Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:38:41.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Monte Albán's Hidden Past: Buried Buildings and Sociopolitical Transformation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2020

Marc N. Levine Open the ORCID record for Marc N. Levine [Opens in a new window] ,
Scott W. Hammerstedt Open the ORCID record for Scott W. Hammerstedt [Opens in a new window] ,
Amanda Regnier  and
Alex E. Badillo Open the ORCID record for Alex E. Badillo [Opens in a new window]
Marc N. Levine*
Affiliation:
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK73072, USA
Scott W. Hammerstedt
Affiliation:
Oklahoma Archeological Survey, University of Oklahoma, 111 Chesapeake, Norman, OK73019, USA (swh@ou.edu; aregnier@ou.edu)
Amanda Regnier
Affiliation:
Oklahoma Archeological Survey, University of Oklahoma, 111 Chesapeake, Norman, OK73019, USA (swh@ou.edu; aregnier@ou.edu)
Alex E. Badillo
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Science Building 159, 600 Chestnut St., Terre HauteIN47809, USA (alex.badillo@indstate.edu)
*
(mlevine@ou.edu, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, we present the most significant results of the Monte Albán Geophysical Archaeology Project. Using ground-penetrating radar, gradiometry, and electrical resistance, we carried out a systematic survey of the site's Main Plaza to identify buried prehispanic features that might shed light on Monte Albán's early history. The most important discoveries include three buried structures dating between the Danibaan (500–300 BC) and Nisa phases (100 BC–AD 100). We argue that the largest structure, measuring 18 × 18 m, was probably a temple platform and that all three of the structures were razed and buried by the end of the Nisa phase at the latest. Furthermore, we contend that these events were part of a major renovation and expansion of the site's Main Plaza that occurred during a pivotal period of dramatic sociopolitical transformation in the Zapotec capital.

En este artículo presentamos los resultados de mayor relevancia obtenidos durante el Proyecto Geofísico de Monte Albán. El uso del radar de penetración, la aplicación de análisis gradiométrico, aunado al principio de resistencia eléctrica, fueron las técnicas utilizadas a lo largo de una serie de recorridos sistemáticos en la Plaza Principal. El objetivo fue la identificación de elementos arqueológicos debajo de la superficie con lo cual fuera posible elucidar ocupaciones más tempranas. Los resultados más significativos fueron el hallazgo de tres elementos arquitectónicos datados entre las fases Danibaan (500-300 BC) y Nisa (100 BC-100 AD). El elemento con mayores dimensiones fue lo que suponemos se trata de la plataforma de un templo, este cuerpo cubre un área de 18 × 18 m. Como primer acercamiento a este hallazgo, proponemos que las tres estructuras localizadas hayan sido destruidas al final de la fase Nisa y posteriormente cubiertas como parte de un proyecto de reconfiguración de los espacios de la Plaza Principal. En ese sentido, estos cambios en términos de espacialidad en la plaza podrían corresponder a una renovación y expansión de este espacio que, estarían relacionados también con una serie de cambios sociopolíticos a gran escala en la Capital Zapoteca.

