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The Isthmus and the Valley of Oaxaca: Questions about Zapotec Imperialism in Formative Period Mesoamerica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert N. Zeitlin
Robert N. Zeitlin*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254
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Abstract

Recent archaeological and epigraphic research suggests the existence of what could be Mesoamerica's first conquest state, centered at Monte Albán, the major Late Formative period Zapotec site in the Valley of Oaxaca. This paper explores the idea of an early Zapotec empire by examining evidence from one of Monte Albán's outlying regions, the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The study is framed in terms of three hypothetical models of political and economic interaction, any one or combination of which could conceivably account for ancient Zapotec relationships with the southern Isthmus and its other hinterland regions.

Résumé

Résumé

Las investigaciones recientes arqueológicas y epigráficas sugieren la existencia de lo que puede haber sido el primer estado de conquista, cuyo centro fuera Monte Albán, el sitio mayor del período Formativo Tardío. Este artículo explora la idea de un imperio antiguo zapoteco a través de una revisión de las evidencias derivadas de una de las regiones marginales de Monte Albán, el Istmo sur de Tehuantepec. El estudio está estructurado con tres modelos hipotéticos de las interacciones políticas y económical. Uno de los tres modelos, o una combinación de ellos, pueda dar explicaciones sobre las relaciones del estado zapoteco antiguo con el Istmo sur y con las otras regiones marginales del mismo.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 250 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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