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Monte Albán |
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Monte Albán (mōn`tā älbän`), ancient city, c.7 mi (11.3 km) from Oaxaca, SW Mexico, capital of the Zapotec Zapotec , indigenous people of Mexico, primarily in S Oaxaca and on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Little is known of the origin of the Zapotec. Unlike most native peoples of Middle America, they had no traditions or legends of migration, but believed themselves to have
..... Click the link for more information. . Monte Albán was built on an artificially leveled, rocky promontory above the Valley of Oaxaca. Located around an enormous plaza about 1,000 ft (300 m) long and 650 ft (198 m) wide are long, low buildings set off by sunken courts and stairways. The tombs, particularly Tomb 7, have yielded great archaeological treasure—jewelry of gold, copper, jade, rock crystal, obsidian, and turquoise mosaic and bone and wood carving showing elaborate religious symbolism. Excavation was begun (1931) by the Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso Caso, Alfonso , 1896–1970, Mexican archaeologist. An authority on the ancient high civilizations of Mexico, he directed explorations at Mitla and Monte Albán during the 1920s and 30s. ..... Click the link for more information. . The Zapotec apparently had an advanced culture here c.200 B.C. and already were using the bar and dot system of numerals used by the Maya. The final epoch (c.1300–1521), terminated by the Spanish Conquest, covers the ascendancy of the Mixtec Mixtec , Native American people of Oaxaca, Puebla, and part of Guerrero, SW Mexico, one of the most important groups in Mexico. Although the Mixtec codices constitute the largest collection of pre-Columbian manuscripts in existence, their origin is obscure. ..... Click the link for more information. , when the Zapotec were driven from Monte Albán and Mitla Mitla [Nahuatl,=abode of the dead], religious center of the Zapotec, near Oaxaca, SW Mexico. Probably built in the 13th cent., the buildings, unlike the pyramidal structures of most Middle American architecture, are low, horizontal masses enclosing the plazas. ..... Click the link for more information. . Tomb 7 belongs to the final period. Cultural links with the Olmec Olmec , term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 B.C. ..... Click the link for more information. and the Toltec Toltec , ancient civilization of Mexico. The name in Nahuatl means "master builders." The Toltec formed a warrior aristocracy that gained ascendancy in the Valley of Mexico c.A.D. 900 after the fall of Teotihuacán. ..... Click the link for more information. have been found. Monte AlbánRidgetop site of the ruins of the ancient centre of Zapotec culture, located near Oaxaca, Mex. Construction at the site began around the 8th century BC. Monte Albán reached its height AD 250–700. The site contains great plazas, truncated pyramids, a tlachtli court for an ancient ballgame, underground passageways, and about 170 tombs, the most elaborate yet uncovered in the New World. The great plaza atop the highest hill is flanked by four platforms; two temples stand on the platform to the south. In its final phase, Monte Albán was inhabited by the Mixtec. Monte Albán a city in southern Mexico, in Oaxaca State. From the fourth century B.C. to the 16th century A.D. the region around Monte Alban was a political and cultural center, first of the Zapotecs and later of the Mixtecs. Archaeological excavations conducted here from the early 1930’s by the Mexican scholar A. Caso have uncovered palaces, pyramids, stelae with inscriptions, an amphitheater, a stone staircase 40 meters wide, and other structures built on the crest of a mountain range on artificial terraces. The walls of buildings were decorated with frescoes, mosaics, and human figures in relief. The excavations also uncovered about 150 tombs with funerary urns in the shape of men and animals. In one of the tombs belonging to a Mixtec chief were found many gold artifacts of high artistic quality. REFERENCEKinzhalov, R. V. Iskusstvo drevnei Ameriki. Moscow, 1962.Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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