chapter two

Lambityeco in the Valley of Oaxaca

The Valley of Oaxaca, located in the southern highlands of Mexico, was the heartland of ancient Zapotec civilization. Outside the valley proper, Zapotec civilization extended into the mountainous Sierra Juárez to the northeast, along the Tehuantepec River drainage to the Pacific Coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast, and through the Miahuatlán region to the Pacific Coast in the south (Fig. 2.1, inset). Zapotec is not a dead language. In 1970, there were nearly 250,000 native speakers who occupied the Valley, Sierra, Isthmus, and Miahuatlán regions (Ayre and Varese 1978: ii) and, according to the 2000 Mexican Federal Census, Zapotec is still spoken by nearly 453,000 native speakers today.¹

In Prehispanic times, as well as today, non-Zapotec speakers have occupied areas bordering the Valley of Oaxaca. Mixe linguistic communities inhabit the mountains east of the valley, whereas speakers of Chatino and Huave occupy areas along the Pacific Coast to the south and southeast of the valley. The Mixtec language is spoken by people living in areas to the south (Mixteca de la Costa) and northwest (Mixteca Alta) of the valley. To the north of the valley, speakers of Cuicatec occupy the long, narrow canyon called La Cañada (Fig. 2.1, inset; Paddock 1966:86, map 1).

The Valley of Oaxaca proper has three arms: (1) the Etla arm in the north, drained by the Río Atoyac; (2) the Zimatlán arm, or Valle Grande, in the south, also drained by the Río Atoyac; and (3) the Tlacolula arm in the east, drained by the Río Salado. The large Zimatlán arm is usually divided into two sectors that are partially separated from one another by a long, narrow piedmont ridge ending in a prominent peak known as La Teta de María Sánchez. The northern sector of the Zimatlán arm is referred to as the Zaachila region and the more southerly sector as the Ocotlán region.

2.1. The Valley of Oaxaca (redrawn and modified from Welte 1965)

Within each arm of the valley, three main geological zones occur: (1) an alluvial valley floor ranging between 1400 m and 1700 m above sea level and punctuated by mountainous spurs rising at times between 300 m and 400 m above the valley floor; (2) a piedmont, or foothill, zone that is transitional between the valley floor and the mountains that surround the valley; and (3) a rugged mountainous zone with elevations more than 3000 m above sea level.

The present-day state capital, Oaxaca de Juárez, is centrally located at a point where the three arms of the valley converge to form the Valle Central, or “Central Valley.” The ancient Zapotec capital of Monte Albán is located on two huge mountain spurs that rise more than 300 m above the valley floor at the edge of the modern city of Oaxaca. Like its modern counterpart, ancient Monte Albán was the largest city in the Valley of Oaxaca in Prehispanic times and served as the major center of Formative and Classic period Zapotec civilization.

Within each of the three arms of the valley are present-day market centers. Etla is the local market center for the Etla arm of the valley, whereas Ocotlán, Zimatlán, and Zaachila are the local market centers for the Zimatlán arm.² Tlacolula is the local market center for the Tlacolula arm of the valley. The ancient Zapotec town of Lambityeco is located on the valley floor about 2 km west of present-day Tlacolula. Like its modern counterpart, ancient Lambityeco was an important center in Prehispanic times.

THE VALLEY OF OAXACA CHRONOLOGY

Archaeological excavations indicate that human occupation of the Valley of Oaxaca dates back to at least 9,000 BCE. Meager traces of hunting and gathering bands who occupied the valley as early as 8,900 BCE and who were beginning to utilize domesticated plants between 5,000 and 3,000 BCE have been recovered by Flannery (1970, 1985). Most of the archaeological research of Flannery, however, has focused on the time span from 1,400 to 550 BCE when numerous tribal farming villages were established in the valley (Flannery 1976). Within this time span, Flannery has traced the course of development leading to the emergence of chiefdoms and eventually the rise of Zapotec civilization (Table 2.1).

Between 1931 and 1958, Alfonso Caso and his colleagues, Ignacio Bernal and Jorge R. Acosta, undertook archaeological excavations at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967). On the basis of their excavations, Caso and his associates defined five major phases that have served as general chronological guidelines for studying the cultural evolutionary history of ancient Zapotec civilization for the time span from 550 BCE to 1521 CE. The five major phases were each designated by a Roman numeral and then subdivided, combined, and modified through time as refinement of the ceramic sequence progressed (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:17). As a result, no simple series of phase designations from I to V now exists as was the original intent.

TABLE 2.1. The Valley of Oaxaca chronology

Notes:

1. Peche through Chila phases based on calibrated radiocarbon dates (see Appendix 1).

2. Phase names Danibaan through Chila proposed by Lind (1991–1992), Markens (2004, 2008), and Urcid (2003, 2005); phase names Pleistocene through Rosario proposed by Flannery Marcus, and Kowalewski (1981).

3. Phase numbers used by Caso, Bernal, and Acosta (1967).

4. Phase numbers used by the Valley of Oaxaca Survey Project (Kowalewski et al. 1989:2, table 1.1).

In the 1980s, Valley of Oaxaca survey projects (Blanton 1978; Blanton et al. 1982; Kowalewski et al. 1989) further modified the chronology by eliminating some of Caso, Bernal, and Acosta’s phases (Transición II-IIIA and Transición IIIA-IIIB) and incorrectly separating another (IIIB-IV) into two phases IIIB and IV. The problems with the Monte Albán chronology as employed by Valley of Oaxaca survey projects have been discussed in detail elsewhere (Winter 1989a; Lind 1991–1992, 2008; Herrera 2000; Martínez et al. 2000; Markens and Martínez 2001; Flannery and Marcus 2003:x; Markens 2004, 2008; Markens, Winter, and Martínez 2008). Members of Valley of Oaxaca survey projects have acknowledged the difficulties in separating IIIB and IV, conceding that their distinction might not be chronological but spatial, and state that those who disagree with the distinction are free to combine IIIB and IV into a single phase (Kowalewski et al. 1989:251–254). That has been done in this study where Monte Albán IIIB-IV is called the Xoo phase. Recently, Flannery and Marcus (2003:x) also have suggested that IIIB and IV be a single phase.

Because of the problems inherent in inserting newly defined phases into numerically ordered sequences, archaeologists have abandoned this method of designating phases in favor of naming, instead of numbering, them. For this reason, Flannery has named each of his phases. Because no new series of phase names had been proposed to replace Caso’s pioneer chronology and because revisions by Valley of Oaxaca survey projects (Blanton 1978; Blanton et al. 1982; Kowalewski et al. 1989) contain inaccuracies, a new series of phase names is presented here. These new phase names from 550 BCE to 1521 CE and their dates were proposed by Lind, Markens, Martínez, Urcid, and Winter during a meeting in Cuilapan, Oaxaca, in the summer of 2003 (Urcid 2003; Markens 2008). However, Valley of Oaxaca radiocarbon dates have never been calibrated to bring them in line with modern radiocarbon dating technology. Here, for the first time, Robert Markens, Marcus Winter, and Cira Martínez (see Appendix 1) present calibrated radiocarbon dates for the Peche, Xoo, Liobaa, and Chila phases, which are incorporated as absolute dates in our most recent chronology for the Valley of Oaxaca (Table 2.1).

