chapter seven

Tomb 6

In the preceding two chapters, we discussed the stratigraphic position of Tomb 6 and its relation to Structures 195-5, 195-4, and 195-3. To briefly summarize, Tomb 6 was built initially as a single-chambered tomb in association with Structure 195-5 (see Figs. 5.9 and 5.10). The main chamber was added in association with Structure 195-4 (see Figs. 5.11 and 5.13), and the portrait heads were probably attached to the façade in association with Structure 195-3 (see Figs. 6.7 and 6.8). The roof of the main chamber was destroyed by a hole dug through the altar to place a final burial in the tomb in association with Structure 195-3 (Fig. 7.1). Following this burial, the Structure 195-3SE sector of the house was abandoned. In this chapter, we present an analysis and interpretation of the skeletal remains and offerings associated with Tomb 6.¹

SKELETAL REMAINS

When Tomb 6 was excavated, a single undisturbed primary interment (Burial 68-22) was discovered on top of the rubble from the destroyed roof in the main chamber and a large number of disarticulated bones were found scattered throughout and below the rubble in the main chamber and across the floor of the antechamber (Fig. 7.2). The analysis of the human remains revealed that a minimum of six adult individuals were buried in the tomb. Apart from the undisturbed primary burial, five minimum human individuals, three dogs, and eight birds are represented among the disarticulated skeletal remains.

7.1. Profile of the hole dug through the altar, Tomb 5, and the roof of the main chamber of Tomb 6

7.2. Plan and profile of the Tomb 6 skeletal remains (redrawn from Mogor 1968)

Burial 68-22 represents the skeletal remains of the last individual to be buried in the tomb. These skeletal remains correspond to an adult female who was perhaps between thirty-five and forty-five years old when she died. Because the elite married couple who headed the Structure 195-3 household were probably the last two individuals to be buried in Tomb 6, it appears that Burial 68-22 represents the remains of the wife, Lady 10 Naa.

The burial was a fully extended supine primary with the head to the east and feet to the west end of the main chamber. The right arm was bent at the elbow so that the forearm rested across the stomach. The left arm was doubled with the forearm upward so that the left hand rested near the left side of the face. The feet were crossed with the right foot resting on top of the left (Fig. 7.3a).

Remnants of a shroud in the form of a mat covered the entire skeleton. This mat was not a woven petate but rather strips of reeds paralleling one another and running lengthwise, east-west, over the top of the skeleton. The strips forming the mat may have been held together by threads, of which no traces remain. Two G-35 bowls, one inside the other, were located on the north side of the skeleton near the right elbow (Fig. 7.3b). The bowls were small and lacked tripod supports and burnished designs. No macroscopic traces of any contents were found within them.

7.3. Burial 68-22, a female thirty-five to forty-five years old

Apart from Burial 68-22, human skeletal remains corresponding to at least three other individuals were found in the main chamber of Tomb 6. Foot bones from at least two of these individuals had counterparts in the antechamber. Also, a human cervical vertebra in the main chamber had a counterpart among human bones found on top of the altar outside the tomb. Both cervical vertebrae not only fit together but also manifested osteophytosis² in the anterior margins of their bodies and bone degeneration in the right transverse process (Fig. 7.3c). This vertebra was probably displaced from the main chamber when the hole was dug through the altar and roof of the tomb to place the final burial.

The fragmentary and disturbed nature of the skeletal remains does not permit a determination of the sex or specific adult age at death of any one of these three individuals found in the main chamber. Nor is it possible to determine the original orientation of the burials or the arrangement of any offerings that might have accompanied them. However, the disarticulated foot bones of two of these individuals occur in the rubble layer directly beneath the articulated foot bones of Burial 68-22. This suggests that they were probably buried with their heads to the east and feet to the west, like Burial 68-22. Furthermore, the presence of a mature domestic dog, partially in situ, indicates that it served as an offering accompanying one of the burials.

The human remains in the antechamber included bones that have counterparts among those in the main chamber and an additional two minimum individuals. A multitude of other bones were found in the antechamber, including the remains of at least two immature domestic dogs and eight birds. Some bones from the dogs and one bird skull were among the animal bones found in a cluster outside the tomb in front of the door.

