surround the main plaza are also developed making the place feel even bigger. We started at the I-shaped ball court that was dug out of the ground 20 feet. The walls were smoothed when it was in use, ensuring a sure bounce. Apparently knees, elbows, and hips were used to play the game, the outcome of which decided business transactions, celebrated holidays, or settled disputes. Next we were on to a series of ruins which, honestly, started to blend together. Some of them were homes with tombs in the middle (a common practice), others were main palaces/elite residences with many rooms. There were temples that had step stairs up to fantastic vantage points. There were even hidden tunnels between homes and temples that we were informed of, but not allowed to enter. We did get to see an obelisk whose noon-time shadow marked the solstices. There was also the very intriguing J building that was oriented southwest, versus north-south like everything else, whose purpose in the city remains a mystery.

The Zapotec people who lived in Monte Alban enjoyed an almost 1,300 year hold on the area. To build their city they constructed and reconstructed walls, plazas, and staircases one over the other in layers. The remains of the earliest days of the stronghold revealed a highly developed culture with gods, permanent temples, a priesthood, a written language, numerals and a calendar, as well as a multi-leveled society. At its apex, around 300 - 750 AD, the city had a population of about 40,000! The people cultivated beans, chiles, corn, fruits, and squash in the adjacent valleys and sometimes feasted on deer and small game. Tributes were also paid by surrounding towns, enriching the ruling classes, as well as the artisans and farmers. The rulers of that time left intricate details in the stonework, from corniced walls and monumental carvings to hieroglyph-inscribed stones depicting gods, kings, and heroic scenes of battle. A brief word about the often-mentioned Danzantes. The contorted figures that appear to be dancing are actually rival kings who suffered mutilated testicles as part of their defeat. The stones were lined up in one of the buildings to tell of victories or to warn folks who doubted the grandness of their leaders. By about 1,000 AD the city was virtually abandoned, the reasons remain unknown. (Much of this is from the Moon Handbooks Oaxaca guidebook, or did you think I just remembered all this from today?)

And now some pictures, from left to right, top to bottom.
-A burial urn for a woman, her head peering out of the mouth of Jaguar.
-The ball court
-Yours truly looking on top of the South Platform
-The Building J, that one shaped sort of like a boat
-Don't recall what this one was of, but it gives a sense of the majesty.