Keywords

Monte AlbánOaxacaMexicoZapotecplazaarchitecturetemplegeophysical prospectionground-penetrating radarMonte AlbánOaxacaMéxicoZapotecoplazaarquitecturatemploprospección geofísicaradar de penetración
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 76 - 98
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Acosta, Jorge R. 1949 El pectoral de jade de Monte Albán. Anales del INAH 3:17–25.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R. 1958 Exploraciones arqueológicos en Monte Albán XVIII temporada. Revista Mexicana de estudios antropológicos 15:7–50.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R. 1965 Preclassic and Classic Architecture of Oaxaca. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 814–836. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R. 1974 XIV temporada de exploraciones en la zona arqueológica de Monte Albán, 1945–1946. Cultura y Sociedad 1(2):69–82.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R. 1975 XVII Exploraciones en la zona arqueológica de Monte Albán, XVII Temporada 1949. Cultura y Sociedad 2(3):1–16.Google Scholar
Acosta, Jorge R., and Romero, Javier 1992 Exploraciones en Monte Negro, Oaxaca: 1937–38, 1938–39, y 1939–40. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Aspinall, Arnold, Gaffney, Chris, and Schmidt, Armin 2008 Magnetometry for Archaeologists. AltaMira, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Balkansky, Andrew K., Rodríguez, Verónica Pérez, and Kowalewski, Stephen A. 2004 Monte Negro and the Urban Revolution in Oaxaca, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 15:33–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barba, Luis 1993 Estudios geofísicos y elección del área. In Anatomía de un conjunto residencial teotihuacano en Oztoyahualco, edited by Manzanilla, Linda, pp. 47–74. UNAM, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Bernal, Ignacio and Oliveros, Arturo 1988 Exploraciones arqueológicas en Dainzú, Oaxaca. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Blancas, Jorge, Luis Barba, Agustin Ortiz, and Carballo, David 2015 Estudios geofísicos en el barrio de Tlajinga, Teotihuacán. Revista de Investigaciones Arqueométricas 1:1–14.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E. 1978 Monte Albán: Settlement Patterns at the Ancient Zapotec Capital. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E., Feinman, Gary M., Kowalewski, Stephen A., and Nicholas, Linda M. 1999 Ancient Oaxaca: The Monte Albán State. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard E., Kowalewski, Stephen A., Feinman, Gary M., and Finsten, Laura 1993 Ancient Mesoamerica: A Comparison of Change in Three Regions. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Carter, Nicholas P. 2017 Epigraphy and Empire: Reassessing Textual Evidence for Formative Period Zapotec Imperialism. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 27:433–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caso, Alfonso, Bernal, Ignacio, and Acosta, Jorge R. 1967 La cerámica de Monte Albán. Memorias del INAH XIII. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Clark, Anthony 1996 Seeing beneath the Soil: Prospecting Methods in Archaeology. 2nd ed. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Conyers, Lawrence B. 2004 Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology. AltaMira, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Fahmel Beyer, Bernd 1991 La arquitectura de Monte Albán. UNAM, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1983 The Development of Monte Albán's Main Plaza in Period II. In The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited by Flannery, Kent and Marcus, Joyce, pp. 102–104. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V., and Marcus, Joyce (editors) 1983 The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V., and Marcus, Joyce (editors) 2015 Excavations at San José Mogote 2: The Cognitive Archaeology. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Gaffney, Chris, and Gater, John 2003 Revealing the Buried Past: Geophysics for Archaeologists. History Press, Stround, Gloustershire, UK.Google Scholar
García Moll, Roberto, Patterson, Donald, and Winter, Marcus 1986 Monumentos escultóricos de Monte Albán. Materialien zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archaeologie Vol. 37. C. H. Beck, Munich.Google Scholar
González Licón, Ernesto 2011 Prospección subterránea con radar, aplicada a la investigación de costumbres funerarias en Monte Albán, Oaxaca, México. International Journal of South American Archaeology 8:20–26.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A. 2000 The Founding of Monte Albán: Sacred Propositions and Social Practices. In Agency in Archaeology, edited by Dobres, Marcia-Ann and Robb, John, pp. 71–91. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A. 2010 Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Chatinos: Ancient Peoples of Southern Mexico. Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A. 2019 Assembling the City: Monte Albán as a Mountain of Creation and Sustenance. In New Materialisms, Ancient Urbanisms, edited by Alt, Susan and Pauketat, Timothy, pp. 65–93. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Kowalewski, Stephen A., Feinman, Gary M., Finsten, Laura, Blanton, Richard E., and Nicholas, Linda M. 1989 Monte Albán's Hinterland Part II: Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, Marc N. 2020 Proyecto Geofísico de Monte Albán (PGMA). Unpublished report on file at the Consejo de Arqueología, INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Lockhart, Jami 2010 Tom Jones (3HE40): Geophysical Survey and Spatial Organization at a Caddo Mound Site in Southwest Arkansas. Southeastern Archaeology 29:236–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
