LISS.398A TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT and HUMAN ADAPTATION:
PART II PRE-EUROPEAN
MESOAMERICA
MONTE ALBAN I (500-200 B.C.)
The Valley wide
ceramic distinction
of two sub-phases (Early I or Ia and Late I of Ic) is clearly present at Monte Albán possibly
together with a transition phase (Ib) between them.
EARLY I (500-350 B.C.)
This phase marks the first occupation of Monte Albán. There is virtually no evidence of human presence at this location prior to
this time.
This occupation is evidenced by three, spatially distinct, sherd scatters, interpreted as residential barrios, located around the area
which was subsequently leveled to become the
Main Plaza.
It is frequently suggested that these barrios are associated with (inhabited by people from) each of the three
different arms of the Valley. This would be consistent with an explanation of the appearance of a settlement at Monte Albán as a
“disembodied” regional capital, deliberately founded on previously unoccupied, neutral territory for the purpose of uniting three,
previously independent social units.
By the end of this phase some 5000 people lived at Monte Albán. Though there was probably some rainfall agriculture on the
terraces and evidence of irrigation (a mortared masonry dam impounding runoff from the hill in a barranca and transporting it
about 2 km through a canal to a
piedmont
area near the modern village of
Xoxcotlán) it likely that most of the food for these people came somewhat further away.
Indeed, since there is no reliable, year-round water supply , water must have been carried from sources in the flood plain 400 m lower.
This suggests that (at least during the
dry season,
lavish use of water for purposes other than drinking (e.g. bathing) was not the rule (except perhaps among the elite).
LATE I (350-200 B.C.)
Settlement during this phase expanded to occupy most of the main hill and
adjoining hills
as well. Substantial construction occurred at the
North Platform over the
Patio Sur de Monticulo A
site of an Early I structure. Leveling of the
Main Plaza
may have begun during this phase, though it is not completed until
Monte Albán II.
Construction of what is taken to be a large
defensive wall
along the more gently sloping western and northern sides of the main hill appears to have begun.
By the end of this phase, about 17,000 people lived on and immediately around Monte Albán.
RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
During Early I, households appear to have resided in
household unitssimilar to those observed in
earlier phases
at Tierras Largas and
San Jsoé Mogote.
These consisted of a one-room structure
surrounded by graves (tombs are rare) and bell-shaped underground pits presumably used for food storage. Ovens or hearths,
presumably used for food preparation , refuse middens, drainage ditches (presumably) and other types of pits are sometimes present. (See
Fig. MA.2.)
Some household units were located a bit closer together (15 m) than those of earlier periods elsewhere. Walls were constructed of adobe
and caliche-like blocks on stone foundations rather than the waddle-and-daub construction common in earlier phases elsewhere. In this
and subsequent phases, buildings are oriented along cardinal directions.
The similarity of Early I residential architecture to that of earlier phases in other parts of the Valley supports the view that the first
residents of Monte Albán came from elsewhere in the Valley, rather than from somewhere outside.
During Late I, household open household units similar to those in Early I are present , but there is one known
example of a somewhat more elaborate semienclosed
structure similar to the Houses 16 -17 from the earlier
San José phase
at
San Jsoé Mogote.
PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
Remains of public architecture from
Monte Albán I
are difficult to see because they are covered by the remains of structures from later times. It appears that the area subsequently occupied
by the
Main Plaza
was largely unoccupied. However, the remains of structures apparently constructed during this phase have been found underlying later
construction in three locations around the main plaza (See
Fig. MA.3).
These are
-
Building of the Danzantes
- A pyramidal , rubble cored platform begun in Early I, underlying
Mound L
faced with large rectangular slabs of pre-Cambrian gneiss on which are carved human figures called
danzantes
similar to
Monument 3 at
San José Mogote.
-
Patio Sur de Monticulo A
- A sloping wall from Early I, resting on bedrock beneath the
southeast corner of the North Platform underlying a Late I wall with stucco molding.
-
Structure inside Mound K
- A 6m high sloping wall (Late I ) and two rubble filled columns inside
Mound K
located in
System IV.
There is also some evidence of
Monte Albán I
public architecture at a few places outside the
Main Plaza.
BURIALS
About 20 burials from the
Monte Albán I
phase are known. Of these, 6 are in tombs.
The tombs are rectangular, structures without doors, roofed with horizontal stone slabs. They contained pottery, including fish, duck and
frog and conch-shell effigies, a conch shell trumpet ( Tomb 43, Early I) possibly indicating high status and pottery effigies of
Cocijo -- the Zapotec “rain god”. Tomb 15associated with
the
structure under Mound K
contained a 2-year old child interred with conch shell effigies.
Burials not in tombs also contained pottery, but less than those in tombs.
WRITING AND CALENDRICS
Carved stones, such as
Stellae 12 and 13
exhibiting
hieroglyphic writing,
including dates in the 260 day
ritual calendar
expressed in bar-dot
numerical notation
appear during this phase.
Material specific to this period is drawn from:
Flannery and Marcus ‘83b,
Marcus ‘83a,
Flannery and Marcus ‘83a.
Colorado School of Mines
Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies
Dr. Joseph D. Sneed
jsneed@mines.edu
