Zapotec civilization

1
Zapotec civilization
Palace of Columns, Mitla, Oaxaca Extent of the Zapotec civilization
Be'ena'a(language?)
700
BC1521
AD
Zapotec at greatest extent
Capital Monte Alban 700BC-700 AD ,Mitla 700 AD-1400 AD ,and Zaachila-Yoo 1400-1521 AD
Languages Oto-Manguean languages
Religion Zapotec
Government Not specified
President
- 1328-1361 Ozomatli
- 1361-1386 Huijatoo
- 1386-1415 Zaachila I
- 1415-1454 Zaachila II
Zapotec civilization
2
- 1454-1487 Zaachila III
- 1487-1521 Cocijoeza
- 1518-1563 Cocijopii
Historical era Preclassic-Late postclassic
- Fall of San Jos Mogote 700 BC
- Conflict between Zapotecs and Mixtecs in the empire 1519-1521
- Spanish Conquest 1521 AD
- Last Zapotec resistance 1521-1563
Area
- 200 AD 80,000km (30,888 sq mi)
- 1520 AD 38,850km (15,000 sq mi)
Today part of Mexico
The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in
Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture goes back at least 2,500 years. The Zapotec left
archaeological evidence at the ancient city of Monte Albn in the form of buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs
and grave goods including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albn was one of the first major cities in
Mesoamerica and the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory that today belongs to the
Mexican state of Oaxaca.
History
A funerary urn in the shape of a "bat god" or a jaguar, from Oaxaca, dated to AD
300650. Height: 9.5 in (23 cm).
Zapotec civilization
3
Phase Period
Monte Alban 1 ca 400100 BC
Monte Alban 2 ca 100 BC AD 100
Monte Alban 3 ca AD 200-900
Monte Alban 4 ca 9001350
Monte Alban 5 ca 13501521
|+ Archaeological phases of Monte Albn history
[1]
Zapotec civilization had its beginnings in the Central Valleys of
Oaxaca in the late 6th Century BC. The three valleys were divided between three different-sized societies, separated
by 80km
2
no-mans-land in the middle, today occupied by the city of Oaxaca. Archaeological evidence from the
period, such as burned temples and sacrificed captives, suggest that the three societies competed against each other.
At the end of the Rosario phase (700500 BC) the valley's largest settlement San Jos Mogote, and a nearby
settlement in the Etla valley, lost most of their population. During the same period a new large settlement emerged in
the no-mans-land. That settlement, which was constructed on top of a mountain overlooking the three Central
valleys was Monte Albn. Similarities between the pottery of San Jos Mogote and at early Monte Albn indicate
that the people who populated Monte Albn were the same ones who had left San Jos Mogote.
[2]
Archaeologists
Joyce Marcus and Kent V. Flannery liken this process to what happened in ancient Greece - (synoikism): a
centralization of smaller dispersed populations congregates in a central city to meet an external threat.
[3]
Even
though there is no direct evidence in the early phases of Monte Albn's history, walls and fortifications built around
the site during the archaeological phase Monte Alban 2( ca.100 BC - AD 200), suggest that the construction of the
city may have been in response to a military threat.
The Zapotec state formed at Monte Albn began an expansion during the late Monte Alban 1 phase (400100 BC)
and throughout the Monte Alban 2 phase (100 BC AD 200). Zapotec rulers seized control over the provinces
outside the valley of Oaxaca. They were able to do this during Monte Alban 1c (roughly 200 BC) to Monte Alban 2
(200 BC AD 100) because none of the surrounding provinces could compete with the valley of Oaxaca both
politically and militarily.
[4]
By 200 AD the Zapotecs had extended their influence, from Quiotepec in the North to
Ocelotepec and Chiltepec in the South. Monte Albn had become the largest city in what are today the southern
Mexican highlands, and retained this status until approximately 700 AD.
[5]
The expansion of the Zapotec empire peaked during the Monte Alban II phase. Zapotecs conquered or colonized
settlements far beyond The Valley of Oaxaca. Most notably, this expansion is visible in the sudden change of
ceramics found in regions outside the valley. These regions'own unique styles were suddenly replaced with Zapotec
style pottery, indicating their integration into the Zapotec empire.
