Monte Alban Mexico statistics of tourist visits. Monte Alban - a mystical connection between past and present
Monte Alban. General form. Monte Albán, center ancient civilization Zapotecs (600 BC 1st millennium AD), then Mixtecs (until the 16th century), located 10 km west of modern Oaxaca (Mexico). During certain periods... Encyclopedic reference book "Latin America"
Monte Alban- The historical part of the city of Oaxaca and the center of ancient Indian culture Monte Albán* Historic Center of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán** World Heritage UNESCO Country ... Wikipedia
Monte Alban- (Monte Albán) a city in the south of Mexico (state of Oaxaca), in the area of which in the 4th century. BC e. 16th century n. e. was political and Cultural Center first the Zapotecs (See Zapotecs), then the Mixtecs (See Mixtecs). Archaeological research at M.A.... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
MONTE ALBAN- (Monte Albán) a city in which one of the centers of the ancient culture of Mexico was located. At M.A. on artificially created terraces on the tops mountain range, dominating the valley of Oaxaca, was located political. and religious center of Zapotec culture... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
Monte Alban- (Monte Albán), the main ceremonial center in Zapotec territory (Oaxaca, Mexico). The monument has centuries-old history. Period I (600–300 BC): the first buildings are erected on the top of the hill, hieroglyphic writing, counting,… … Archaeological Dictionary
Monte Alban- (Monte Albán)Monte Alban, ancient. destroyed city in the state of Oaxaca, south. Mexico. Founded in the 8th century. BC, approximately from 1st to 8th century. was the center of the Zapotec Indians, then was occupied by the Mixtecs before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century... Countries of the world. Dictionary
Zapotecs- Indian people in Mexico (Oaxaca state). Number of people: 380 thousand people (1995). Zapotec language. Believing Catholics. * * * ZAPOTECS ZAPOTECS (Spanish zapotecas, distorted from the Aztec tsapotekatl, “cloud people”), the Indian people of Mexico, whose language ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Mesoamerican chronology- Mesoamerican chronology is the accepted methodology for describing the history of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica in terms of named eras and periods, from the earliest evidence of human settlement to the early colonial period... Wikipedia
Oaxaca (state)- This article should be Wikified. Please format it according to the article formatting rules. This term has other meanings, see Oaxaca ... Wikipedia
ARCHEOLOGY OF THE NEW WORLD- Subject of study. The subject of research in the archeology of the New World is the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of America and the American Indians. Racially homogeneous, the American Indians represent a large branch... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
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A visit to Monte Alban involves entering a sacred space. The uppermost part of the mountain was dedicated to various religious ceremonies, which were the basis of both the public and private life of the members of this society. The valley above which the mountain rises was the center of agricultural production. A logical place to visit would be a visit that starts at the Main Square and ends at the Monte Albana Museum. ( The site plan is at the end of the article).
Ball court
The ball court is located at the northern end of the eastern sector of the square. Its shape is typical for this type of structure: a central field in the form of an elongated rectangle, limited on the long sides by low inclined platforms. Along the edges of this structure there are two other elongated rectangles of smaller sizes, which gives the field the appearance of a letter in plan I with large serifs.
System IVor Building K
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| System IV |
The structure has a square pyramidal base of four stepped levels and a temple on the upper platform. You can get to it via a wide central staircase without curbs, which is located on the side of the main square, as well as two narrow dock staircases.
The second element, located at the foot of the pyramid, on the side of the Main Square, is a large square courtyard, bounded on the sides by low walls and on the side of the square by another smaller pyramidal base. In the center of the courtyard there is a large altar.
The complex is complemented by a large stele with calendar glyphs located on the north side of Building K.
Building Lor "Dancers"
Sologuren and Batres explored it for the first time in 1900. Built between 500 and 100 AD. BC, the building, judging by the slope of its walls, was pyramidal in shape, similar to those built in later eras. Careful research has revealed at least three stages of construction. Interesting objects in it are bas-reliefs carved on stone slabs and representing male individuals in strange poses with bent arms and legs. At the same time, their insides are depicted taken out or their genitals, in all likelihood, mutilated. It was they who gave the name to the building, since the first researchers thought that these were images of people performing a ritual dance. To be fair, it should be noted that not all “dancers” are depicted as “eviscerated.” There are those who are simply naked figures, and the physical type of those depicted is different, some individuals have Negroid features, others have thick beards.
