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<< Our Photo Pages >> Mitla - Ancient Village or Settlement in Mexico in Oaxaca

Submitted by bat400 on Sunday, 26 July 2009  Page Views: 8770

Multi-periodSite Name: Mitla Alternative Name: Mitla Fortress, Liuba, Mictlan
Country: Mexico Region: Oaxaca Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Oaxaca  Nearest Village: Mitla
Latitude: 16.927000N  Longitude: 96.3594W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Jansold visited on 21st Feb 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5

SolarMegalith visited on 1st Mar 2002 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 5



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.5 Ambience: 3.5 Access: 5

Mitla
Mitla submitted by SolarMegalith : The Palace Group in Mitla, one of the most important Zapotec (and later Mixtec) centres (photo taken on March 2002). (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Town in Oaxaca, Mexico.
A monumental centre of the Zapotec culture, Mitla was occupied in the pre-Classical period, but was at its height in about 750 AD. The site also contains a Mixtec fort dating from the 900's. There are five rectangular building complexes, each arranged around a central courtyard. Residential areas surrounded each of the large adobe and stone building groups.

The entire area lies at the confluence of the Mitla River and a smaller tributary in the Oaxaca Valley. Hillsides were heavily terraced for agriculture and the modern town lies partially on the pre-contact site. Most of the buildings are sited on earth and stone platforms, having single story which is entered by climbing wide staircases centred on the long axis of the building. The courtyard facing facade of several buildings feature repeating stone mosaic patterns. Paint remains on several buildings, particularly the 'Court of the Columns'. Only the 'Court of the Columns' and the 'Church Group' are excavated. The other complexes lie beneath mounds of dirt, rubble and scrub.
The site lies a half mile north of the small town of San Pablo de Villas Mitla (often referenced a just 'Mitla'). There is a small fee to visit the site. In town, the University of the Americas maintains the Museum of Zapotec Art. The museum is in an old hacienda.

Note: Zapotec rulers may have carried the femur of an ancestor as a sign of lineage. See comment.
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Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Intricate Geomteric Patterns on the Outer Walls. Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca, in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The archeological site is within the modern municipal... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Fretwork at Mitla Ruins. Mitla. A modern Zapotec town surrounds the unique ruins of Mitla, 46km southeast of Oaxaca. Image copyright: hkoons (Howard Koons), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Palatial complex. Over a tomb (foreground) at Mitla, the major Postclassic site east of Oaxaca. Image copyright: orientalizing, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Mitla Tomb Site in Oaxaca Mexico Image copyright: HubbleColor {Zolt} (Zolt Levay), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mitla
Mitla submitted by davidmorgan : Inside one of the structures. Photo credit: edstoll.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by davidmorgan : El Palacio. Photo credit: edstoll.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by davidmorgan : Roof support columns in the palace. Photo credit: edstoll.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by durhamnature : Drawing, from "Ancient America" via archive.org Site in Oaxaca Mexico

Mitla
Mitla submitted by durhamnature : Old photo of interior, from "Mexican Archaeology" via archive.org Site in Oaxaca Mexico

Mitla
Mitla submitted by durhamnature : Old photo from "Prehistoric Man in North America" via archive.org Site in Oaxaca Mexico

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Panarama or Mitla, the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the dead or...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Descending into a tomb Site in Oaxaca Mexico Image copyright: Boots in the Oven, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Panoramic View. Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the d...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Panorama of Mitla, the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the dead or...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Mitla Tomb. Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the dead ...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Image from page 224 of Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America (1917)

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : The Hall of the Columns. Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : The stairway leads directly to the hall of columns, a narrow room about 120 feet long with six columns, about 3 feet in diameter, lined up along the long axis which once supported a ceiling. Image copyright: hkoons (Howard Koons), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Panorama of Mitla, the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The archeological site is within the modern municipality of San Pablo Villa de Mitla. While Mo...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Archive photo of tomb or sepulchre near Mitla Creator: Waite, C. B. (Charles Betts), 1861-1927 Date: 1901 Part Of: Mexico Place: San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico Physical Description: 1 photographic print: gelatin silver; 20.2 x 12.6 cm File: ag1983_0281_1169_supposed_opt.jpg Rights: Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when using ...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Entrance to Tomb 1 Image copyright: Steve Chasey Photography (Steve Chasey), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Flickr : Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. While Monte Albán was most important as the political center, Mitla was the main religious center. W...