Archaeologist Alfonso Caso, one of the first to do excavations in Monte Albn, argued that a building on the main
plaza of Monte Albn is further evidence for the dramatic expansion of the Zapotec state. What today is referred to
as building J, is shaped like an arrowhead and displays more than 40 carved stones with hieroglyphic writing. The
glyphs have been interpreted by archaeologists to represent the provinces that were controlled by the Zapotecs of
Monte Albn. In addition, each glyph group also depicts a head with an elaborate head dress carved into the slabs.
These are assumed to illustrate the rulers of the provinces who were taken over. The stones which show a head
turned upside down are believed represent the rulers of those provinces taken by force, while the upright ones may
represent those who did not resist colonization and had their lives spared. For this reason building J is also called
The Conquest Slab
[6]
Marcus and Flannery write about the subsequent dramatic expansion of the Monte Albn state: " a great disparity in
populations between the core of a state and its periphery, it may only be necessary for the former to send colonists to
the latter. Small polities, seeing that resistance would be futile, may accept a face-saving offer. Larger polities
unwilling to lose their autonomy may have to be subdued militarily. During the expansion of Monte Alban 2 state, we
Zapotec civilization
4
think we see both colonization and conquest".
[7]
Etymology
The name Zapotec is an exonym coming from Nahuatl tzapotcah (singular tzapotcatl), which means "inhabitants
of the place of sapote". The Zapotec referred to themselves by some variant of the term
Be'ena'aWikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Pronunciation, which means "The People".
Language
Main article: Zapotec languages
the tone system of Texmelucan Zapotec
The Zapotec languages belong to a language family called Oto-manguean, an
ancient family of Mesoamerican languages. It is estimated that today's
Oto-manguean languages branched off from a common root at around 1500
BC. The Manguean languages probably split off first, followed by the
Oto-pamean branch while the divergence of Mixtecan and Zapotecan
languages happened later still.
[8]
The Zapotecan group includes the Zapotec
languages and the closely related Chatino. Zapotec languages are spoken in
parts of the Northern Sierra, the Central Valleys as well as in parts of the
Southern Sierra, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and along parts of the Pacific
Coast.
[9]
Due to decades of out-migration Zapotec is also spoken in parts of Mexico City and Los Angeles, CA.
There are seven distinct Zapotec languages and over a hundred dialects.
Zapotec is a tone language, which means that the meaning of a word is often determined by voice pitch (tonemes),
essential for understanding the meaning of different words. The Zapotec languages features up to 4 distinct tonemes:
high, low, rising and falling.
[10]
Society
Between Monte Alban phases 1 and 2 there was a considerable expansion of the population of the Valley of Oaxaca.
As the population grew, so did the degree of social differentiation, the centralization of political power, and
ceremonial activity. During Monte Alban 1-2 valley appears to have been fragmented into several independent
states, as manifested in regional centers of power.
[11]
Geography
Looking over the site of Monte Alban. Situated on a mountaintop, Monte Alban
overlooks much of the Valley of Oaxaca.
The Central Valleys of Oaxaca, the
cradle of Zapotec civilization, are three
broad valleys (The Valley of Etla in
the West, the Valley of Ocotln in the
South and the Valley of Mitla in the
East) that join at an altitude of about
4500 feet above sea level in the center of what today is the state of Oaxaca. They are located about 200km south of
Mexico City. Mountains surround the valley with The Sierra Norte in the north and the mountains of Tlacolula in the
southeast. The environment is well suited for agriculture and is considered one of the cradles of maize. It is estimated
that at the time of the emergence of Zapotec civilization, the valley soil were unaffected by the erosion seen today, as
the oak and pine forests covering the surrounding mountains had not yet been decimated by logging. There is a dry
season from November until May but along the rivers it is possible to plant and harvest crops twice a year.
Zapotec civilization
5
The valleys of Etla and Ocotln are traversed from north-west to south by the Atoyac River which provides water for
a small strip of land bordering the river, when it periodically floods. To provide water for crops elsewhere in the
valley away from the river the Zapotecs used canal irrigation. By using water from small streams the Zapotecs were
able to bring water to Monte Albn, situated 400 meter above the valley floor. Archaeologists have found remains of
a small irrigation system consisting of a dam and a canal on the mountains south-eastern flank. As this would not
have been sufficient to support all the inhabitants of Monte Albn, it is assumed that this was just one of many
irrigation systems.