MONTE ALBÁN AND THE EVOLUTION OF ZAPOTEC CIVILIZATION

Caso’s excavations at Monte Albán revealed that the city was founded during the Danibaan phase around 550 BCE. Soon after, its inhabitants embarked on a construction program involving the building of a series of monumental structures, at least one of which was built with more than 300 orthostats carved with human figures (dubbed “danzantes”) and corner blocks rendering hieroglyphic inscriptions. Blanton (1978), who completed an extensive survey and mapping project at Monte Albán, estimates a maximum population of 5,000 persons during the Danibaan phase (Blanton et al. 1981:70). In the subsequent Pe phase, Monte Albán grew to an estimated maximum population of 17,000 persons, making it one of the first urban centers in Mesoamerica (Blanton et al. 1981:75)

Following the Pe phase, Monte Albán experienced what Blanton and his colleagues call a “mini-collapse” (Blanton et al. 1981:83). The population declined by 16 percent from its Pe phase peak to an estimated maximum population of 14,500 persons in the Nisa phase (Blanton et al. 1981:86). In the succeeding Tani and Pitao phases, Monte Albán experienced some growth although its estimated maximum population of 16,500 persons still fell below its earlier Pe phase peak (Blanton et al. 1981:88). Archaeological evidence indicates a great deal of interaction between Monte Albán and the Valley of Mexico’s large urban center of Teotihuacan during the Tani and Pitao phases with a probable Teotihuacan takeover of Monte Albán (Winter 1998, 2001). Martínez (1994:25–26) has labeled this archaeological evidence at Monte Albán the Dxu’ complex and obtained an uncalibrated radiocarbon date of 200±70 CE (Beta-63235) in association with the ceramics.

Population reached its highest level ever at Monte Albán during the Xoo phase when an estimated 25,000 persons occupied the ancient city (Blanton et al. 1981:94). Caso’s excavations over a seventeen-year period succeeded in uncovering the center of the city—a Main Plaza about 350 m long and 200 m wide that was lined with Xoo phase temples, palaces, and other monumental structures. The great North Platform, which occupied the entire north side of the Main Plaza, was the administrative and ritual locus from which the rulers of Monte Albán governed their state (Marcus and Flannery 1996:179; Flannery 1998:34). North of the Main Plaza was an elite residential area consisting of elegant and spacious multiroom houses with elaborate masonry tombs beneath their floors. It is estimated that 70 percent of the 173 household tombs excavated by Caso at Monte Albán correspond to the Xoo phase. Caso’s excavations made it clear that the Xoo phase was the greatest period of monumental construction activity at Monte Albán and Blanton and colleagues (1981:31) calculate that during this phase Monte Albán had more than 900,000 cubic meters of mounded constructions.

Blanton’s surveys of Monte Albán indicate that the city covered 650 hectares, or 6.5 km², during the Xoo phase. Within this area, he identified fifteen probable barrios or neighborhoods. The Main Plaza, or center of the city, and the adjacent residential area north of it constitute one of these barrios. Each of the other fourteen barrios within the city had at its center a “civic ceremonial complex” composed of elite residences and a probable temple and neighborhood marketplace. These civic ceremonial complexes were surrounded by residences of the commoners who occupied each barrio. Most of the barrios had workshops for producing one or more special commodities, such as pottery, stone axes, obsidian tools, and shell ornaments (Blanton et al. 1981:94–95). Monte Albán was clearly the largest and most populous city in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase and served as the major political, religious, and economic center of Classic period Zapotec civilization.

Kowalewski and his colleagues completed an archaeological survey and mapping project of the entire Valley of Oaxaca. They recorded evidence for more than thirty large towns and nearly ninety smaller villages within the valley during the Xoo phase (Kowalewski et al. 1989:260–261, 287). The towns had 1,000 or more inhabitants each, whereas most of the villages had populations of less than 500 persons. Within the valley, Lambityeco was the tenth-largest town with regard to population size. All told, the Xoo phase population of the Valley of Oaxaca must have stood at nearly 130,000 persons (Fig. 2.2; Table 2.2).

Virtually all economic specialization, such as pottery production, was centralized in the valley’s large towns, although not all the large towns were centers of economic specialization (Blanton et al. 1981:97). Those large towns that were, however, served as market centers that supplied the communities around them with specialized products. Some, but not all, of these market towns also had a considerable amount of public architecture, including temples, civic buildings, and other structures. In addition to being market centers, these large towns were also important political and religious centers within the valley. Among them was Lambityeco, which from the degree of its economic specialization and the enormous volume of its architecture relative to other large towns, was one of the most important political, religious, and economic centers in the Valley of Oaxaca.

At the end of the Xoo phase, around 850 CE, there was a dramatic drop in population at Monte Albán and the city was largely, although not totally, abandoned (Winter 2003). Most of the larger communities in the valley were also largely abandoned at this time, including Lambityeco. It is evident that the political system headed by Monte Albán in the Valley of Oaxaca had collapsed and with it several of the elite aspects of Zapotec civilization (Winter 2003). During the subsequent Liobaa phase, the valley’s population was seemingly greatly reduced. When the Spaniards arrived in 1521 CE at the end of the Chila phase, the valley contained numerous city-states (Oudijk 2002), and the urban center of Monte Albán had ceased to exist as a functioning community for nearly three-quarters of a millennium.

XOO PHASE POLITIES

In analyzing their settlement pattern data from the Valley of Oaxaca, Blanton and his colleagues (1981:30–32) considered the political importance of an ancient community to be reflected not only by its gross population size but also by the volume of mounded architecture that included the remains of public buildings. Laura Finsten (1983), in particular, made a detailed study of the relationships between population size and volume of mounded architecture for Xoo phase settlements. When these settlements are ranked with regard to gross mound volume, it becomes clear that there is no simple one-to-one correlation between gross population size and volume of mounded architecture (Table 2.3).

2.2. Xoo phase settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca (redrawn and modified from Kowalewski et al. 1989:maps 6 and 7)

Monte Albán has far and away the greatest volume of mounded architecture, as would be expected for the most important demographic and political center in the valley. However, the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth most populous communities—Jalieza, Tlacochahuaya, Ayoquezco (El Choco), and Santa Ana del Valle—lack the volume of mounded architecture that would be expected of important political centers, whereas the tenth and eleventh most populous communities—Lambityeco and Reyes Etla—rank within the top five with regard to volume of mounded architecture and were clearly important regional settlements.