Two fragmentary skulls occur in the antechamber. One of these skulls, located in the south niche, belonged to a female who was perhaps between twenty-five and thirty-five years old when she died. The skull had been painted red with a mineral pigment, perhaps hematite, of which traces were found on the interior of a G-35 bowl from the floor of the antechamber. The second skull, located on the antechamber floor, was probably that of a male who was perhaps between twenty-five and thirty-five years old when he died. His skull manifested no traces of having been painted.

The fact that the five earlier human burials were disturbed and scattered throughout the tomb, before the sixth and last individual (Burial 68-22) was laid to rest atop their remains, cannot be attributed simply to the destruction of the tomb roof. Tomb 2 in Mound 190 at Lambityeco contained numerous disarticulated skeletal remains even though its roof had not been destroyed (Paddock, Mogor, and Lind 1968). Furthermore, virtually all other tombs at Lambityeco and most of the tombs at Monte Albán (Séjourné 1960; Autry 1973; Winter et al. 1995) contain numerous disarticulated skeletal remains. It seems evident, then, that most of the earlier burials in Tomb 6 had been disturbed before the roof was destroyed to place the last burial.

Although remains of six adult individuals occur in the tomb, with the exception of the intact primary (Burial 68-22), not all the bones of the remaining five persons could be accounted for. Whereas smaller hand and foot bones (phalanges in particular) were probably crushed beyond recognition beneath the feet of individuals who entered the tomb to place the successive burials, many of the larger and more durable bones must have been purposefully removed from the tomb in ancient times. This is especially true of the femur, the largest and strongest bone in the human body. Only 25 percent of the femora are accounted for in the tomb.

It will be recalled that the male figures depicted in the lower friezes in the altar complex above Tomb 6 are shown carrying a human femur in their hand (see Fig. 6.11). The femur probably came from the individual’s most immediate ancestor and may have served as a symbol of his hereditary rights. Additionally, one upper frieze fragment depicts a male with a mandible on his arm, which again may have come from his most immediate ancestor and served as a symbol legitimizing his hereditary rights. From these depictions, it appears that each successive noble had the femur, mandible, and other bones (especially long bones) of his most immediate ancestor removed from the tomb and thereby contributed to the disturbance of the skeletal remains.

As the friezes indicate, the femora and mandibles were evidently publicly displayed as symbols of hereditary rights. However, none of these or other human bones were found outside mortuary contexts to determine what may have happened to them once they were removed from the tomb. Although Fray Pedro de los Ríos, writing in 1547–1548 CE, reported that once the flesh decayed from the bones, the Zapotecs in the mountains south of the valley removed them from the burial and kept them in “ossuaries made of mortar” (Quiñones-Keber 1995:254), no such ossuaries have been found at Lambityeco or any Classic period site in the Valley of Oaxaca. During the Xoo phase, it is possible that the elite placed the bones of their immediate ancestors in sacred bundles that were kept as heirlooms over many generations.

A chi-square analysis of the presence or absence of bones from all the tombs at Lambityeco seems to confirm this hypothesis. In order to determine if there had been intentional removal of human bones from Tomb 6, its skeletal contents were compared to those of the other tombs from Lambityeco taken as a group. When comparing the frequency of inventoried anatomical elements with the expected frequency based on the minimum number of individuals detected in each tomb, a chi-square analysis generates two important observations (Fig. 7.4, Table 7.1).

One of them is that, in general, the human remains from Tomb 6 are poorly represented with regard to the number of minimum individuals. Ten of the fourteen bone categories are underrepresented, especially the long bones. Only metatarsals appear “overrepresented.” Because the long bones are large and of compact tissue—which makes their fragmentation and obliteration more difficult—their absence from Tomb 6 and their graphic representations in the associated friezes suggest that the elite purposefully removed certain anatomical elements of their ancestors in order to use them as symbols to validate their status (Lind and Urcid 1983:81).