[12]
Because of the rapid growth in population in the Monte Albn I phase the crops grown in the
valley were not enough to sustain it. Therefore crops were grown on the piedmonts where the soil is a less fertile and
artificial irrigation was needed.
Technology
Jade Zapotec warrior's mask from,
Monte Alban.
The Zapotecs developed a calendar and a logosyllabic system of writing that
used a separate glyph to represent each of the syllables of the language. This
writing system is thought to be one of the first writing systems of Mesoamerica
and a predecessor of the those developed by the Maya, Mixtec and Aztec
civilizations. At the present time, there is some debate as to whether or not
Olmec symbols, dated to 650 BC, are actually a form of writing preceding the
oldest Zapotec writing dated to about 500 BC.
[13]
In the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, there were Zapotec and Mixtec artisans who
fashioned jewelry for the Aztec rulers (tlatoanis), including Moctezuma II.
Relations with central Mexico, however, go back much further, as suggested by
the archaeological remains of a Zapotec neighborhood within Teotihuacan and a
Teotihuacan style "guest house" in Monte Albn. Other important pre-Columbian
Zapotec sites include Lambityeco, Dainzu, Mitla, Yagul, San Jos Mogote, El
Palmillo and Zaachila.
The Zapotecs were a sedentary culture living in villages and towns, in houses
constructed with stone and mortar. They recorded the principal events in their history by means of hieroglyphics, and
in warfare they made use of a cotton armour. The well-known ruins of Mitla have been attributed to them.
Writing
At Monte Albn archaeologists have found extended text in a glyphic script. Some signs can be recognized as
calendric information but the script as such remains undeciphered. Read in columns from top to bottom, its execution
is somewhat cruder than that of the later Classic Maya and this has led epigraphers to believe that the script was also
less phonetic than the largely syllabic Mayan script.
The earliest known artifact with Zapotec writing is a "Danzante" (dancer) stone, officially known as Monument 3,
found in San Jose Mogote, Oaxaca. It has a relief of what appears to be a dead and bloodied captive with two glyphic
signs between his legs, possibly his name. First dated to 500600 BC, this was initially considered to be the earliest
writing in Mesoamerica. However, doubts have been expressed as to this dating as the monument may have been
reused. The Zapotec script appears to have gone out of use in the late Classic period.
Zapotec civilization
6
Religion
Painted ceramic funerary urn
depicting a seated figure. Zapotec
culture (phase Monte Albn III),
Early and Middle Classic Period
(100-700 AD). Mexico.
Like most Mesoamerican religious systems, the Zapotec religion was
polytheistic. Two principal deities include Cocijo, the rain god (similar to the
Aztec god Tlaloc), and Coquihani, the god of light. It is believed that the Zapotec
sometimes used human sacrifice in their rituals.Wikipedia:Citation needed The
Zapotecs had a predominance of deities associated with fertility and agriculture.
There are both male and female representation, told apart from each other by
costumes. Males normally wear breechclouts and sometimes capes, while
females are represented by wearing skirts. Prominent gods are Cocijo god of
lightning and rain, he is represented from Monte Alban 1-4. Another one is the
god of maize Pitao Cozobi.
[14]
There is some evidence of deities not directly
associated with Zapotecs culture, such as the feathered serpent and the butterfly
god, they are characteristic for Teotihuacn. And also the Teotihuacn rain god,
and Xipe totec a deity associated with spring in nahuatl culture.
[15]
There are several legends as to the origin of the Zapotec. One of them states that
they were the original people of the valley of Oaxaca and were born from rocks,
or descended from big cats such as pumas, jaguars and ocelots. There is another
origin legend which states that the Zapotecs settled in the Oaxaca valley after founding the Toltec empire, and that
they descended from Chicomostoc. It is noteworthy that these legends werent transcribed until after the Spanish
conquest.
[16]
According to historic as well as contemporary Zapotec legends, their ancestors emerged from the earth, from caves,
or turned into people from trees or jaguars. Their governing elite apparently believed that they descended from
supernatural beings that lived among the clouds, and that upon death they would return to such status. In fact, the
name by which Zapotecs are known today results from this belief. The Zapotecs of the Central Valleys call
themselves "Be'ena' Za'a" - The Cloud People.
