February28_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

The etymology of the site's present-day name is unclear, and tentative suggestions regarding its origin range from a presumed corruption of a native Zapotec name such as “Danibaan” (Sacred Hill) to a colonial-era reference to a Spanish soldier by the name Montalbán or to the Alban Hills of Italy. The ancient Zapotec name of the city is not known, as abandonment occurred centuries before the writing of the earliest available ethnohistorical sources.

Photos - Frames left and right: The System M buildings and the Temple of Danzantes from the South Platform looking north up the Etla Valley.

Center frame: Many of the Danzante Temple relief carvings are propped up in rows outside the Temple looking northwest from the Main Plaza.

One characteristic of Monte Albán is the large number of carved stone monuments one encounters throughout the plaza. The earliest examples are the so-called "Danzantes" (literally, dancers), found mostly in the vicinity of Building L and which represent naked men in contorted and twisted poses, some of them genitally mutilated. The 19th century notion that they depict dancers is now largely discredited, and these monuments, dating to the earliest period of occupation at the site (Monte Albán I), clearly represent tortured, sacrificed war prisoners, some identified by name, and may depict leaders of competing centers and villages captured by Monte Albán (Marcus and Flannery 1996; Blanton et al. 1996). Over 300 “Danzantes” stones have been recorded to date, and some of the better preserved ones can be viewed at the site's museum.

Photos - Frames left and center: A couple of different angles of the Temple of Danzantes from the South Platform - the relief carvings you see in frame left are very popular with the tourists.

Photos - L-R - A view of the intricate stone work partially restored in System IV Building.

A view looking north from the South Plaza - There are still many unexplored mounds of ruins at Monte Alban (the center mound with a trail leading up the face side).

Part of the System IV Building front, one of the few promenades with a rounded column that has pictures etched into it.

Click here for more photos of Monte Alban in Oaxaca Mexico for this day.