TABLE 2.2. Largest Xoo phase settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca: Ranked by estimated population¹

Note:

1. Estimated population after Kowalewski et al. (1989:260–261, 287).

TABLE 2.3. Largest Xoo phase sites in the Valley of Oaxaca: Ranked by estimated mound volumes¹

Note:

1. Estimated mound volumes after Kowalewski, personal communication, 1986.

These data demonstrate that Monte Albán was the primary center in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase. However, six other coeval communities had exceptionally large volumes of mounded architecture that clearly set them apart from other valley communities and point to their roles as important “secondary” centers. These six communities, with volumes of mounded architecture nearly double than that of any other valley community, include Reyes Etla, Guadalupe Hidalgo, Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Huitzo (Suchilquitongo), and Zaachila. However, the question arises as to whether Monte Albán was the capital of a territorial state with the six “second”-ranking communities serving as provincial centers in the valley, or whether one or more of these “secondary” centers was the capital of a city-state independent from Monte Albán during the Xoo phase.

Virtually all experts, from Caso on, have assumed that Monte Albán was the capital of a territorial state in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase. This assumption is based largely on Monte Albán’s status as the biggest site with the greatest amount of monumental architecture in the valley. The only evidence offered in support of Monte Albán’s being the capital of a territorial state in the valley, however, has been limited to observations that pottery types and writing appear to be very uniform throughout the valley during the Xoo phase.

Feinman (1980) undertook a detailed study of the distribution of pottery types based on more than 3,000 collections from the surfaces of sites throughout the valley. Ethnohistoric data document the presence of a number of independent city-states in the valley during the Chila phase, which ended with the Spanish Conquest. Feinman discovered considerable diversity in the distribution of Chila phase pottery types, which would appear to support the idea that diversity in the distribution of pottery types relates to the presence of independent city-states.

On the other hand, Feinman’s studies support observations concerning valley-wide uniformity in pottery types during the Xoo phase. Feinman found that during this phase pottery was produced only at Monte Albán and the larger centers. Because ceramic types are highly standardized and the items somewhat shoddily made, Feinman concluded that Xoo phase pottery was mass-produced in government workshops located at Monte Albán and the larger provincial centers.

Feinman’s study would tend to support the idea that Monte Albán headed a territorial state in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase. Furthermore, because pottery production and also other economic specializations appear to have been carried out only in government workshops at Monte Albán and the larger centers, Feinman suggested that the political system was heavily involved in managing the Zapotec economy, a factor that Trigger (2003:111–112) considers characteristic of territorial states.

However, the results of Feinman’s analysis could also reflect what Minc (2006:86) calls a complex interlocking market system or hierarchically integrated market network. In this type of market system, goods move among local market centers and between them and the regional market center (Minc 2006:85, fig. 1). “Because goods move both vertically and horizontally between centers, distribution patterns are geographically widespread and create a higher degree of similarity in consumer goods throughout the regional system” (Minc 2006:87). Therefore, “if the regional economy was organized as a complex interlocking system, the distribution of artifact types should reflect a pattern of widespread, relatively uniform distribution throughout the region served by the market system” (Minc 2006:87), as was indicated by Feinman’s study. Minc (2006:85, table 1) considers this type of market system to be “coterminous with a regional polity.”

Although Feinman’s study of the distribution of pottery types seemingly supports the idea that Monte Albán was the capital of a territorial state in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase, recent studies on the organization of ceramic production in the Valley of Oaxaca during that time do not support his inferences. Markens (2004:367–421) studied Xoo phase ceramic production at Monte Albán and other sites in the Valley of Oaxaca. He presents considerable evidence that ceramic production was organized at the level of the individual household and not in government workshops.

The problem of whether Monte Albán headed a territorial state or was one of several city-states in the valley, however, clearly points out the inadequacies of a sequential segregation approach to ancient polities. The Xoo phase lasted at least 200 years (ca. 650–850 CE) and a considerable amount of change may take place in polities over such a span of time. Monte Albán may have headed a territorial state in the valley at certain times during the Xoo phase and not at others. If history tells us anything, it tells us that political systems and their corresponding polities are dynamic, not static.

LAMBITYECO IN THE TLACOLULA ARM OF THE VALLEY

To understand Lambityeco’s role as an important political center, it is necessary to begin by studying its relationship to other settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the valley. Surveys have resulted in the discovery of 231 Xoo phase archaeological sites in the Tlacolula region. Around forty-six of these sites are estimated to have had resident populations of more than fifty persons. Another thirty-three sites, larger than two hectares, were probably small hamlets with resident populations of less than fifty persons. An additional 152 sites were smaller than two hectares. Some of these may have been isolated homesteads inhabited by one or more families, whereas others were probably specialized activity sites with no resident population. The combined population of the 231 sites in the Tlacolula arm of the valley must have been between 35,000 and 40,000 persons. Among these settlements, Lambityeco ranked fourth-largest in population (Fig. 2.3; Table 2.4).

2.3. Xoo phase settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the valley (base map and locations of modern towns redrawn and modified from Welte 1965; site locations redrawn from Kowalewski et al. 1989:maps 6 and 7)

Only thirty-five Xoo phase communities in the Tlacolula arm of the valley manifest mounded architecture. Again, no simple correlation existed between the population size of an ancient community and the volume of its mounded architecture. Tlacochahuaya and Santa Ana del Valle, the second and third most populous communities, ranked twelfth and twenty-fourth with regard to volume of mounded architecture. On the other hand, San Lorenzo Albarradas and Jalieza #35, which ranked thirteenth and forty-third with respect to population size, had the fourth-and seventh-greatest volumes of mounded architecture. Lambityeco and Macuilxóchitl, which had far and away the greatest volumes of mounded architecture—more than triple that of the next largest site—were clearly the two most important political centers in the Tlacolula region during the Xoo phase (Table 2.5).