Most of them are depicted in a style reminiscent of the Olmec - plump short limbs, round heads on short necks, slanted eyes and upturned round noses. Many of the relief slabs were found as structural elements in later buildings, suggesting reuse of the building material.
At the top of Building L Three temples were erected, two rectangular, located along the edges of the upper platform and one square, representing a courtyard surrounded by buildings on four sides. These buildings retain some of their decoration.
Recent exploration of the western part of the building (facing the hillside away from the main square) revealed a staircase connecting the complex to terraces on the mountainside on which residential buildings were located, and two burials, one square and the other cruciform in plan.
System M
It is considered a “twin” structure of the system IV because it has the same characteristics. It is located on the southwest corner of the Main Square and consists of a square courtyard with an altar in the center. It is limited on the northern and southern sides by small pyramidal bases. The structure is accessed from the east, through a pyramidal base with a wide central staircase linking the courtyard and the Main Square. The building, located on the western side of the structure, is square in plan and consists of four levels and a central staircase. Recent research has revealed a circular wall attached to the western part of the building, which served as a buttress.
South platform
This is a large pyramidal base, 120 m long, 112 m wide and 11 m high, which borders the Main Square on the south side. At the top of the platform are two more pyramids, possibly temples, dating from the period 200 to 700 BC. AD, and a protective wall crossing the platform from east to west from the front. It was erected later, in the period after 950 AD, which was marked by the decline of some civilizations, the arrival of others and, in general, a turbulent political situation throughout Mesoamerica.
The platform can be reached by a wide staircase bordered by curbs of monumental proportions. The dimensions of the steps are quite unusual: on average 47 cm high and 34 cm deep.
At the base of the platform on the northeast and southeast corners, there are stone slabs belonging to the period of construction of the structure, i.e. 200 - 500 BC, which depict captured warriors with their hands tied behind their backs, dressed in rich outfits. Each is carved standing on an inscription glyph symbolizing a locality (town or city) and is evidence of the military expansion of Monte Albán, who conquered different places.
Building J
Built in I - II centuries AD the building, although it has undergone later modifications, is one of the most interesting in Monte Alban, since it does not obey the symmetrical pattern according to which other buildings were designed and built. This is a pyramidal base, consisting of three levels, pentagonal in plan, reminiscent of an arrowhead in shape. Another difference from the rest of Monte Alban's buildings, erected on a north-south axis, is that the Building J rotated in relation to the others by 45° and oriented northeast.
On its main façade there is a staircase leading upstairs to a rectangular building, of which only the walls have been preserved, and even then only partially. At the height of the second level, in another part of the building, the “tip,” there is a passage formed by a false vault that crosses the building from north to south.
Another specific characteristic of the building are the steles with reliefs, which can be divided into two groups: "Dancers", typical of the period I (from 500 to 100 BC) and the Plates of Conquest, so called by Alfonso Caso ( Alfonso Caso ), consisting of three elements: 1. Glyph or symbol of the conquered place; 2. A symbolic image of a stepped pyramid, which symbolizes a familiar place to everyone. Obviously this is Monte Alban; 3. Upside down human head, closed eye which symbolizes that the person depicted is dead. In addition, the heads are decorated with headdresses. These three elements symbolize the defeat of certain cities or communities and may have served as a narrative for the Zapotec military campaigns.
This building is also known by another name - “Astronomical Observatory”, since some researchers believe that due to its special orientation and connection with Building P, Zapotec astronomers used it to observe the vault of heaven. Stone slabs with reliefs could be reused construction material.
Castle
It is an example of the palace buildings of the Zapotec nobility. It is a central courtyard with a small altar in the center, surrounded by residential buildings. The palace is built on a low platform which is connected to the Main Square by a wide staircase. The entrance to the interior was through an opening in the wall, the jambs and lintel of which were made of monolithic blocks. Next, it was necessary to move along the aisle in uniform Z , the so-called blind entrance, since such a design made it possible to hide the inner chambers of the palace from prying eyes.
Building P
A monumental platform, with a staircase facing west leading to the temple that was located above. Experts associate this structure with astronomical observations, since in the center of the staircase there is a camera with a vertical descent, which allows, in early May and August, to observe the passage of the sun at its zenith through light and shadow. In addition, the projection of the axis of symmetry of the Building J passes just along this vertical descent. The building is part of the Monte Albana astronomical complex.