7.4. Graph of chi-square results from comparisons of bones in tombs at Lambityeco

The absence of small bones in the tombs is most likely due to their obliteration as a consequence of the multiple reentries into the tombs and the continual rearrangements of their contents. The underrepresentation of several other large anatomical elements in Tomb 6, such as the humeri, radii, tibiae, and fibulae, also suggests that this particular tomb was reopened more often than the other tombs used in the comparison. The other tombs yielded comparable minimum numbers of individuals yet conserved more bones per minimum individual than Tomb 6. This may have been the result of Tomb 6 being reopened more frequently to carry out rituals aimed at the invocation and veneration of ancestors that were unrelated to mortuary events.

INTERMENT SEQUENCE

Based on his research at Monte Albán, Winter (1974:986) was the first to point out that married couples who headed households were buried in the household tomb. An analysis of the sequence of houses and associated tomb construction and the presence of the portrait heads on the façade of Tomb 6 and the friezes in the altar complex—both of which depict married couples—strongly support Winter’s hypothesis. There are at least six individuals buried in Tomb 6 and although the sex of three of them is indeterminate, it is highly probable that they represent three married couples, but which of the couples in the friezes is not possible to determine.

TABLE 7.1. Skeletal inventory from the tombs at Lambityeco and chi-square analysis

* Observed variables/expected variables; ^2/expected variables.

Of the minimum six individuals buried in the tomb, at least four were identified in the main chamber and an additional two in the antechamber. Tomb 6, initially built as a single-chambered tomb in Structure 195-5, served as the burial place for the married couple who occupied Structure 195-5 from ca. 725 to 750 CE. It is possible that the two minimum individuals found among the human remains in the antechamber represent the remains of the elite married couple who headed the Structure 195-5 household and who were buried in the antechamber, which, in Structure 195-5, was the only chamber of Tomb 6.

The remaining four minimum individuals from the main chamber, which was added to the tomb in Structure 195-4 and continued in use in Structure 195-3, could possibly represent the elite married couples who headed these households. The main chamber served as the burial place for the elite married couple who headed the Structure 195-4 household from ca. 750 to 775 CE and for the elite married couple who headed the Structure 195-3 household from ca. 775 to 800 CE. However, the presence of comparable bones from the antechamber and main chamber points to considerable disturbance of the human remains and makes it impossible to demonstrate with certainty which human remains correspond to which specific individuals. Lady 10 Naa, one of the Structure 195-3 household heads, was the last person buried in the main chamber of the tomb and the only intact primary burial.

OFFERINGS

In excavating Tomb 6, two separate clusters of objects were located outside the tomb in front of the façade—one in the area of the lintel and one in front of the tomb door. Other objects occurred within the tomb in the antechamber and main chamber offerings (Fig. 7.5, Table 7.2). Apart from these clusters, many other objects were found scattered throughout the fill in front of the façade of Tomb 6.

The tomb offering consists of 187 separate objects, which may be grouped into thirty-eight categories (Table 7.3). An analysis of these objects may seem a simple and straightforward task. It is not. Tomb 6 was opened repeatedly over a period of perhaps seventy-five years to place six burials and their accompanying offerings and, most likely, to retrieve bones from immediate ancestors once the flesh decayed sometime following their burial and perhaps to conduct additional rituals invoking the ancestors. In the course of successive openings of the tomb, objects were broken and scattered, and pieces of them were removed from the vicinity of the tomb. Although the offering clusters certainly correspond to the location of objects associated with the last entry into the tomb via its doorway, there is no reason to believe that all of these objects were initially placed with the last offering.

TABLE 7.2. List of objects from the Tomb 6 offering illustrated in Figure 7.5

Most of the objects associated with Tomb 6 occur in the lintel, door, antechamber, and main chamber offerings. The composition of these offering groups includes objects initially placed with the final offering, objects reused from previous offerings and rearranged to form part of the final offering, and objects partially or wholly displaced from earlier offering arrangements. Yet, despite their disturbed states, certain patterns are evident within the lintel, door, antechamber, and main chamber offerings.