TABLE 2.4. Xoo phase settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the Valley of Oaxaca: Ranked by estimated population¹

Notes:

1. Estimated populations after Kowalewski et al. (1989:260–261, 287).

2. Total estimated population does not include 185 sites with populations of 50 persons or less.

Although gross volumes of mounded architecture are adequate as general indicators of a site’s political importance, they are less than reliable indicators for sites with fewer than 20,000 cubic meters of mounded architecture. Sites with volumes of mounded architecture greater than 20,000 cubic meters always include large mounds that are remains of monumental architecture. However, sites with volumes of mounded architecture less than 20,000 cubic meters do not always have large mounds that could be interpreted as public architecture. For example, Tanivet has 16,500 cubic meters of mounded architecture but not one of the mounds is over 2 m high and none can be interpreted as public architecture. On the other hand, Mitla has only 8,600 cubic meters of mounded architecture, which includes several large mounds up to 9 m high that most certainly represent public architecture. Therefore, although it has only half the gross volume of mounded architecture of Tanivet, Mitla was probably a much more important political center.³

IDENTIFYING SECONDARY CENTERS

Because most of the sites in the Tlacolula arm of the valley have less than 20,000 cubic meters of mounded architecture, a new approach was needed to determine their relative political importance. Excavations at Lambityeco have provided information on the general nature of mounds within various height ranges. At least five mounds 1 m high or less have proven upon excavation to be the houses of commoners. One excavated mound in the 2–3 m height range turned out to be the remains of an elite residence. Another mound in the 4–6 m height range, which was partially excavated, was another elite residence. To date, no mounds in the 7–12 m height range have been explored at Lambityeco. However, it is generally assumed that these mounds are the ruins of large temples. At Monte Albán, Caso and his colleagues excavated and restored seven Xoo phase temples that were mounds in the 8–11 m height range including temples Q, P, G, H, and I and the temples of Systems IV and M.

Although no simple correlation exists between the height of a mound and what it may represent, mounds in the 1 m and 2–3 m range generally represent domestic architecture whereas those in the 4–6 m range and 7–12 m range tend to represent public architecture. A ranking based on mound heights, then, represents a somewhat more refined approach over gross mound volume for determining a site’s relative political importance because it is more indicative of a site’s public architecture (Table 2.6).

When ranked on the basis of mound heights, only five sites in the Tlacolula arm of the valley have mounds in the 7–12 m height range. One of these sites (Jalieza #35) had an estimated population of only seventy-five persons, whereas the other four had populations greater than 1,000. Although it would hardly seem to be an important political center, Jalieza #35 may very well have been the locus of an important shrine with a small resident priesthood. An apparent temple 8 m high stood there, and three smaller mounds in the 2–3 m height range are consistent with the known height range for mounds representing the ruins of elite residences of nobles who conducted priestly activities at Lambityeco.

TABLE 2.5. Xoo phase settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the Valley of Oaxaca: Ranked by estimated mound volumes¹

Notes:

1. Estimated mound volumes after Kowalewski, personal communication, 1986.

2. All remaining sites lack mounded architecture.

TABLE 2.6. Xoo phase settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the Valley of Oaxaca: Ranked by mound heights¹

Notes:

1. Mound heights after Kowalewski, personal communication, 1986.

2. All remaining sites have mound heights of 1 m or less.

The four larger communities—Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla—were all important political centers as indicated by a combination of factors. Each was a large population center with more than 1,000 inhabitants; and, unlike Jalieza #35, which lacked mounds in the 4–6 m height range, each of these larger communities had a full complement of the largest mounds of any site in the Tlacolula arm of the valley. This included mounds in the 7–12 m range, which are the probable ruins of large temples; mounds in the 4–6 m range, at least some of which may have represented the elite residences of political officials like the one known from excavations at Lambityeco (Mound 195); and mounds in the 2–3 m range, some of which may be the ruins of elite residences like the one known from excavations at Lambityeco (Mound 190). In addition, three of these four large centers, excepting Mitla, were the three top-ranking sites in the Tlacolula region with regard to gross volume of mounded architecture (Table 2.5).

Apart from occurring singly, mounds also exist in groups to form complexes. At least two such complexes are present at Lambityeco and one has been excavated. Winter (1986) was the first to show that these complexes can be formally recognized and defined as hallmarks of late Xoo phase public architecture (Fig. 2.4). The complexes are formed by four mounds enclosing a plaza. Three of the mounds are low structures, whereas the fourth is a very large and tall structure. The latter is in the form of a truncated pyramid or platform whose flat top supports either a temple or an elite residence that is reached from the plaza by a broad staircase. Of the other three low structures enclosing the plaza, the one opposite the pyramid is in the form of a broad platform with wide staircases that provide access into and out of the plaza. This large platform is usually higher and wider than the two low structures flanking the other sides of the plaza, which are either thick walls or in the form of low, narrow platforms supporting enclosures with small staircases giving access from the interior of the plaza. Within the plaza, usually near its center, is a small rectangular or square platform frequently referred to as an “altar.”

Winter (1986) has suggested that complexes that have temples atop their large pyramids, such as Systems IV and M at Monte Albán, be called temple-plaza-altar complexes, or TPA, and that they represent formal Xoo phase temple complexes. On the other hand, complexes that have elite residences atop their large pyramids, such as Structure 195-1 at Lambityeco, might be called civic residential complexes or PPA (palace-plaza-altar) and probably represent formal Xoo phase government buildings that also included the residence of a top-ranking political official (Lind 1994). Although the existence of TPAs and PPAs at some Tlacolula sites is known, the survey data available list mounds singly and do not include the positive identification of architectural complexes.

Nevertheless, a final factor supporting the idea that Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla were the top-ranking political centers in the Tlacolula arm of the valley is that, with the possible exception of Yagul, each has at least two probable temple complexes (TPA) and/or civic residential complexes (PPA). A civic residential complex and a probable temple complex occur at Lambityeco. The civic residential complex, Structure 195-1, was fully excavated and included a 6 m high mound which supported a large and elaborate residence (Fig. 2.4). The probable temple complex has not been excavated but includes a 12 m high mound, Mound 155, that may have supported a temple. Two probable Xoo phase complexes also occur at Mitla—the South Group, which may have been a civic residential complex (PPA), and the Adobe Group, which may have been a temple complex (TPA). Both complexes include mounds in the 7–12 m range.⁴ Recently, two Xoo phase complexes have been identified at Macuilxóchitl, a PPA and a TPA (Markens, Winter, and Martínez 2008:202, 206; Faulseit 2008). Finally, Winter (1986:57–58) suggests that Patio 4 at Yagul may include a Xoo phase TPA although the dating is uncertain.

2.4. Xoo phase monumental architectural complexes at Monte Albán and Lambityeco (Temple-Plaza-Altar complexes at Monte Albán redrawn from Peeler 1994)

The presence of TPAs and PPAs in at least three of the four centers and their apparent absence at other sites in the Tlacolula region may be the result of the incomplete nature of our information on possible complexes at other Tlacolula sites. However, even if complexes are identified at other sites, none could include mounds in the 7–12 m range and therefore none could be as large as the largest complexes at Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Mitla, and possibly Yagul. Each of these top-ranking communities seemingly had a large civic residential complex (PPA) and a large temple complex (TPA), marking them as the political and religious centers of their districts.

XOO PHASE POLITIES IN THE TLACOLULA ARM OF THE VALLEY

With the largest mounds of any site in the Tlacolula arm of the valley, with temple complexes and government buildings, and with populations over 1,000 persons, Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla were very likely the most important political centers in the Tlacolula region during the Xoo phase. However, the question remains, were these four top-ranking communities the capitals of autonomous city-states or provincial centers for Monte Albán? To attempt to answer this question, it is necessary to begin by defining the “districts”⁵ headed by each of these top-ranking communities.

Surveys of the Tlacolula arm of the valley show breaks in settlement distribution between each of the top-ranking centers. The breaks are represented by bands or zones from 1 to 2 km wide that stretch for about 10 km or more across the valley floor. These bands or “shatter zones,” as Blanton and colleagues (1981:27) call them, are “no-man’s-lands” devoid of occupation. Significantly, each of the shatter zones begins near the halfway point between each top-ranking center and its neighboring top-ranking center (Fig. 2.3).

The shatter zone between Macuilxóchitl and Lambityeco is more than 1 km wide and begins 4 km west of Lambityeco—the halfway point between the two communities. The shatter zone between Lambityeco and Yagul is about 1 km wide and spans the 2 km halfway point between the two sites. The shatter zone between Yagul and Mitla is about 2 km wide and begins about 5 km east of Yagul near the halfway point between the two centers. South of Lambityeco and Macuilxóchitl, a 3 km wide shatter zone separates these two districts from a possible Jalieza district. Because Jalieza included areas in both the Zimatlán and the Tlacolula arms of the valley, it will not be treated as one of the Tlacolula centers. West of Macuilxóchitl, a 4 km wide shatter zone separates Macuilxóchitl from an area that includes Tutla and Tlalixtac. Because this area is more properly part of the Valle Central, which includes Monte Albán, it will not be treated here as one of the Tlacolula districts.

Blanton and colleagues (1981:29) view the presence of “shatter zones” as evidence for the existence of independent polities. The reasoning is logical. Unoccupied no-man’s-lands or open contested space might be expected to exist as boundaries between competing city-states. The presence of shatter zones, then, would appear to support the idea that each of the top-ranking centers was the capital of an independent city-state in the Tlacolula arm of the valley and not a provincial center for Monte Albán.

However, although the shatter zones exist across the valley floor, they do not extend up into the piedmont zones. The proposed shatter zone between the Lambityeco and Macuilxóchitl districts, for example, breaks down and ceases to be a shatter zone at its northern extreme. Settlements are continuously distributed between the Macuilxóchitl and Lambityeco districts in this northern area along the piedmont zone. Likewise, the shatter zone between the Lambityeco and Yagul districts breaks down in both its northern and southern extremes with settlements being continuously distributed in the piedmont between the Lambityeco and Yagul districts. This partial shatter-zone permeability would seem more characteristic of provinces within a territorial state than independent city-states. Despite this partial permeability, the shatter zones on the valley floor do serve to define districts within the Tlacolula region. Each of the top communities is the highest-ranking center within the district defined by its shatter zones. Furthermore, most of the sites in a district are closer to the top-ranking center than to any neighboring center—that is, they are pulled toward their center and away from the neighboring center.

Blanton and colleagues (1981:33) also have proposed a “demographic center of gravity” model to assess political integration in the Valley of Oaxaca. This model, a construct developed by geographers, measures the interaction potential among communities. A high interaction potential is seen as relating to a strongly integrated system, whereas a low interaction potential relates to a weakly integrated system (Finsten 1983:68–106). The model predicts that if a center served as a secondary administrative center for a territorial state, then it should be drawn geographically toward the state capital to reduce the distance involved in carrying out the necessary transactions between the capital and its secondary administrative centers. On the other hand, if the center is the capital of an independent city-state, then it should be located at the center of its region to reduce the distance involved in carrying out transactions that are necessary between the capital and its subject communities.

Assuming that the four districts in the Tlacolula arm of the valley have been adequately defined by the shatter zones, if Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla were provincial centers for Monte Albán, each center should be pulled geographically toward Monte Albán instead of being at the center of its district. The results, however, are not consistent. Macuilxóchitl is near the center of its district. Lambityeco is in the eastern part of its district—pushed geographically away from Monte Albán. Yagul is in the western part of its district—pulled geographically toward Monte Albán. Mitla is in the northern part of its district. The “demographic center of gravity” model, then, fails to solve the problem of whether these top-ranking communities were provincial centers for Monte Albán or the capitals of independent city-states.

However, the model may be applied on another level. Instead of assessing the locations of top-ranking communities in their districts, the locations of the districts themselves may become the units of analysis. In a highly integrated state, districts with the largest concentrations of population would be expected to occur closer to the state capital to reduce the distances involved in the dealings between a capital and its populace. Viewed in this context, the district with the largest and densest population would be expected to occur geographically closer to the state capital. In the case of the Tlacolula region, this is exactly what occurs. The Macuilxóchitl district is closest to Monte Albán and has the largest population with the highest population density. The Lambityeco district is the next closest to Monte Albán and has the second-largest population and second-highest population density. The Yagul and Mitla districts are the most distant from Monte Albán and have the smallest populations and the lowest population densities (Table 2.7).

The distribution of population sizes and densities, then, tends to support the idea that each of the top-ranking communities in the Tlacolula arm of the valley was a provincial center for Monte Albán. About two-thirds of the Xoo phase population of the Tlacolula region lived in the Macuilxóchitl and Lambityeco districts—the two districts nearest to Monte Albán. However, it might be argued that intervening variables, such as ecological factors, would have affected population sizes and densities in the four districts. Perhaps the district with the largest population size and density had the best agricultural land and thus could support greater concentrations of people. This is not the case in the Tlacolula arm of the valley. The Yagul district has the best farmland and yet it has the lowest population size and lowest population density of the four districts. Indeed, the productivity of farmlands in at least two (Lambityeco and Mitla) of the other three districts was insufficient to support the populations there (Kirkby 1973:139). This is especially true of the Lambityeco district, which has the poorest agricultural land in the entire Valley of Oaxaca yet contained a substantial population—8,500 persons—with a high population density—ninety-five persons per km².

TABLE 2.7. A comparison of Xoo phase districts in the Tlacolula arm of the Valley of Oaxaca: Populations, areas, and population densities

Two factors, then, lead to the hypothesis that Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla served as provincial centers in a territorial state headed by Monte Albán. First, the shatter zones partially break down in sections where sites are continuously distributed between districts. This partial “shatter zone” permeability might be expected to occur between provinces of a territorial state. Second, the population sizes and densities of the districts are consistent with a high interaction potential for strongly integrated states. Fully two-thirds of the Xoo phase population of the Tlacolula arm of the valley was concentrated in the two districts nearest Monte Albán—Macuilxóchitl and Lambityeco.

However, the data are not entirely conclusive. The expectations of a demographic center-of-gravity model in a highly integrated state do not yield the desired result of the centers being drawn toward the capital. Furthermore, the shatter zones do exist across the valley floor, and most communities within each district are drawn closer to the center than to neighboring centers. An alternative hypothesis is that during the Xoo phase Monte Albán was a regional polity that exerted hegemony over these smaller semiautonomous city-states. These alternative hypotheses evoke the problem with the static sequential segregation approach used by scholars in their interpretation of settlement pattern data. During the 200 years of the Xoo phase, there may have been considerable change. Monte Albán may have been a regional polity exerting hegemony over smaller semiautonomous city-states in the valley at one point and established a territorial state at another. Only a sequential integration approach to excavated remains can determine if and when during the Xoo phase Monte Albán imposed provincial governors at these centers or if and when during this span of time these centers were semiautonomous and ruled by local elite.

DISTRICT SETTLEMENTS

Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla probably served as the political, religious, and economic centers for the Xoo phase communities in their respective districts. Within each district were seven to ten sites, excluding the center, with populations greater than fifty persons (Table 2.8). From one to three sites in each district have mounds in the 4–6 m range, which may have included the elaborate residence of a high-ranking noble and/or a small temple. Each of these sites also exhibits mounds in the 2–3 m height range, which may have included the residence of a noble. These communities—which included Tlacochahuaya and Site #9-12 in the Macuilxóchitl district; Site #103 in the Lambityeco district; San Miguel del Valle, Site #243, and Site #240 in the Yagul district; and San Lorenzo Albarradas in the Mitla district—may have had a resident high-ranking noble appointed by the top-ranking political authority of the district center to administer the community.

An additional two to four sites in each district have mounds in the 2–3 m height range. These include Site #115, Site #120, and Site #60 in the Macuilxóchitl district; Santa Ana del Valle, Site #124, Site #153, and Site #128 in the Lambityeco district; Tanivet, Díaz Ordaz, and Site #134 in the Yagul district; and Site #262 and Site #288 in the Mitla district. Although none of these communities had any public architecture, the small mounds within them may have included the residences of nobles who administered the community.

One unique aspect of the settlement patterns in each district is of special interest. Each district center had very near it—not more than 1–2 km away—a very large population center, the first or second largest in the entire district, that lacked significant monumental architecture. These largest nearest neighbors included Tlacochahuaya, about 1 km west of Macuilxóchitl; Santa Ana del Valle,⁶ about 2 km north of Lambityeco; Tanivet, about 2 km south of Yagul; and the Mitla Fortress, about 1 km west of Mitla (Fig. 2.3; Table 2.9).

TABLE 2.8. A comparison of Xoo phase districts in the Tlacolula arm of the Valley of Oaxaca: Settlement populations and mound heights

TABLE 2.9. Comparison of district centers with largest nearest neighbor: Populations, mound volumes, and mound heights

The presence of these large neighboring population centers raises some questions. Were these large centers occupied for only a short time during the Xoo phase and does this account for their lack of significant mounded architecture? Were they occupied only very early in the Xoo phase and did their populations shift to found the district center? Were they occupied only at the termination of the Xoo phase and represent remains left by the populations who abandoned the district center to settle temporarily nearby? Were they wholly or partly contemporaneous with the district center? Do they represent a population of laborers who served the district center in some way but resided apart? Only excavations and a sequential integration analysis at these sites can help answer these questions.

DISTRICT ECONOMIC SPECIALIZATION

Anne Kirkby (1973) carried out a study of the agricultural potential and utilization of the Valley of Oaxaca for both modern and Prehispanic times. Kirkby notes that the Etla arm of the valley is the richest agricultural area because of relatively abundant water resources. The Zimatlán arm is the next most important area for agriculture, and the Tlacolula arm of the valley, especially in its eastern sector where Lambityeco is located, is the poorest agricultural area because it has the least abundant water resources (Kirkby 1973:19, fig. 8).

Using the data she gathered on agricultural productivity, Kirkby predicted where the district centers should be if they were centrally located with respect to the most productive agricultural areas in the valley. With regard to present-day market centers, Kirkby (1973:139) notes that Etla, Zaachila, and Ocotlán are all located as predicted by the central place hierarchy model—at the center of the most productive agricultural areas.

With regard to the Tlacolula region, however, Kirkby (1973:139) states: “[I]n the Tlacolula Valley, the central place of an exclusively agricultural economy would be at San Juan Guelavía—actually it is farther east, at Tlacolula. Indeed, much of the settlement in the eastern Tlacolula Valley can be regarded as anomalous, because agriculturally it is a very marginal area but it supports several large towns which were also important archaeological sites.”

The only area of highly productive farmland in the eastern Tlacolula arm of the valley is located in the Yagul district, south of the modern town of San Miguel del Valle and north of the archaeological site of Yagul (Kirkby 1973:66, fig. 25). Apart from this, the eastern Tlacolula region is, as Kirkby (1973:139) reports, a very marginal agricultural area and most communities do not produce enough corn to meet their needs. As a result, the inhabitants of these communities have craft specializations that help them earn money to buy additional corn and other basic necessities.

People from San Lorenzo Albarradas produce woven sleeping mats (Fig. 2.5a). Teotitlán del Valle is famous as a center of blanket weaving (Fig. 2.5b). The inhabitants of other villages also practice weaving, such as Santa Ana del Valle, where ponchos and woven bags are manufactured (Fig. 2.5c), and Mitla, where shawls and embroidered blouses, skirts, and shirts are produced (Fig. 2.5d). San Juan Teitipac is an important center for the manufacture of manos, metates, and molcajetes, or grater bowls (Fig. 2.6a). The residents of San Juan Guelavía specialize in the production of baskets (Fig. 2.6b), and those from San Marcos Tlapazola craft pottery (Fig. 2.6c). In the recent past, Matatlán was an important supplier of lime used in processing corn to make tortillas (Fig. 2.6d).⁷ Tlacolula, itself an important center of producers of mezcal—an alcoholic beverage distilled from the juices of the maguey—is the regional market center for each of these communities (see Fig. 2.3 for their locations).

Laura Finsten (1983) undertook studies of craft specialization that include information from surveys of all 231 Xoo phase sites in the Tlacolula arm of the valley. None of the sites in the Yagul district exhibits evidence for craft specialization. However, sites in each of the other three districts—Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, and Mitla—do show evidence for craft and other economic specializations. Furthermore, with very few exceptions, almost all economic specialization was confined to the district center or to sites very near it.

2.5. Products sold in the Tlacolula market

Two sites in each of the three districts were centers of pottery making. In the Macuilxóchitl district, the center of Macuilxóchitl and the nearby site of Tlacochahuaya had ceramic workshops. In the Lambityeco district, the center of Lambityeco and nearby Site #103 produced pottery. In the Mitla district, the center of Mitla and the distant site of El Palmillo—about 7 km south of Mitla—were producers of ceramics. No other sites in any of these districts, nor indeed in the entire Tlacolula arm of the valley, had ceramic workshops. Therefore, these ceramic-producing centers must have supplied all or most of the pottery used by the inhabitants of their district. Furthermore, all the inhabitants of the Yagul district must have obtained most or all of their ceramic artifacts from one of the neighboring districts—probably Lambityeco, which was the pottery-producing center closest to the communities of the Yagul district. As Paddock (1983a:204), who excavated at both Yagul and Lambityeco, noted: “The pottery and figurines from this time [Xoo phase at Yagul] are utterly indistinguishable from those at Lambityeco.” Finsten (1983:145) reports that Lambityeco and Macuilxóchitl show evidence for large-scale ceramic production. Lambityeco is about 7 km north of San Marcos Tlapazola, the only present-day community of pottery producers in the Tlacolula arm of the valley (Fig. 2.3).

2.6. Additional products sold in the Tlacolula market

Workshops for manufacturing ground-stone tools, such as manos and metates, occur in only two districts. In the Macuilxóchitl district, the center of Macuilxóchitl produced ground-stone tools that were probably distributed to the inhabitants of its district and those of the neighboring district of Lambityeco, which lacked ground-stone-tool workshops. Macuilxóchitl is about 8 km north of San Juan Teitipac, the present-day community of ground-stone-tool producers for the Tlacolula arm of the valley. In the Mitla district, the people who lived in the Mitla Fortress, next to the center of Mitla, produced ground-stone tools that were probably distributed to the inhabitants of the Mitla district and to those of the neighboring Yagul district, which lacked ground-stone-tool workshops.

Salt production, an important industry in ancient Mesoamerica (Kepecs 2003b), occurs in the Lambityeco district. The center of Lambityeco was a major supplier of salt for the Tlacolula arm of the valley and even the entire Valley of Oaxaca. A smaller salt-producing site, Hierve el Agua, in the mountains east of Mitla outside the Valley of Oaxaca proper, may have supplied some of the salt used by the inhabitants of the Mitla district (Peterson 1976), as reported by the Relación de Tlacolula y Mitla (Canseco 1580:150). However, Neely and colleagues (1990) contend that Hierve el Agua was a site in which irrigation, not salt production, was practiced.

Lime production occurs in the Mitla district. El Palmillo, about 7 km south of Mitla, was probably a major supplier of lime for the Tlacolula region. Lime was used in solution to soak corn and soften it into nixtamal, or corn dough, so that it could be made into tamales or tortillas. Lime was also used to make plaster to cover the floors and walls of houses and other buildings. El Palmillo is located near Matatlán, which fifty years ago was the principal supplier of lime to the Tlacolula market. During the Xoo phase, some of the communities in the Macuilxóchitl district may have obtained lime from San Antonio de la Cal (Cerro de la Mesita), which was in the Valle Central and therefore closer to the communities of Macuilxóchitl than was El Palmillo (Fig. 2.3).

The apparent absence of craft specialization in the Yagul district may be explained by its agricultural importance. As commented before, the Yagul district had the best farmland in the Tlacolula region and probably produced a substantial surplus of corn. The other three districts, in particular Lambityeco and Mitla, did not produce enough corn to meet the needs of their inhabitants and therefore may have relied on all or some of the surplus produced by the Yagul district. In return, the Yagul district most likely received the specialized products of its neighboring districts—ceramics and salt from the Lambityeco district and manos, metates, and lime from the Mitla district.

A study of craft and other economic specializations makes it apparent that there was economic interdependence among the four districts of the Tlacolula arm of the valley that extended to the basic needs of every Xoo phase household. These basic necessities included corn, salt, lime, manos, metates, and ceramic utensils. It is also evident that no one district in the Tlacolula region produced all of these basic household necessities. Therefore, each district was to an extent dependent on the other districts to supply the basic commodities that it lacked. It would appear that, at least in the Tlacolula arm of the valley, the local district market centers were interdependent and hierarchically interlocked with the primary center at Monte Albán in what Minc (2006:86) called a complex, interlocking market system or a hierarchically integrated market network.

THE DISTRICT CENTERS

Compared to the other sites in their districts, Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco, Yagul, and Mitla had certain distinctive features that set them apart. Each of these centers was one of the two largest communities in its district, the other one being a large nearby community that lacked monumental architecture. Together, the district center and its large neighbor formed a demographic core.

The district center was probably the focus of local economic exchange and, with one exception (Yagul), manifested economic specialization. Goods produced by the district center or other communities in its district were probably channeled through the district market center for distribution to the populace of the district and for export to other district market centers. Imports from other district centers were probably distributed to the populace of a district through its market center.

The district center was either the largest or second largest site in its district with regard to gross volume of mounded architecture, and it was the only community in its district to have monumental architecture represented by mounds in the 7–12 m height range. These large mounds were probably temples, and at least one may have formed part of a temple complex (TPA) at the district center. The temple complex (TPA) marked the district center as the locus of religious authority and ceremony within the district.

The presence of civic residential complexes (PPA) at Lambityeco and Macuilxóchitl makes it seem likely that civic residential complexes occurred at the other district centers as well. The palace atop this complex was the residence of the highest-ranking political official in the district. The presence of a civic residential complex at the district center probably marked it as the locus of political authority within the district.

LAMBITYECO AS A DISTRICT CENTER

Lambityeco stands as the only Xoo phase district center in the Tlacolula arm of the valley, and indeed in the entire Valley of Oaxaca, that has been the subject of intensive archaeological investigations. Our knowledge about most other probable Xoo phase district centers is limited to inferences from superficial surveys and deductions from models of settlement systems. To what extent Lambityeco may be unique and in what ways it may conform to other coeval district centers remains to be determined by excavations at those centers.

Lambityeco, like Monte Albán, has been intensively surveyed and mapped to determine its maximum extents for different time periods. David Peterson (1976) located and mapped 206 mounds within the 1.17 km² area covered by Lambityeco. A comparison of the areas covered by Monte Albán and Lambityeco for each phase of occupation is presented in Table 2.10.

Not all of the Lambityeco mounds date to the same phase. The most ancient habitation of the site predates the founding of Monte Albán and includes eight mounds corresponding to the Rosario phase. In the subsequent Danibaan phase, when Monte Albán was founded, Lambityeco grew in size to include twenty-eight mounds. Lambityeco continued to increase in size during the succeeding Pe phase to include fifty-five mounds. Pe phase Lambityeco was an important center in the Valley of Oaxaca (Kowalewski, personal communication, 1985).

