Who Was When

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Zapotec civilizationBe'ena'a

MesoamericaHeartland today: Mexico

Before and after

  • In the Valley of Oaxaca:Came after: Mixtec civilization

    Mixtec nobles were buried in a reused Zapotec tomb at Monte Albán, while Zapotec towns such as Mitla and Zaachila carried on.

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Meanwhile…

Builders of Monte Albán, a mountaintop capital overlooking Oaxaca's three valleys, the Zapotec developed one of Mesoamerica's earliest writing systems and calendars.

Also alive at the same time

Key events

  1. San José Mogote is the largest settlement of the Oaxaca valley before Monte Albán is built

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  2. Monte Albán is founded on a defensible mountaintop overlooking all three arms of the Oaxaca valley

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  3. Carved "Danzantes" slabs at Monte Albán, showing captives, mark early military conquestDisputed

    Older interpretations read the figures as dancers; most scholars now read them as sacrificed or humiliated captives.

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  4. Zapotec carvers at Monte Albán use one of Mesoamerica's earliest hieroglyphic scripts and calendars

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  5. Monte Albán is largely abandoned as its political power fragments among smaller Oaxaca city-states

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  6. Zapotec city-states in the Oaxaca valley come under Spanish control following the fall of Tenochtitlan

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