ZAPOTEC

MONTE ALBAN

Monte Albán

Around 500 B.C.E., at a point where the three arms of the Y-shaped Oaxaca Valley meet, construction began on
the mountaintop city of Monte Albán. By this time, most experts believe the Zapotec culture was dominant in the Oaxaca Valley, though the valley’s communities probably had independent governments.

Apparently the rulers of the different cities and towns all over the valley agreed to this neutral mountaintop
space for a capital city of the region.

Why these valley rulers decided to build a city so far above the farmlands and water sources is unknown. Some speculate the city was planned for defense against invaders. Others say its majestic mountaintop setting, close to the divine world of the clouds, was in keeping with the Mesoamerican spirit of creating awe by displaying the power and splendor of the valley’s rulers. Whatever the purpose, by about 200 B.C.E. the Zapotecs had completed the massive job of flattening the mountaintop on which the city was to be situated. They eventually built artificial ridges that spanned across to three mountaintops as the city spread out.

Monte Albán was planned from the start as a ceremonial center (a city like center usually run by priests and rulers, in which people from surrounding areas gathered to practice the ceremonies of their religion, often at large temples and plazas built specifically for this purpose). In fact, the Zapotec name for Monte Albán was Dani Biaa, which means “sacred mountain.”

On the leveled mountaintop, laborers erected great pyramids, temples, and plazas. Two miles (3.2 kilome-ters) of walls were built around the city center, apparently to separate the sacred or elite (ruler-priests) from the rest of the population. The population in 200 B.C.E. had reached an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people. The hillsides were terraced (huge steps were cut into them), and many of the common people of Monte Albán lived on the hillside terraces, outside the city walls. At its peak, Monte Albán had a population of about 35,000 people.

Early Civilizations in the Americas:

Almanac304
Ruins of the ancient Zapotec civilization of Monte Albán in the Oaxaca Valley, Mexico.
© PaulThompson;
Ecoscen/Corbis.
Almanac

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