Mitla
Mitla submitted by davidmorgan : Intricately carved wall inside the palace. Photo credit: edstoll.

Mitla
Mitla submitted by Jansold : Mitla. Zapotec Palace. External view

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Lost Civilization Seen in Zapotec Thighbones by davidmorgan on Friday, 14 January 2011
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A newly excavated Zapotec burial has yielded a fresh interpretation of the ancient, grisly Mesoamerican custom of removing thighbones from the dead.

Across pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, femurs were believed to contain an individual’s power. Aztecs treated them as war trophies, while Zapotec royalty are thought to have used them like sceptres, as symbols of ancestral political might.

The new excavation, in a relatively humble residential dwelling at the ancient community of Mitla, suggests that ancestral thighbone-wielding “may not have been a practice limited to rulers,” wrote researchers led by Field Museum archaeologist Gary Feinman in a study published in December in Antiquity.

Thighbone customs of the Zapotec civilization, which reigned from the late 6th century BC to the early 16th century in what is now the Oaxaca valley of Mexico, are best known from burials at a pair of sites.

The first, a famous 16th-century tomb in the city of Monte Alban that was excavated in the 1930s, yielded the remains of nine individuals, along with three extra femurs, and a wealth of finely crafted goods. These extra femors had been cut and painted, and were interpreted to indicate Aztec-style trophy use.

In the 1970s, an 8th-century tomb was excavated, this time in the smaller town of Lambityeco. It was part of a palatial residence, clearly occupied by rulers, six of whom had been buried there — but only three of their thighbones remained. The rest of the femurs were missing.

Friezes on the wall depicted men holding what appeared to be femurs, giving rise to the interpretation of thighbones as scepters. Subsequent burial excavations have supported this hypothesis, but the sites have tended to be poorly preserved, with skeletons missing many bones.

The burial excavated by Feinman at Mitla was extremely well-preserved, and had never been disturbed — except, that is, by someone who broke open the coffin, removed a thighbone, then carefully resealed it, leaving a bowl as an offering.

According to Feinman’s team, that offering suggests a veneration for the deceased. As the burial was beneath a residence — Zapotec dead were commonly buried in this fashion, with dwellings occupied for generations — it had likely been opened by a descendant.

Meanwhile, the upper portion of the skeleton was in slight disarray, while the lower portion was undisturbed except for the missing femur. The researchers interpret this as evidence that whoever re-opened the coffin knew where it was, but not how it was aligned. They accidentally broke into the top part first, jostled the remains, then realized their mistake and gently removed the thighbone.

The residence was located on a terraced hillside known as the Mitla Fortress, and was part of a relatively nondescript neighborhood, well down from the dwellings of rulers at the top. It was, however, in the center of the neighborhood, atop a rocky promontory that would have made it an ideal lookout. The researchers think the residence was occupied by someone like a ward boss, revered by his descendants.

To Feinman, the Mitla burial supports the interpretation of Zapotecs using thighbones as political symbols, and suggests it was a more widespread custom than thought, not restricted to their society’s rulers or elite.

The symbolic use of ancestral thighbones at Lambityeco, and quite possibly in the later tomb at Monte Albán, may indicate the importance of personal and lineal networks for legitimizing power.