7.5. Plan and profile of the Tomb 6 offering

TABLE 7.3. Distribution of objects in Tomb 6

Notes:

  1. The objects from the fill in front of the tomb are not from any specific offering context.

  2. Lids are counted as separate objects.

7.6. The Tomb 6 lintel offering

THE LINTEL OFFERING

The ten objects composing the lintel offering were purposefully arranged and certainly formed part of the final offering for the Structure 195-3 household head, Lord 1 Lachi. Here it should be noted that the last burial in Tomb 6 (Burial 68-22), that of Lady 10 Naa, does not represent the last opening of the door to Tomb 6 because she was buried in the main chamber by way of a hole dug through the altar and Tomb 5 (Fig. 7.1). It seems unlikely, then, that her burial was associated with the last arrangement of offerings in the antechamber or in the lintel and door areas in front of the tomb façade. Instead, these offerings would seem to be associated with Lord 1 Lachi.³ However, the arrangement of the last offering does not correspond to his burial because the tomb was reopened at least once following his interment to retrieve his bones.

The lintel offering included two groups of objects—one in the north around the portrait head of Lord 1 Lachi and one in the south around the portrait head of Lady 10 Naa (Fig. 7.6). In the north group, an urn and three bipod effigy vases were arranged in a semicircle. Two nearly identical small ceramic male effigies rested on the ledge directly north of the portrait head of Lord 1 Lachi and a jaguar effigy vessel directly south of it. In the south group, a bearded male effigy and a bipod effigy vase occurred in front and on either side of the portrait head of Lady 10 Naa. A double cup was situated on the ledge directly north of her portrait head next to the jaguar effigy vessel.

Ceramic urns and effigies are characteristic artifacts of ancient Zapotec material culture (Caso and Bernal 1952:9). They usually consist of a cylindrical vase around which a seated or standing figure is modeled. The lintel offering includes one complete urn. It clearly portrays Cociyo (Fig. 7.7a).

Cociyo urns are the most frequent in Xoo phase tombs at Monte Albán (Caso and Bernal 1952:17). Like all representations of Cociyo, the Tomb 6 urn has a lower mask with a square mouth, projecting teeth, and a forked tongue. The eyes are framed by horizontal scroll-like plaques below and stepped plaques above. Like most representations of Cociyo, the Tomb 6 urn has a Glyph C in the headdress, a sign that appears to be the iconic rendition of a maize bundle over the split image of a mouth with teeth (Urcid 2002). The glyph is known to carry the semantic value of “rain” (Urcid 2001:163–165). The headdress of this urn includes at the bottom a strip that ends on the sides with trefoil elements. Larger trefoil elements appear on either side of the top portion of the headdress. These trefoil elements are graphic references to budding maize (Sellen 2002:11; Urcid and Winter 2003). Hanging on the lateral sides of the headdress are two flaps that may signal the silk of a mature ear of corn.

The Tomb 6 Cociyo urn is a seated figure, 21.5 cm high, with legs crossed and hands resting on the knees. The Cociyo is dressed in a shoulder cape and loincloth. The cape is decorated with incised lines. A necklace with three appliqué knots in the form of the “hairpin” sign hangs from the neck. Based on other contexts, these signs appear to carry a semantic value related to “humidity” or “dew” (Sellen 2002; Urcid 2005). The loincloth manifests horizontal appliqué strips, including one that is undulating and that alludes to “flowing water.” Suspended from the lowest strip are three appliqué “hairpin” signs. The Cociyo is adorned with earspools and appliqué bead bracelets on each wrist. The urn is gray in color and complete and intact with only small fragments of the fingers, appliqué bead bracelets, and ends of some “hairpin” signs broken and missing.

The two small ceramic human effigies in the lintel offering are also gray in color but smaller in size than the Cociyo urn—one is 14.7 cm high and the other 14.6 cm high (Fig. 7.7b). The figures have identical facial features. Both are seated figures with legs crossed and hands resting on the knees. Their wrists are adorned with appliqué bead bracelets and their ears sport circular earspools. Both wear loincloths and shoulder capes that, however, differ in details. One has incised parallel lines with incised hash marks between them decorating the loincloth and shoulder cape. The other has an incised herringbone design decorating the loincloth and a simple incised line parallel to the edge of the shoulder cape. An appliqué bead necklace also rests on the shoulder cape.