TABLE 2.10. Monte Albán and Lambityeco: Size by phase

Notes:

1. The Tani, Peche, and Liobaa phases had not been defined at the time of these surveys.

2. Monte Albán data after Blanton (1978).

3. Lambityeco data after Peterson (1976).

4. Two Guadalupe phase artifacts occur at Monte Albán and one at Lambityeco.

5. No Rosario phase occupation is known at Monte Albán.

Lambityeco appears to have been largely abandoned during the Nisa and Pitao phases when the center was most likely moved 4 km eastward to Caballito Blanco (Fig. 2.1). Lambityeco was resettled as a district center in the Xoo phase. At this time, the settlement reached its maximum size with 147 of the 206 mounds showing evidence of occupation and the area of habitation covering about sixty-four hectares. In the succeeding Liobaa and Chila phases, Lambityeco was largely abandoned and population once again shifted about 4 km eastward to Yagul. Yagul was occupied at the time of the Spanish Conquest and is the site that the people of Tlacolula still refer to as their “Pueblo Viejo,” or Old Town.

The history of Lambityeco and Monte Albán shows some interesting parallels. Both reached an early peak in the Pe phase followed by a decline in the subsequent Nisa and Pitao phases. In the succeeding Xoo phase, both reached the highest level of population growth in their history. At this time, Monte Albán spread across an area of 650 hectares and had a population of 25,000 and Lambityeco covered an area of nearly sixty-four hectares with a population of 2,700. Following the Xoo phase, Monte Albán and Lambityeco apparently ceased to exist as functioning communities. Both sites were largely, but not totally, abandoned during the Liobaa phase and subsequent Chila phase. Few, if any, residences occur and no monumental structures are evident at either site during these phases. The areas occupied represent mostly burials and ritual activities at Monte Albán (Winter 2003) and salt production activities and a few burials at Lambityeco.⁸

The collapse of Monte Albán at the end of the Xoo phase certainly generated a lot of political instability in the Valley of Oaxaca. Macuilxóchitl, Yagul, and Mitla were all located in defensible positions on or near mountains or mountain spurs rising from the valley floor. Lambityeco was not. Its location on the valley floor with no nearby defensible position made it an extremely vulnerable community in times of political unrest.

Lambityeco, then, was sensitive to political change in the Valley of Oaxaca. In times of political stability, as evidently occurred during the Danibaan and Pe phases—when Monte Albán probably represented a unifying force in the Valley of Oaxaca—Lambityeco thrived. During the Nisa and Pitao phases, when Monte Albán suffered a “mini-collapse” and political instability occurred in the Valley of Oaxaca, evidently generated by Teotihuacan, Lambityeco was largely abandoned whereas Macuilxóchitl (the Dainzú component), Yagul (the Caballito Blanco component), and Mitla prospered in their defensible positions. In the Xoo phase, when Monte Albán once again developed the strong political authority to ensure valley-wide stability, Lambityeco was resettled and prospered as never before. With the collapse of Monte Albán, Lambityeco was largely abandoned and never again became an important center, whereas Macuilxóchitl, Yagul, and Mitla were important centers at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Lambityeco remained virtually abandoned until after the Spanish Conquest when it was resurrected as nearby Tlacolula and began to prosper under the stability generated by the strong Spanish political authority. Lambityeco’s role as a district center and its responsiveness to political stability and instability at Monte Albán make it an indicator of political change in the Valley of Oaxaca and an ideal site in which to explore political evolution during the Xoo phase.

NOTES

1. http://www.inegi.gob.mx (accessed 2008).

2. Many towns in the Valley of Oaxaca have the same name, being distinguished only by the presence of the name of a saint or modern hero. Etla exemplifies this best. There are sixteen Etlas, all in the Etla arm of the valley and all near one another. The Etla referred to here and on the map (Fig. 2.1) is San Pedro y San Pablo Etla. There are also eight Ocotláns in the Ocotlán region of the Zimatlán arm of the valley and all near one another. The Ocotlán referred to here and on the map (Fig. 2.1) is Ocotlán de Morelos.

3. The low volume of mounded architecture for Xoo phase Mitla may be more apparent than real. The present-day town of Mitla covers much of ancient Xoo phase Mitla, which makes it difficult to achieve accurate surface survey information. For example, surveys of Mitla by the Valley of Oaxaca Survey Project show no Xoo phase remains in the vicinity of the Mitla zócalo, or main plaza. However, in 1968, Lind had a hole dug to place a septic tank in a house only 30 m away from the Mitla zócalo. This hole, which reached a depth of 2 m, revealed abundant Xoo phase artifacts. Many Xoo phase mounds at Mitla may have been destroyed in later times, just as their destruction is coming about today. Robles (1986), for example, traced the destruction of archaeological mounds in the town as it expanded from the sixteenth century to the present.

4. It is unclear whether neither or only one of these complexes was included by the Valley of Oaxaca Survey Project. The survey data list one mound 9 m high for Xoo phase Mitla, which may be the tall mound in the Adobe Group. A 12 m high mound occurs in the South Group (Robles 1986:18). Caso’s excavations in the South Group show it to have been built initially during the Pitao phase with modifications during the Xoo and Chila phases.

5. Because it is uncertain if the secondary centers are semiautonomous city-states or provinces of a territorial state, the more neutral term “district” has been selected to refer to the territories over which they ruled.

6. In 2003 Urcid encountered a large palace at Santa Ana del Valle where a carved lintel with a Peche or Xoo phase Zapotec style annual date, now in the community museum, was found. The palace is perched on a piedmont spur above the present-day community. Covered by thick vegetation, it consists of a large patio, probably a bit smaller than the patio of the PPA at Lambityeco, surrounded by four large rooms. The amount of debris indicates that these structures were made out of stone, and a fair amount of the fallen blocks show evidence of having been carefully chiseled.

7. Alejandro Aguilar, a Tlacolula Zapotec, informed Lind that Matatlán had been the principal supplier of lime for the Tlacolula market until the 1940s when the Pan-American Highway was built. At that time, San Antonio de la Cal gained access to the Tlacolula market and is the principal supplier today. Matatlán’s role as a supplier of lime is discussed by Taylor (1972), Whitecotton (1977), and Finsten (1983:279–283). The Xoo phase site of El Palmillo, near Matatlán, is currently being excavated by Gary Feinman and may have been the Xoo phase supplier of lime for the Tlacolula arm of the valley

8. Interestingly, the Liobaa flexed burials from both Monte Albán and Lambityeco are very unusual for the Valley of Oaxaca, which normally has extended burials, and probably constitute a diagnostic of the Liobaa phase (Winter 2003; Lind 2008).