This may have been especially true in the last stages of Zapotec civilization, when the power of central authorities dwindled. Prominent local families gained strength, and this was displayed in something like a coat-of-arms — but, in keeping with tradition, it was thighbones.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/zap

Read the rest of this post...
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Re: Thighbones Were Scepters for Ancient Zapotec Men? by ryszard on Thursday, 06 August 2009
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Strange list of "nearby sites" here. No mention of Monte Alban in Oaxaca city, or just slightly outside the city boundry.
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    Re: Thighbones Were Scepters for Ancient Zapotec Men? by bat400 on Friday, 07 August 2009
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    ryszard -- Care to contribute a site listing? Please do.
    Yes, I known its there, but without photos, I've focused on sites attached to news stories and places where I have first hand knowledge.
    [ Reply to This ]

Thighbones Were Scepters for Ancient Zapotec Men? by bat400 on Sunday, 26 July 2009
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Submitted by coldrum ---

For men of the ancient Zapotec civilization, ancestral thighbones may have been carried as status symbols. Based on centuries-old stone carvings in southern Mexico, archaeologists had long suspected that Zapotec men brandished human femurs.

"The thought was that the femurs are those of the ancestors of the rulers, serving like staffs of office or symbols of legitimacy," explained archaeologist Gary Feinman of the Field Museum in Chicago.

Now grave excavations have confirmed the practice, according to a new study. What's more, it seems that commoners got a leg up too.

Flourishing from about 500 B.C. to A.D. 1000 in the Valley of Oaxaca, the Zapotec were contemporaries of the ancient Maya and Aztec. Prior excavations had revealed a Zapotec tomb where nine femurs were missing. But the skeletons were a bit of a jumble, so it wasn't clear whether the bones had been taken or had simply gone missing.

Theory No Longer Out on a Limb.
The Zapotec often kept their dead relatives close to home—sometimes even at home. At a dig earlier this year at a fortress near the ancient town of San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Feinman and colleagues discovered an adobe-lined storage pit underneath an excavated house.

Inside was an adult male skeleton that was virtually intact, save for a missing right femur.
"This find is fantastic—it corroborates what was inferred before," said archaeologist Javier Urcid of Brandeis University, who did not participate in the new study.

There are signs that the circa-A.D. 500 pit had been opened and then resealed about 25 to 100 years after the initial burial. Since the house appears to have been occupied continuously during this time, whoever reopened the pit was probably a relative, the researchers suggest.

"I believe removal of the femur from a male was one way the ancient Zapotec asserted dynastic continuity," said archaeologist Joyce Marcus at the University of Michigan, who did not participate in this study.

The newfound burial was simple and modest, suggesting the buried man was not an elite, although he might have been the head of a household, Feinman suggested.


For more, see National Geographic.
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Field Museum conducts archaeological excavation at 'The Place of the Dead' by bat400 on Sunday, 26 July 2009
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Submitted by coldrum ---

Scientists previously believed pre-Hispanic Zapotec rulers carried around human femurs as a symbol of power and legitimacy, as evidenced from a carved lintel at the site of Lambityeco, where a ruler is depicted with a femur in his hand. Now, a Field Museum excavation team has confirmed they did remove femurs from earlier graves and that this custom may have been widely practiced by heads of households outside of the ruling class.

The missing femur was located in an early adobe cist internment, circa 500 AD, that lay under an excavated house at the Mitla Fortress, in the Valley of Oaxaca, some 322 miles southeast of Mexico City. While excavating this residential terrace, or house lot, the Museum team found a total of 16 burials that include 21 individuals. The systematic excavations are the largest ever conducted at this site well-known to archaeologists for more than 150 years.

Field Museum Curator of Mesoamerican Anthropology, Gary Feinman, and Adjunct Curator of Anthropology, Linda Nicholas, are analyzing the burial sample and other finds from the Mitla Fortress. The Fortress is less than two miles west of Mitla, which is indigenously known as the "Place of the Dead."

The burials were discovered in a former residential terrace, likely occupied between A.D. 500 and 1200-1500. Most were buried under floors or behind walls of the terrace. Zapotecs and other Mesoamerican people throughout the pre-Hispanic period tended to keep their dead relatives close to home.

For more, see Eurekalert.
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