Here’s a word to conjure with: Mesoamerica. It describes an area stretching roughly from Mexico City to Costa Rica and is an umbrella term for the cultures therein prior to the arrival of Columbus ie: precolumbian.
You think of the classic American pyramid as seen across Mexico and Central America and your in the ball park called Mesoamerica! Last year we explored the world’s largest pyramid at Cholula.
And there are more to come in Belize and Guatemala but Oaxaca has its own archeological dig at Monte Alban.
We went on a Friday and the place was moderately busy. To go on the weekend would be to enjoy lines and crowds.
What we did was to show up close to opening time and parked in as much shade as we could find. The hilltop community is located at 6400 feet so it’s not hot. Rusty got his walk around Tomb #7 before we entered the complex.
When Layne visited this place in the early 1980s it was a much more modest affair and this was about the only ruin visible to the rare visitors. Major archeological excavation took place in the early 1990s since when the hilltop city has been cleared and opened to a broader public.
Apparently there were a whole series of Zapotec communities built around elaborate tombs on easily defended hill tops. They cultivated the lower valleys but had homes clustered around these formal burial sites.
No one even knows where the place got it’s name with three possible explanations leading the speculation. It’s possible Monte Alban is a corruption of a Zapotec word, or it could have been the name of a Spanish soldier or possibly the place is named after Rome’s Alban Hills - which was my first thought.
With Rusty settled in the van with snacks water and fresh air (lucky bugger!) we tackled the ticket lines and the high altitude stairs. Pets are not allowed on the site.
At least not our dogs. Local animals had the run of the place. 
I can only think what a great place for a Friday field trip:
You can hire a guide to walk you round and I overheard long detailed explanations of life in the city. I also overheard one American woman saying she felt a strong spiritual connection to the place. I didn’t.
I enjoyed the freedom to wander and speculate, to look at the views and ponder all those people who came before and worried about their day to day problems and ambitions and who walked these places.
The Mesoamericans knew how to handle metals and understood the concept of the wheel but made no use of either. Spaniards brought horses, gunpowder, armor and disease and wiped these places out.
In classic Mexican style there were no exit signs. We wandered at will and read the information boards but had no clue how to get out. We were not alone as clumps if unaccompanied tourists milled around trying to figure out the short cut out of the sun back to the visitor center and museum.
We bought a souvenir mask from one of the entrepreneurs and he pointed the rather obscure unmarked way down on an easy graded path.
These ruins date back to eight hundred years before Christ and archeologists believe the the four square mile city was the Zapotec capital for 1300 years which is quite a history. The Spanish conquest put an end to it and it was only in 1987 the place became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The stone hieroglyph is the symbol of the place overlooking the main square.
You could walk a long way across the ridge and not reach the end. We were ready to check out the artifacts in the museum.
An 8.2 magnitude earthquake in 2017 caused a fair bit of damage here and there is restoration work underway to support the structures. But so far so good. It’s all here to be seen and pondered.
The visitor center and on site museum.
The supervising agency goes by the snappy title of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History and is busy rounding up international funding to continue to understand this place.
The museum is small as most artifacts are in the main museum in Oaxaca, a destination for another day.
We skipped the crowded cafe in the museum and had lunch onboard while Rusty, delighted to have us back slept outside in the dust, his favorite place.
And then we faced the Friday afternoon traffic through the city back to the haven of El Rancho RV park.
5 comments:
fascinating. always amazed at these sites and how preserved they can be after so many years
Loved the pics & tour. Thank you!!
When I saw the last pic I couldn't help but wonder how you managed to get everyone to drive on the wrong side of the street... ?? Maybe it's the 'spiritual connection' the American tourist mentioned!
You know what I like about these civilizations in this area of the world? They had tons of gods—including a god of chocolate. 😊
Traffic in Oaxaca switches sides of the street and crosses over lanes alarmingly frequently. Completely weird. However a god of chocolate is something I aspire to and there are lots more ruins to come on our itinerary.
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