7.7. Ceramic effigies found in the Tomb 6 lintel offering

Like the loincloths and shoulder capes, the headdresses differ in detail. One has a headdress decorated with incised parallel lines and hash marks, like those on its loincloth and shoulder cape. Five vertically placed oblong appliqué elements (of which one is missing) top the headdress. These elements may be iconic renditions of mature ears of maize. The other has the lower part of its headdress decorated with incised crosshatching and its top with three appliqué trefoil elements with incised outlines of trefoils within them representing budding maize (Sellen 2002:11; Urcid and Winter 2003). The headdresses of both effigies are backed by large vertical rectangular pieces manifesting numerous panels (feathers?) formed by broad incised lines. Both objects are virtually complete and intact with only a few pieces missing from the headdress, loincloth, and foot of one of them.

A final ceramic effigy from the lintel offering is a male with a pointed beard (Fig. 7.7c). The effigy is 18.2 cm high and is rendered in a seated position. The legs and arms are not outwardly visible, but their presence beneath a shoulder cape and cloak is indicated. The arms appear to be crossed over the chest beneath the cloak, and the legs also appear to be crossed. The cloak is decorated with incised hash marks, and punctuate and appliqué elements occur at the shoulders. The figure is adorned with plain circular earspools and a nose ornament in the septum. The bridge of the nose appears to be decorated with inset elements. A large bow forms the headdress and long hair, or a headcloth, falls from beneath the bow to cover the shoulders. He is also adorned with a necklace that manifests a double-pointed sacrificial knife as a central ornament. The figure is gray in color and is complete and intact.

Urns and similar ceramic effigies apparently functioned exclusively as ritual objects. At Monte Albán, urns occur not only in tombs and (more rarely) burial offerings but also in offerings found in caches in temples or underneath stelae (Caso and Bernal 1952:9–10). Urns at Lambityeco occur as offerings in elaborate and, more rarely, simple tombs, but none occurs in offerings associated with individuals buried in plain graves. Even though most urns are receptacles, they almost never contain any object or traces of any substance (Caso and Bernal 1952:10). None of the Lambityeco urns contains any object or macroscopic evidence of any contents within it.

The bipod effigy vases are gray ceramic vessels with globular bodies, cylindrical necks, and flat horizontal rims. Molded effigies, usually faces of Cociyo with Glyph C elements in his headdress, occur attached to the vessel neck. Two small supports occur on the exterior base of the vessel below where the effigy is attached. These supports probably kept the vessel from tipping over because of the added weight of the effigy figure attached to the neck; however, they also served to tip the vessel back to prominently display the attached effigy. The supports have incised vertical lines that probably simulate human toes.

Four bipod effigy vases occur in the lintel offering (Fig. 7.7e). These vases are not identical; each has its own unique attributes. The vessels may be grouped into three sizes: one is small, two are medium-size, and one is large. The small vase is complete and intact and measures only 14 cm high. It has a simply molded Cociyo face with a Glyph C headdress.

One medium size vase is 16.5 cm high and has a broken rim. It also has a molded Cociyo face, which, however, differs in some respects from the Cociyo on the small vase. First, it has a headband that looks like a skein of yarn viewed sideways. Second, it has a necklace with a central pendant or plaque. Both of these elements do not occur on the Cociyo on the small vase. Finally, this medium-size vase has a Glyph C headdress element above the Cociyo face, but unlike the small vase, the Glyph C was cast in a separate mold and somewhat shoddily tacked on above the Cociyo face.

A second medium vase is 15.5 cm high and lacks a major portion of its molded effigy face. The missing part was never found and must have been removed from the area of Tomb 6 in ancient times. What remains of the effigy is its headband, similar to the headband on the other medium-size vase (like a skein of yarn), and the upper part of the face. The intact part of the face retains the stepped eyebrows typical of Cociyo, indicating that a molded face of the rain god once decorated the vase. No Glyph C occurs as a headdress on this vase.

The single large vase is 20.5 cm high and has a piece of its rim broken and missing. This vase is unusual because it lacks a molded Cociyo face and instead has a molded human face. The headdress includes a Glyph C element topped by a panoply of feathers, very similar to the headdresses with Glyph C on the plaster busts of Cociyo that decorate a small temple room in Mound 190 (see Fig. 5.3b) (Lind and Urcid 1983:84). No bipod effigy vases with human faces have been reported from Monte Albán but a similar one was found in Tomb 12 at Lambityeco (Zárate 1992:13, fig. 13).

Effigy vases occur in tomb and burial offerings at Monte Albán (Caso and Bernal 1952:40–42). At Lambityeco, they occur in offerings in both elaborate and simple tombs. One has also been found in an offering with an unusual double burial (Burial 67-1) in a plain grave, but none has been found in offerings associated with other individuals buried in plain graves. Although they are receptacles, rarely do the effigy vases from Monte Albán or Lambityeco have any objects or macroscopic evidence of any substances within them.

A single gray ceramic vessel, 13.3 cm high, modeled in the form of a jaguar, occurs in the lintel offering (Fig. 7.7d). The jaguar’s body is a bowl-like receptacle with its circular orifice opening in the jaguar’s back. The jaguar is realistically modeled with his tongue sticking out from between his fangs. The jaguar had its tail broken and is missing a chip out of one of its ears. Despite being a receptacle, the jaguar effigy vase lacks macroscopic evidence of any kind of contents. Few jaguar effigy vessels occur in tomb offerings at Monte Albán (Caso and Bernal 1952:54–63). Only two jaguar effigy vessels are illustrated by Caso and Bernal (1952:57, fig. 83) and these come from Tomb 1 in the Atzompa sector of Monte Albán. At Lambityeco, jaguar effigy vessels have been found only in offerings in elaborate tombs. None occurs in offerings in simple tombs or plain graves.

A gray ceramic double cup occurs in the lintel offering (Fig. 7.6). One of the two cups is taller (11 cm) than the other (6.8 cm). No double cups were found in excavations at Monte Albán. However, small effigy figures with double cups attached to their backs are illustrated by Caso and Bernal (1952:231–238), although none comes from Monte Albán. The Tomb 6 double cup, though, shows no evidence of having been attached to an effigy figure. Double cups have been found in offerings in both elaborate and simple tombs, but not plain graves, at Lambityeco. None manifests macroscopic contents. Their function is unknown but they may have served as containers for mixing liquids or powders.

DISPLACED OFFERINGS IN THE LINTEL AREA

Fragmentary remains of several urns, a jaguar effigy vessel, a jaguar claw vessel, and a carved stone tablet were found scattered throughout the fill in front of the lintel of Tomb 6 (Fig. 7.8). These fragments must have formed parts of lintel offerings that had been broken and scattered during any of the many reopenings of the tomb to place later burials, retrieve bones of immediate ancestors, and enact rituals for the ancestors. As noted above, the lintel offering had to be removed each time the tomb was opened.

There were twenty-seven urn fragments scattered throughout the fill in front of the lintel. Although some of these fragments could be pieced together, none could be assembled to form a complete, or even partially complete, urn. An analysis of these fragments suggests that they come from at least four different urns. Most of the fragments depict parts of bodies or clothing—arms, legs, hands, feet, capes, and loincloths—and parts of probable headdresses. The faces of the urns are, for the most part, missing, which suggests that they may have been purposefully removed in ancient times.

7.8. Distribution of urn fragments in front of Tomb 6

Only one of the four urns represented among the fragments had its face preserved intact (Fig. 7.9a). This effigy vessel was unusual because it was orange in color instead of gray as most urns. Originally, it formed a lid that covered a box. Like all known urn boxes, this one had attributes of the alligator, indicating that the box represented the surface of the Earth. The effigy lid atop the box must have measured some 40 cm high and the box 20 cm for a total height of 60 cm.