Warfare and resistance
The last battle between the Aztecs and the Zapotecs occurred between 1497 and 1502, under the Aztec ruler
Ahuizotl. At the time of Spanish conquest of Mexico, when news arrived that the Aztecs were defeated by the
Spaniards, King Cosijoeza ordered his people not to confront the Spaniards so they would avoid the same fate. They
were defeated by the Spaniards only after several campaigns between 1522 and 1527. However, uprisings against
colonial authorities occurred in 1550, 1560 and 1715.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Notes
[1] [1] Whitecotton (1977), p. 26 Ll.1-3
[2] [2] Marcus and Flannery, p. 144
[3] [3] Marcus and Flannery (1996), p. 146
[4] [4] Marcus and Flannery (1996), p. 206
[5] [5] Marcus and Flannery (1996), p. 208
[6] [6] Marcus and Flannery, p. 196
[7] [7] Marcus and Flannery (1996), p. 198
[8] Whitecotton (1977), pp. 1213 Ll.2-16
[9] [9] Whitecotton (1977), p. 12 Ll.35-37
[10] [10] Whitecotton (1977), p. 13 Ll.20-27
[11] [11] Whitecotton (1977), p. 33 Ll.16-18
[12] Marcus and Flannery (1996), pp. 14748
Zapotec civilization
7
[13] Script Delivery: New World writing takes disputed turn (http:/ / www. sciencenews. org/ articles/ 20021207/ fob1. asp) Science News
December 7th, 2002; Vol.162 #23
[14] [14] Whitecotton (1977), p. 52 Ll.23- 33
[15] Whitecotton (1977), pp. 5253 Ll.34- 2
[16] [16] Whitecotton (1977), p. 23 Ll.11-26
References
Marcus, Joyce and Flannery, Kent V. (1996). Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's
Oaxaca Valley. New aspects of antiquity series. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN0-500-05078-3. OCLC
34409496 (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 34409496).
Marcus, Joyce and Flannery, Kent V. (2000). "Cultural Evolution in Oaxaca: The Origins of the Zapotec and
Mixtec Civilizations". In Richard E.W. Adams and Murdo J. Macleod (eds.). The Cambridge History of the
Native Peoples of the Americas, Vol. II: Mesoamerica, part 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
pp.358406. ISBN0-521-35165-0. OCLC 33359444 (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 33359444).
Whitecotton, Joseph W. (1990). Zapotec Elite Ethnohistory: Pictorial Genealogies from Eastern Oaxaca.
Vanderbilt University publications in anthropology, no. 39. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University.
ISBN0-935462-30-9. OCLC 23095346 (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 23095346).
Whitecotton, Joseph W. (1977). The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests and Peasants. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
Zeitlin, Robert N. (2000). "Review: Two Perspectives on the Rise of Civilization in Mesoamerica's Oaxaca
Valley. Review of: Ancient Oaxaca: The Monte Albn State by Richard E. Blanton ; Gary M. Feinman ;
Stephen A. Kowalewski ; Linda M. Nicholas" (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ stable/ 1571672). Latin American
Antiquity 11 (1): 8789.
External links
Media related to Zapotec at Wikimedia Commons
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Zapotec civilization Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=609544713 Contributors: -Reaper-, ABF, Aceofhearts1968, Addshore, AgadaUrbanit, Anbu121, Andrew H. Goldberg,
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Dar-Ape, Dave.haku, Dekimasu, Der Falke, Doco, Donner60, Dougweller, Eigenwijze mustang, Elcairo, Feour, Fyyer, Gilliam, Gimmetrow, Glacialfox, Gracicals, Hibernian, Huku-chan,
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Mimihitam, Mokturtl, NativePride98, Nimetapoeg, NorCalHistory, O.Koslowski, Oaxaca dan, Opus88888, Origamiemensch, Oxfordwang, Oxymoron83, Paul beedle, Plasynins, Ptcamn, Puffin,
Qualko, RazorICE, RekishiEJ, Rich Farmbrough, Rnzeit, SD5, SDC, Sburke, Seba5618, Shasho1, Simon Burchell, Skizzik, StaticGull, StonePeter, Storm Rider, Sven Manguard, Terraflorin,
Tetyler, The Earwig, The Thing That Should Not Be, Tide rolls, Tobias Bergemann, Tynknen, Vchorozopoulos, Vvven, Wakebrdkid, Wikipelli, Wiseman6689, Woohookitty, Yamaha5,
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