Altar
This low platform was built into what looked like a small tiled pool, dating from 200 to 750 AD. AD and perhaps served to fill it with water and perform appropriate rituals. The altar-pool is located in a special recess, at the western and eastern walls of which there are two narrow tunnels connecting the area with the upper part of the Buildings H and I . The altar was erected between 200 and 500 AD. BC, from here the priests led their ceremonies. At its southeast corner, Alfonso Caso discovered the famous mask of the Bat God.
End of the tour of the Main Square
The main square of Monte Albana is rectangular in shape, 300 m long and about 180 m wide. From the moment the construction of the city began, this space was already planned and the square was built by leveling the top of the hill: the rocks rising above the planned level were hewn down and the depressions were filled. The size of the square allowed it to accommodate a large number of people during the ceremonies, which took place in different buildings built on its sides. Some researchers believe that a market could be regularly organized in some part of the square. The area along its entire perimeter was covered with a thick layer of plaster and painted red. In order to prevent it from filling with water during rainstorms, it was equipped with an effective drainage system.
Northern platform
This is an artificial elevation that borders the Main Square on the north side. All its corners are rounded, making it a unique structure in Monte Alban. You can go up from the eastern side along the stairs, which in ancient times led to the terrace of the so-called Jeweled Building. Today, on the southeast corner of the building, which forms an esplanade connecting the space together with the ball court, there are two staircases, one oriented to the east and the other to the south. The main entrance to the Northern platform, however, was located on the southern facade of the platform, and connected the structure with the Main Square. The monumental staircase, limited by curbs, preserves a classic architectural element: panels - tablero in the form of a scapular, i.e. having oblong depressions. This element is characteristic of ancient Zapotec architecture. There are also remains of the plaster that once completely covered the buildings.
The staircase leads to a kind of portico or vestibule, with the bases of six monumental columns, 2 m in diameter. According to the historian Bernal, they could support the roof. This vestibule served as access to a number of architectural complexes located on the Northern Platform, i.e. at the top level of the city.
To the north of the portico is the Recessed Court, of clear Teotihuacan influence, square in plan, with an altar in the middle. The courtyard was used for ceremonial purposes. As its name suggests, it is located below the main level of the northern platform. It was possible to go down inside via four staircases located in accordance with the cardinal directions. In Western and eastern parts In the courtyard there are two small pyramids (A and B), which are part of the same ensemble, with stairs leading to the Recessed Courtyard.
To the north of this group is the so-called Geodetic Point Complex. It consists of four more pyramids surrounding a small area. The pyramid located in the western part is conventionally called VG (Vé rtice Geodé sico , geodetic point), since not so long ago there was a geodetic mark on its top, important for topographic survey of the central valleys of Oaxaca.
Recent research has excavated the eastern edge of the complex. VG and on the surface was the Jeweled Building, so called because it was once decorated with paintings in the form of red discs located on its panels. Such discs were popular in Teotihuacan and symbolized a jade jewel, a gift from heaven, a drop of life-giving rain. Thus, this building became clear evidence of the Teotihuacan influence that spread at a certain period to Monte Alban. There is even an idea that the site was the "quarter" of the Teotihuacan diaspora living in the Zapotec capital, supported by the large number of finds of Teotihuacan origin or influence found in the area. All this proves that cultural and commercial exchange in the pre-Hispanic era extended over long distances and connected Oaxaca and the Central Highlands of Mexico.
To summarize, we can say that the Northern Platform, which took its final appearance in the period from 200 to 700 AD. AD was the focus of ritual, ideological and symbolic activity, which was one of the central in the public and personal life of the inhabitants of Monte Alban.
Burials of Monte Alban
The Zapotecs buried their dead under their dwellings. At Monte Albana enough was discovered a large number of such burials, which were family crypts, in which the deceased and offerings from various objects were placed, doing this repeatedly.The most famous are burials 104, 105 and 7; at the moment, after being damaged by a strong earthquake, they are closed to visitors to the archaeological zone.