López-Rodríguez, Flor, Velasco-Herrera, Víctor M., Álvarez-Béjar, Román, Gómez-Chávez, Sergio, and Gazzola, Julie 2016 Analysis of Ground Penetrating Radar Data from the Tunnel beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Using New Multi-Cross Algorithms. Advances in Space Research 58:2164–2179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucero, Lisa, and Fash, Barbara (editors) 2006 Precolumbian Water Management: Ideology, Ritual, and Power. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce, and Flannery, Kent V. 1996 Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce, and Flannery, Kent V. 2004 The Coevolution of Ritual and Society: New 14C Dates from Ancient Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101:18257–18261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martínez López, Cira 2002 La residencia de la tumba 7 y su templo: Elementos arquitectónico-religiosos en Monte Albán. In La Religion de los Binnigula'sa, edited by de la Cruz, Víctor and Winter, Marcus, pp. 221–272. IEEPO-ICO, Oaxaca. Mexico.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 2017 The Role of Solar Observations in Developing the Preclassic Maya Calendar. Latin American Antiquity 28:88–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, Michael J., Lewarch, Denis E., Mason, Roger D., and Neely, James A. 1980 Functional Analysis of Water Control Features at Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico. World Archaeology 11:342–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peeler, Damon E. 1994 Mapa de Monte Albán: Proyecto Especial de Monte Albán 1992–1994. INAH, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Peeler, Damon E., and Winter, Marcus 1992–1993 Mesoamerican Site Orientations and Their Relationship to the 260-Day Ritual Period. Notas Mesoamericanas 14:37–62.Google Scholar
Pool, Christopher A. 2008 Architectural Plans, Factionalism, and the Proto-Classic-Classic Transition at Tres Zapotes. In Classic-Period Cultural Currents in Southern and Central Veracruz, edited by Arnold, Phillip J. III and Pool, Christopher A., pp. 121–157. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Redmond, Elsa M., and Spencer, Charles S. 2008 Rituals of Sanctification and the Development of Standardized Temples in Oaxaca, Mexico. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 18:239–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redmond, Elsa M., and Spencer, Charles S. 2013 Early (300−100 B.C.) Temple Precinct in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110:E1707–E1715.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robles García, Nelly (editor) 2009a Bases de la complejidad social en Oaxaca: Memoria de la IV Mesa Redonda de Monte Albán. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Robles García, Nelly (editor) 2009b Los monumentos arqueológicos de Monte Albán ante los desastres naturales: El sismo de 1999. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Skaggs, Sheldon, Powis, Terry G., Rucker, Clara, and Micheletti, George 2016 An Iterative Approach to Ground Penetrating Radar at the Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize. Remote Sensing 8(10):1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spores, Ronald 2015 The Temples of Mound 3. In Excavations at San José Mogote 2: The Cognitive Archaeology, edited by Flannery, Kent and Marcus, Joyce, pp. 293–338. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Šprajc, Ivan 2018 Astronomy, Architecture, and Landscape in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. Journal of Archaeological Research 26:197–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsukamoto, Kenichiro, and Inomata, Takeshi (editors) 2014 Mesoamerican Plazas: Arenas of Community and Power. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urcid, Javier 1994 Un sistema de nomenclatura para los monolitos grabados y los materiales con inscripciones de Monte Albán. In Escritura Zapoteca prehispánica, edited by Winter, Marcus, pp. 53–79. INAH, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2011 Los oráculos y la guerra: El papel de las narrativas pictóricas en el desarrollo temprano de Monte Albán (500 a.C.–200 d.C). In Monte Albán en la encrucijada regional y disciplinaria: Memoria de la quinta Mesa Redonda de Monte Albán, edited by García, Nelly Robles and Guzmán, Ángel Rivera, pp. 163–240. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2018 Ritual and Society in Ancient Central Oaxaca (350–8950 CE). In Real Fake: The Story of a Zapotec Urn, edited by Jennings, Justin and Sellen, Adam, pp. 31–71. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier, and Joyce, Arthur A. 2014 Early Transformations of Monte Albán's Main Plaza and their Political Implications, 500 BC–AD 200. In Mesoamerican Plazas: Arenas of Community and Power, edited by Tsukamoto, Kenichiro and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 149–167. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venter, Marcie L., Thompson, Victor D., Reynolds, Matthew D., and Waggoner, James C. 2006 Integrating Shallow Geophysical Survey: Archaeological Investigations at Totógal in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:767–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, Marcus 1994 El Proyecto Especial Monte Albán 1992–1994: Antecedentes, Intervenciones y Perspectivas. In Monte Albán: Estudios recientes, edited by Winter, Marcus, pp. 1–24. INAH, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Winter, Marcus 2011 Social Memory and the Origins of Monte Albán. Ancient Mesoamerica 22:393–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar