Monte Albán
American Heritage Dictionary:
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Mon·te Al·bán
A ruined Zapotec city of southern Mexico near Oaxaca. Excavations (begun in 1931) have revealed that an advanced culture flourished here c. 200 B.C.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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Monte Albn
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 . Monte Albn reached its height 250700. 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 Albn was inhabited by the Mixtec.
For more information on Monte Albn, visit Britannica.com.
Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology:
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Monte Albán, Mexico
[Si]
Zapotec capital set on a steep bluff in the middle of the Valley of Oaxaca which rose to prominence after about 400 bc. Four main phases in the development and occupation of the site have been recognized. In Period I (500–200 bc) the slopes of the hill were levelled off to form over 2000 terraces. An acropolis protected by stone walls lay at the centre. Inside was a stone platform surrounded by 140 carved stone slabs depicting contorted human figures. These were executed in Olmec style. In Period II (200 bc–ad 300) the first palaces were built, along with ball-courts, temples, and an arrow-shaped building in the main plaza. During this period there appears to have been extensive contact with Maya Lowland centres and the increasingly powerful Teotihuacán.
At its peak in Period III (ad 300–750), Monte Albán had an estimated population of 25–30 000. Public buildings, terraces, and residences covered over 40 square kilometres. Period IV (ad 700–1000) was a time of decline as the main plaza was abandoned. Zapotec influence disappeared, although the site was partially reoccupied by the Mixtec.
[Rep.: R. Blanton, 1978, Monte Alban: settlement patterns of the ancient Zapotec capital. New York: Academic Press]
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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Monte Albán, Mexico
Monte Albán (mōn'tā älbän'), ancient city, c.7 mi (11.3 km) from Oaxaca, SW Mexico, capital of the Zapotec. 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. 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, when the Zapotec were driven from Monte Albán and Mitla. Tomb 7 belongs to the final period. Cultural links with the Olmec and the Toltec have been found.
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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Mentioned in
García Ignacio Bernal
(in archaeology)
Zapotec
(member of a Mesoamerican Indian people)
Alfonso Caso
(Mexican archaeologist)
Mitla
(building, Mexico – in religion)
San José Mogoté
(in archaeology)
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