Burial 104
It was made under the courtyard of a residential complex that belonged to people of high status in Zapotec society, during the period from 500 to 750 AD. AD It is rectangular in plan, with a flat ceiling serving as a roof and five niches: two in the side walls of the burial, two in its internal corners and one in the depths. The offerings that were left there consisted of ceramic objects. The facade of the burial is the most elaborate of all the burials found so far in Monte Albana. It is typical of a temple or house, with tablero panels with a double scapular niche and with clay sculptures representing the two most important gods of the Zapotec pantheon: Cociyo, god of rain and Pitao Cosobi, god of corn. The entrance was closed with a stone slab with hieroglyphic icons on its different surfaces. The inside of the room was covered with a thin layer of plaster, on which deities, people and hieroglyphic signs were painted using fresco technique.
Burial 105Situated in the northeast, outside the Main Square, it was built under the southern premises of one of residential complexes, in the era from 200 to 500 AD. AD It is cruciform in plan, with a flat roof. When creating it, large stone blocks were used, on which remains of red paint were preserved. The burial is considered important due to the wall paintings that decorate its entire surface. The designs are soft in outline and done on a red background using yellow, turquoise and olive tones. All the contours of the figures are drawn with a black line and represent, in a style typical of monumental pre-Hispanic painting, a procession of characters dressed in magnificent outfits and headdresses of long feathers.
Burial 7
Discovered by Alfonso Caso in 1932, it became one of the greatest achievements in Mexican archaeology. Located in the northeast of the Main Square. It was equipped, like the others, in a residential building that belonged to members of the nobility and the premises themselves date back to the period from 200 to 700. AD, however, the objects left in it in the form of offerings date back to a later period, after 950 AD. e., when Monte Alban was already inhabited by the Mixtecs, who had chosen the southern part of the city. This suggests that the Mixtecs used the Zapotec crypt to bury their dead.
Offerings were placed inside and outside the grave. Among the external objects, a wind instrument made from a sea shell and three urns stand out, which, according to custom, accompanied the deceased (in them, in all likelihood, food and drink were placed for the deceased). They, in all likelihood, belonged to the Zapotec, the original, offering, transferred to the “anteroom” of the crypt. Inside the burial chamber, more than 200 ritual objects were discovered, which became famous as the “Treasure of Monte Alban”, made of gold, silver, jadeite, turquoise, obsidian, alabaster, amber, pearls, coral, shell, human bone and animal bones belonging to the cat family.
Among the products made of precious metals, the chest decoration with the image of God is outstanding. underworld(Caso gave him the name of the Lord of the Underworld Mictlantecuhtli, although this is not entirely correct, because Mictlantecuhtli was a God worshiped by the Aztecs, who spoke a completely different language), heads of the God Xipe, a golden diadem, rings with eagles made in filigree technique and necklaces with turtles.
Worthy of special mention is the human skull, decorated with a mosaic of turquoise, jadeite, gold and mollusk shells placed in the eye sockets.
These items can be seen in Oaxaca, in the Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, located in the former monastery of Santo Domingo.
Museum of the Archaeological Zone
The Monte Alban Museum houses one of the most significant collections of artifacts in Oaxaca. There are steles here that were exhibited by the Zapotecs in the buildings of the pre-Hispanic city in different eras, ceramics of high artistic and technical quality, stone, shell and bone pieces, burial parts illustrating funerary practices at Monte Alban.
The museum arose, among other things, to isolate the originals of many finds from the action of natural factors and at the same time give visitors to the site the opportunity to examine them. At the same time, copies of stone steles were placed in the square and in buildings.
The museum visit begins with general information about the location of Monte Alban and the Oaxaca Valley and the chronology of the cultures that developed in this territory.
Among the most ancient monuments of Monte Albana, there are steles with images of Dancers, people, in all likelihood, sacrificed. The famous stelae 12 and 13 belong to the same era, on which written signs and numbers are systematically used, presented in the form of bars and dots, the combination of both signs representing calendar dates.
Here you can also see all kinds of objects made of clay and stone, including female figurines, images with animal elements and a box in the form of the deity Koshiyo. Under the glass floor there is a mock-up burial with objects typical of offerings to the dead. With the aim that the visitor can imagine the funerary practices of Monte Alban.
Conquest Steles dating back to I – II century AD from Building J represent evidence of the conquest of neighboring territories by Monte Alban.
The display cases next door display ceramic urns from the era from 200 to 500 AD. AD, the most outstanding examples of plastic art represent people at different periods of life. Another model shows an unusual find: children's skulls in one common burial, accompanied by jade rosaries and other valuable objects.
In the central courtyard, steles from the later periods, 500 - 950, are exhibited. AD Three large stelae, put together, represented one common scene with people and captured jaguars, which was an element of the lower wall of the South Platform. On another pedestal there is the original of Stela 9, which in its meaning is connected with the architectural ensemble of the Northern Platform. In front of her, Stela MA-VG 2 depicts the process of inheriting power.
Skulls representing different types deliberate deformation, filing of teeth, considered signs of beauty and high status, as well as traces of pathological processes on the bones of people of that time, as well as craniotomy, one of which demonstrates the sophistication that medical practices in the city had achieved.
The last stand shows the context in which Monte Alban developed in its last, fifth period (from 950 AD), the period when Mixtec settlements arose near Monte Alban. Settlements, surrounded by protective walls and multi-colored pottery are generally accepted chronological markers of this period. The exhibits are accompanied by a plan showing the location of cities from this period, called the Postclassic period, in the Oaxaca Valley.
Monte Alban. Guide. Text by Nelly M. Robles García. Published by Monclem Ediciones, Mexico City, 2004.
Monte Alban originated around 500 BC. and is considered the oldest city Mesoamerica. The city quickly became a center for the integration of tribes throughout the region and the main place for organizing their military and economic life. It soon became the capital of the powerful Zapotec state, which controlled most Oaxacan Highlands, and remained so for more than a thousand years. Its heyday lies between the 6th century BC. and 6th century AD At the peak of its development, the city's population reached 25 thousand people. The social structure of the Zapotecs had a clearly defined class character. In essence, it was a theocratic society in which the official head of state did not have full power, which was in the hands of the priests. The Zapotec religion was polytheism. Of the many deities they worshiped, the rain god Kosiko was considered the most important. They also practiced ancestor worship and believed in the origin of people from stones and trees. This mysterious civilization accumulated a large stock of natural philosophical knowledge. Their achievements in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, architecture and art are not inferior to the level of the ancient Mayans or Incas. In 500-750 n. e. the city lost its importance and was soon practically abandoned.
The reasons for the decline of Monte Alban remain unclear. Scientists believe that at some point in its history, the Zapotec state was conquered by the Mixtecs, who later began to use Monte Alban as a necropolis. By 700 AD the city was completely abandoned, after some time it was repopulated, and although it lost its former significance and became very dilapidated, it nevertheless survived until the arrival of the Spaniards, who gave it its modern name in honor of the famous conquistador Diego Lopez de Monte Alban .
What to see
At Monte Alban, ruins of pyramids, temples, a ball field, galleries and an observatory were discovered. Spread in the city center central square surrounded by terraces, palaces and platforms. Residential buildings stood on terraces on the slopes of the hill, and there were most likely gardens.
Of interest is the Zapotec ball court, which differs from the Mayan one. There are no stone circles here, and the playing area itself is shaped like a capital I. The edges of the field slope upward, which is determined more by the rules of the game than by the need to create spectator seats. It is also assumed that, unlike the Maya, the game was not associated with the practice of human sacrifice.
The city has preserved many tombs, topped with domes and decorated with frescoes. This design, recognized as the most perfect in the entire Western Hemisphere, testifies to the highly developed cultural tradition of its creators.
On the walls of one of the temples, the Temple of Dansantes (dancers), there are bas-reliefs of mysterious figures, which, according to one version of researchers, reproduce dance steps. Later research led scholars to believe that this was an image of enemies being sacrificed or killed. There is also a hypothesis according to which this mysterious building was a hospital, and on the walls there is a kind of medical reference book containing 150 illustrations of all kinds of human pathologies, as well as images of women during childbirth.
Another building, the only one in the entire city, not in any way tied in its location to the cardinal directions, may have been used to study astronomy, so the researchers called it an “observatory.” The building material for it was about forty carved slabs from the Temple of Dansantes. “Observatory” focused on the setting points of the constellations Southern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri and on the rising point of the star Capella.
In the 1930s In tomb No. 7, Mexican archaeologists discovered various artifacts that are also of great interest. The archaeological complex also has a museum with a collection of objects found during excavations in the 1920s.
Entrance
The entrance fee to the complex is 51 pesos, with an additional fee for the use of a photo and video camera. The complex is open to visitors from 9:00 to 17:00.
Shops and cafes
There is a small bookshop in the archaeological complex, and at the exit from the territory of Monte Albana local residents sell souvenirs and food. There is also a small cafe on site where you can grab sandwiches. Something more substantial is worth looking for in the city of Oaxaca.
How to get there
Autobuses Turísticos buses run to Monte Albán from the Hotel Rivera del Ángel, located on Mina 518 in Oaxaca City (the stop is 6 blocks from the city's main square). Buses depart every hour from 8:30 to 15:30 and back from 13:00 to 17:00 (schedule may vary depending on the season). A round trip ticket costs around 38 pesos. Such a ticket allows you to return back only at the time indicated on it.
An alternative company that organizes transfers to the archaeological complex is Turísticos Marfil. Buses stop at Local 25, Plaza Santo Domingo, Alcala 407 and the Mezkalito Hostel. The cost of a round trip is 50 pesos.
A taxi from Oaxaca to Monte Alban will cost 200-300 pesos round trip.
A pre-Columbian city, now an archaeological park in a mountain valley in southern Mexico, Monte Alban was founded around the 500s. BC e., existed until the 850s. n. e. and was abandoned by its inhabitants for a still unclear reason. Over the course of 13 centuries, a thriving civilization was created here, the main role in which was played by the Zapotecs, one of the ancient ethnic groups of Mesoamerica.
Monte Alban: A city carved into a mountain
Monte Alban embodies with great artistic force the ingenuous Indian idea of the world order, which today, on the contrary, seems intricate and bizarre.
The ancient city of Monte Alban is one of the most striking historical cities and is located in the south of the country in the central valley of the Oaxaca range, between the Sierra Madre and Sierra Madre del Sur mountain systems of the Mexican highlands of the Interior Cordillera.
This city was founded around the 500s. BC e. All its main buildings and structures had sacred significance. In the middle of the 9th century. the city was abandoned by its inhabitants.
What was the main reason for this remains a mystery. Over the course of 13 centuries, a thriving civilization was created here, the main role in which was played by the Zapotecs, one of the ancient ethnic groups of Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica (from the ancient Greek mesos - “middle”) is a term introduced in 1943 by the German anthropologist P. Kirchhoff.
This is not a synonym for the concept Central America and denotes the area extending from the center of Mexico to the south. Mesoamerica also includes today's Guatemala, Belize, and the western regions of El Salvador and Honduras. It is much smaller than Central America in area, but has special significance as a historical and cultural region.
The largest ethnic groups of Mesoamerica in the pre-Columbian era were the Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs. Their civilizations interacted closely with the Aztecs and Mayans, but at the same time, the Olmecs, Zapotecs, and Mixtecs as civilizations each had their own distinctive features. Monte Alban was founded by the Olmecs - this is how scientists (conventionally) designated adherents of the anthropomorphic cult of jaguars. It was built, or rather, as one of the historians figuratively said, “cut out of the mountain,” by the Zapotecs, who also deified jaguars.
The ethnonym “Zapotec” (Zapotecatl) comes from the Aztec language Nahuatl and is translated as “inhabitants of the area where the Zapota grows.” (The Zapota is a tree native to southern Mexico that produces nutritious, oily fruit and durable wood.) The Zapotec language survives in isolated linguistic enclaves of modern Mesoamerica, and the name for Zapotec in it is beenaa saa, or peni saa (“people of the clouds”). This is very similar to the echo of the centuries-old competition between the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs; it was the Mixtecs that the same Aztecs called the “people of the clouds” (Mixtecatl).
The basis of the Universe in Mesoamerica was symbolized by a rectangle or square. And the four main buildings in Monte Alban, intended for the deities, were more or less precisely oriented to the four cardinal directions. The ideal living space, be it a house or a city, was also rectangular. Monte Alban in the context of this culture is a classic.
All of its stone structures were located around the perimeter and inside a central rectangular area measuring 200 x 300 m. They stand on stone platforms, have stepped walls and flat ends, which makes them look like Sumerian ziggurats. The main temples are oriented north and south. The Zapotecs had their own writing and calendar, a characteristic style of ceramics with carved ornaments, and a unique type of funerary structures.
Their writing, examples of which remained on the sacred stones of Monte Alban, is not as developed as, for example, that of the Aztecs and Mayans, but it clearly contained allegorical meanings. So ambiguous that linguists today can show only episodic success in deciphering them: the principle of searching for comparative analogies in other Indian hieroglyphic systems does not work here.
From Spanish Monte Alban translates as " White Mountain" Thus, the name of the city has been entrenched in history and geography since the 16th century. In fact, there was an overlap of meanings here, but it was surprisingly logical. Monte Alban is the name of the Spanish conquistador who came here among the first Europeans in 1521. Monte means “mountain” in Spanish, and the city stands at an altitude of about 2000 m. In the Zapotec language, this mountain was called (presumably) Dhauya kuch- o-Dauyakach - “Hill of the Sacred Stone”. The Mixtecs gave it their name - Yucuqui (“ Green Mountain"): There is nothing white on the mountain overgrown with tropical vegetation. When the Spaniards came here, the city was already practically uninhabited, and there was no one to ask what exactly it was called.
Monte Alban is considered the first city in Mesoamerica to be built as a city. For this purpose, the top of the hill was razed, and all buildings and structures were placed strictly according to plan.
Monte Alban, Mexican Troy
In the XIX-XX centuries. Europe seemed to be rediscovering New World after all the destruction that the era of conquest of America brought. Monte Alban in this aspect is considered by some archaeologists to be equivalent to Schliemann.
Almost the only land route from the center of Mexico to the southeast, towards the Yucatan Peninsula, passed through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which contributed to the rapid flourishing in the 5th-9th centuries. Monte Alban itself and the entire territory subordinate to it, where approximately 500 thousand people lived. These were mainly farmers who grew maize on a basis that was effective for that era irrigation system. Among the handicrafts, weaving, pottery, and the manufacture of tools, weapons and jewelry from obsidian, delivered from, flourished here.
Archaeologists identify four conventional phases in the history of Monte Apbana (all dates are approximate). The first (500-200 BC) - the formation of the Zapotec state, the creation of over 300 carved stone monuments. In phase II (200 BC - 100 AD), Monte Alban was already the capital of the Zapotec state. Between 250 and 1 BC. e. Building J was erected, so named because of the similarity of its outline to this letter. Phase III (100-300s) was marked by the construction of the first truncated pyramid and monuments with carved images of prisoners after torture, whose bodies are presented with seemingly inverted joints, for which the Spaniards, with a degree of cynicism, nicknamed the depicted people “dancers.”
In the 300-650s. The main temples and 170 underground tombs with frescoes were erected. In the 600-700s. phase IV begins. Mysterious hieroglyphic inscriptions appear on stone steles. By the 650-700s. The Zapotecs lost their power in Monte Alban, it passed to the Mixtecs as a result of a series of internecine wars and political intrigues. The Central Square fell into decay, and by the early 900s. Monte Alban is important primarily as a necropolis of noble Mixtecs.
At the beginning of the 15th century. The Zapotecs were finally driven out of Monte Alban by the Mixtecs. The exiles moved their capital to the city of Yoo Paa, created by the Aztecs and Mixtecs in the 7th-8th centuries. The Aztecs called it Nahuatl Mictlan - "Gate of Death", and the Spaniards shortened it to simply Mitla. There was nothing creepy in such symbolism for the Mesoamerican Indians. According to their beliefs, every era inevitably ends in a catastrophe, after which the world is created anew, and each time in a different way. It must be admitted that they were not so much mistaken on this score. Mitla also became an archaeological site over time.
Both the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs cultivated the art of jewelry and achieved the highest skill in it. Among the treasuries discovered in Monte Albana, tomb No. 7 had the most grandiose appearance: countless treasures were kept here, about 500 items in total. These are chased gold bracelets with convex patterns and multi-element necklaces, jewelry made of jade, obsidian, turquoise, large pearls, amber, coral, clasps made of jaguar teeth, bones and shells.
Among all this splendor there were true masterpieces - the golden mask of the god Xipe Totec, the nose and cheeks of which were covered with human skin; snuff box made of gilded pumpkin leaves; as well as miniature skulls, human-shaped, carved from monolithic crystals of rock crystal (quartz).
The skulls do not show the slightest traces of processing with any tools, therefore, they were created by the grinding method, and it is estimated that it would have taken at least 300 years to grind them to achieve the result that is evident. But this is in our minds, and the secrets of the abrasives of the ancient Indians remain unrevealed.
Among the archaeologists who discovered Monte Alban for world culture, the greatest contribution was made by the Mexican archaeologist and ethnographer Alfonso Caso (1896-1970), whose monument greets everyone who visits Monte Alban.
Curious facts
- Tlachtli, or pok-ta-pok, a team ball game, was popular among all the peoples of Mesoamerica. They threw the ball with their hands; they were also allowed to touch it with their elbows, knees, hips and buttocks, for which purpose these parts of the body and the head were also covered with leather shields. It was necessary to pass the ball through one of two stone rings fixed in a vertical position. The rubber ball was usually 10-14 cm in diameter, but heavy, up to 4 kg (in Monte Alban - 1.5 kg). Sometimes (rarely, in some special cases) the game acquired a ritual meaning. And then they could cut off the heads of the captains of the winning teams, not the losing ones. It was considered a high honor for them to sacrifice their lives to the gods. But archaeologists in Monte Alban did not find a single such burial and concluded that, at least here, nothing of the kind was practiced.
- There are 13 known crystal skulls in the world, 9 are kept in private collections, 4 in museums. Three of the museum ones are life-size, 2, as it turned out thanks to modern research, are fakes.
- Among the Zapotec burials in Monte Alban, many skulls with traces of trepanation were found. The operations were performed on living people, who were apparently put to sleep with natural antipsychotics or hypnosis. The holes were made most often in the left hemisphere of the brain. This fact allowed archaeologists to hypothesize that perhaps there were attempts to activate the right hemisphere, which is responsible, generally speaking, for emotions and intuition, which allows one to foresee a lot.
- The scientific community of archaeologists and historians warns against pseudoscientific templates, regarding, for example, the similarity of the Sumerian and Zapotec, and not only Zapotec, pyramids of Mesoamerica, from which the conclusion is drawn about the high probability of contacts of civilizations. This is just fortune telling, scientists warn. Nevertheless, the fact of the similarity of the building modules of the pyramids in different parts of the ancient ecumene remains an exciting mystery.
- The Mixtecs began their expansion into Monte Alban in exactly the same way as was customary among the monarchs of Europe and Asia - through the dynastic marriages of the Mixtec nobility with the Zapotec princesses, which gave them great influence in Monte Alban even before the skirmishes with arms began.
Let's dive briefly into the mysticism and mystery of the ancient Zapotec peoples... The origin of people from stones, trees and jaguars, many gods to worship, the mystical cult of ancestors and the dead... It's creepy, right?.. These people immediately seem wild and uneducated to us. But no! In terms of knowledge and achievements in the fields of art, architecture, mathematics and astronomy, the Zapotecs were very close to the Olmecs, ancient Mayans and Toltecs. Their capital is Monte Alban. It covers an area of 40 square kilometers and is located approximately 10 km southwest of the city of Oaxaca. The center of the ruins, built on an artificial platform 400 meters above the subtropical Oaxaca Valley, is perhaps the most impressive site of pre-Columbian civilizations.
The name of the city translates as “White Mountain” - the Spaniards called it that because of the white flowers growing on the slopes. In the center of the city lies a central square surrounded by terraces, palaces and platforms. Residential buildings stood on terraces on the slopes of the hill, and there were most likely gardens. Ruins of pyramids, temples, a ball field, galleries and an observatory were also discovered at Monte Alban. There are many burials and tombs left in the city, with beautifully executed frescoes on the domes. The design of these particular tombs was recognized as the most unique in the West.
Monte Alban captivates with the monumentality of the entire complex, spacious areas on several levels, connected by numerous stone staircases and bordered by pyramids of various sizes. The skeletons of a powerful colonnade awaken the imagination of how elegant it all looked in its time. The pearl and mystery of Monte Alban are the numerous flat stones on which people are depicted in unusual poses - dancing men.
In 1932, a rich treasure of the 13th century was discovered in the ruins of Monte Albana. The excavations were carried out by a group of Mexican Americanist Alfonso Caso. It was he who discovered the first tomb in Monte Alban in the fall of 1931. There were so many valuables in the tomb that it took seven days and nights just to remove all the discovered objects from the tomb. In the tomb, the discovery of which is comparable in importance to scientists with the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, necklaces made of large pearls, earrings made of jade and obsidian, gold bracelets and necklaces, jewelry made of turquoise, shells and silver, a mask of the god Xipe Totec, and items made of rock crystal were found .
Monte Alban is a ruin that remembers the presence of Mexico's many ancient cultures. The Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mixquecs and Aztecs considered this site sacred. Today Monte Alban is the largest museum in the world under open air. It is best to come to this place early in the morning, while there is no one else. Then you find yourself face to face with the amazing mystery of Monte Alban.
