Monte Albán, at the present-day location of Oaxaca City, is one of Mesoamerica’s most significant archaeological sites in all of Mexico. Established around 500 BC and occupied continuously until it was abandoned around 750 AD, it centers on a flattened ridge with a tremendous vantage point overlooking the fertile Valley of Oaxaca. It was the political center of the aboriginal Zapotec State and, at its peak, was home to an estimated 30,000 people and controlled most of what is today the state of Oaxaca.
Two massive platforms are found at the northern and southern ends of its large, central ceremonial plaza, with smaller platforms and other monumental structures on the eastern and western sides. Building J, with an orientation differing from the remainder of the complex, housed “conquest stones” inscribed with placenames of the many smaller polities in Oaxaca that were brought under the control of Monte Albán rulers. Among the impressive achievements of the Zapotec civilization are their glyph-based writing system and finely worked gold jewelry.
The archaeology of the Sierra Norte is not well-known or studied, however, it is believed that there were direct connections between Monte Alban and the Sierra Norte through a camino real or road network.
The Sierra area shows the presence of cultural elements that correspond to the earliest period of occupation of Monte Albán. During the Classic Period (500-700 A.D.), the linguistic diversity intensified despite the fact that influence from the Central Valley was intense (Guevara 1990). Archaeologist believe the relation with Monte Albán is evidenced in the carved grave stones (lápidas grabadas) that show the powerful lineage and burial rituals.
After the decline of Monte Albán la Sierra Norte saw a multiplication of small independent political units that reduced their contact with the Valles Centrales and stopped giving tribute (Flannery and Marcus 1983).
Colonial documents provide little evidence about the forms of political organization during the Post-Classic Period. Ethnohistoric research (Chance 1989) demonstrates typical political units during colonial times were more or less independent, led by local leaders, without patrón de los señoríos or large communities with significant tribute areas, but there were smaller central communities (cabeceras) and corresponding subjects for each, only sometimes forming regional or multi-community (inter-ethnic) alliances against other ethnic groups.
The linguistic variability within the Zapotec (bene ya’a) populations of the Sierra Juárez today was probably established during the colonial period when such intra-ethnic alliances led to the geographic delimitation of territorial limits within and between the Zapotec and other ethnic groups.
Small independent and dispersed settlements had little economic specialization and only incipient social stratification, without slaves or servants. Campesinos were basically self-sufficient and gave tribute to the local nobility of the first and second levels, which in more recent colonial times were called “caciques o principales” (chiefs or principals), respectively. The lineage of each recognized a common ancestor and lands in common, as shown through the colonial documents in the Cajonos and Rincón, but indicated that the “nobility” had little land and power over the communities (Romero 1996; Chance 1989).
WORKS CITED:
Chance, J. 1989. Conquest of the Sierra: Spaniards and Indians in Colonial Oaxaca. University of Oklahoma Press.
Flannery, K. and J. Marcus. 1983. The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. Academic Press.
Guevara Hernández, J. 1990. Arqueología de La Sierra Juárez de Oaxaca. Vol 1 de Lecturas Históricas del Estado de Oaxaca. INAH.
Romero Frizzi, M. 1996. El sol y la cruz: Historia de los pueblos indios de Oaxaca. CIESAS/INI.