MONTE ALBAN. OAXACA, MEXICO
May 01, 2016
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
Located just outside Oaxaca is the Monte Alban ruins which has been deemed a significant archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxoxotlan. These Ruins are Pre-Colombian and considered one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
Being visible from anywhere in the central part of the Valley of Oaxaca, the impressive ruins of Monte Albán attracted visitors and explorers throughout the colonial and modern eras. Among others, Guillermo Dupaix investigated the site in the early 19th century CE, J. M. García published a description of the site in 1859, and A. F. Bandelier visited and published further descriptions in the 1890s
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
As indicated by Blanton's survey of the site, the Monte Albán hills appear to have been uninhabited prior to 500 BCE (the end of the Rosario ceramic phase). At that time, San José Mogote was the major population center in the valley and head of a chiefdom that likely controlled much of the northern Etla branch (Marcus and Flannery 1996).
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
Perhaps as many as three or four other smaller chiefly centers controlled other sub-regions of the valley, including Tilcajete in the southern Valle Grande branch and Yegüih in the Tlacolula arm to the east
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
The monumental center of Monte Albán is the Main Plaza, which measures approximately 300 meters by 200 meters. The site's main civic-ceremonial and elite-residential structures are located around it or in its immediate vicinity, and most of these have been explored and restored by Alfonso Caso and his colleagues.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
To the north and south the Main Plaza is delimited by large platforms accessible from the plaza via monumental staircases. On its eastern and western sides the plaza is similarly bounded by a number of smaller platform mounds on which stood temples and elite residences, as well as one of two ballcourts known to have existed at the site.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
A north-south spine of mounds occupies the center of the plaza and similarly served as platforms for ceremonial structures
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
The site of Monte Alban contains several pieces of evidence through the architecture of the site to suggest that there was social stratification within the settlement.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
Walls that were as large as nine meters tall and twenty meters wide were built around the settlement and would have been used not only to create a boundary between Monte Alban and neighboring settlements but also prove the power of the elites within the community.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
Visiting this site was interesting as we had a day to kill since we were in Oaxaca and finished up an Expedition in Huautla.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
It was only a 20 minute drive for a Taxi from hotel Paris so that worked out great for us.
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| Monte Alban. Oaxaca, Mexico |
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