Monte Albán (mōn`tā älbän`), ancient city, c.7 mi (11.3 km) from Oaxaca, SW Mexico, capital of the Zapotec Zapotec (zä`pətĕk, sä`–), indigenous people of Mexico, primarily in S Oaxaca and on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
..... 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 (älfōn`sō kä`sō), 1896–1970, Mexican archaeologist.
..... 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 (mĭs`tĕk), Native American people of Oaxaca, Puebla, and part of Guerrero, SW Mexico, one of the most important groups in
..... Click the link for more information. , when the Zapotec were driven from Monte Albán and Mitla Mitla (mēt`lä) [Nahuatl,=abode of the dead], religious center of the Zapotec , near Oaxaca, SW Mexico.
..... Click the link for more information. . Tomb 7 belongs to the final period. Cultural links with the Olmec Olmec (ōl`mĕk), term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary
..... Click the link for more information. and the Toltec Toltec (tŏl`tĕk), ancient civilization of Mexico. The name in Nahuatl means "master builders.
..... Click the link for more information. have been found.

Monte Albán

Ridgetop 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.