7.9. Ceramic effigy fragments from the fill in front of Tomb 6 and their hypothetical reconstruction

The urn is represented by twelve fragments of which six come from the box and six (including the face) come from the lid. Fragments indicate that the seated effigy on the lid had a shoulder cape decorated with incised lines and a feather headdress with a Glyph C. The face is of a male whose two eyes and mouth are visible behind a mask that is over his nose and extends to the sides of his mouth. Caso and Bernal (1952:94–96) describe this type of mask as a plaque with three curved elements above and teeth below, and two scrolls that curve downward over the cheeks and inward on either side of the mouth. Above each eye is a scroll, which Caso and Bernal (1952:94) identify as Glyph L. The effigy has all of the attributes associated with the Zapotec deity Pitao Cozobi, the God of Maize (Caso and Bernal 1952:94). Effigies and boxes of this type have been found at Monte Albán; however, all have Cociyo effigies as lids, making the Pitao Cozobi lid from Tomb 6 unique (Caso and Bernal 1952:44–45, 93).

None of the other three urns represented among the fragments had its face preserved nor manifested any special accoutrements that might allow for the identification of a particular deity. One of these was a very large gray urn that must have measured about 60 cm high. It was represented by nine fragments, including one with a large hand resting on a knee with the foot below and a portion of a wavy skirt. Other fragments appear to have come from the arm, from one of the laterally hanging flaps of the headdress with an incised circle, from a pectoral that included an appliqué Glyph E, and from a diadem with an appliqué “hairpin” sign within a trefoil element (Fig. 7.9b). This constellation of attributes suggests that the urn represented Cociyo.

The fragments from the two remaining effigy figures indicate that they were smaller in size than the previous two urns. One of these was represented by three fragments including a complete shoulder cape with an arm fragment projecting from beneath it and a fragment of a feather headdress (Fig. 7.9c). The shoulder cape was decorated with incised lines and an appliqué element, possibly the end strap of a beaded collar. In the known corpus of urns, shoulder capes with incised lines are exclusive features in the representations of Cociyo and Pitao Cozobi. The urn was gray but all its fragments manifested traces of white and red paint. It must have stood 30 cm high.

The other small effigy figure was also represented by a complete shoulder cape (Fig. 7.9d). It consisted of fragments including part of an arm and hand and a portion of a foot and leg. The shoulder cape was decorated with incised lines and appliqué “hairpin” signs. It must have measured around 15 cm high. This effigy may have been part of a set of four that included the two effigies illustrated in Fig. 7.7b.

7.10. Distribution of fragments of a jaguar effigy vessel in front of Tomb 6

Four fragments from a large jaguar effigy vessel were found scattered throughout the fill in front of the façade of Tomb 6 (Fig. 7.10). Unlike the small gray jaguar effigy vessel from the lintel offering, the large jaguar effigy vessel probably measured 50 cm high and was orange instead of gray. The four fragments, of which two are illustrated, include a portion of the upper jaw, part of an eye, and parts of two paws with claws (Fig. 7.9e). Because of its orange color, it is tempting to suggest that the jaguar effigy vessel formed part of the offering that included the unusual orange Pitao Cozobi urn.

An orange ceramic claw from a jaguar claw vessel was found in the fill but no photo or three-dimensional location of this object is available. The claw had a horizontal appliqué strip at its proximal end, simulating the area of a feline foot where the claw retracts into the paw, which is why it is considered a jaguar, and not bat, claw vessel. Because it was large and orange in color it may have formed part of the offering that included the orange jaguar effigy vessel and orange Pitao Cozobi urn.

Two fragments of a stone tablet with a carved inscription on it were widely separated from one another in the fill in front of the tomb’s facade. One fragment was located on the far north side of the façade at a level just below the lintel, and the other was on the south side in the area of the door offering. The assembled fragments measure 28 cm long and 17 cm high (Fig. 7.11).

Only one side of the tablet is carved and its right half is missing. A conventionalized, not realistic, depiction of a noble female profiled in a seated position occurs on the left half of the tablet. The top of her head above the eye was broken and missing so that it is not possible to determine what type of hairstyle or headdress she might have worn. She is adorned with a bead necklace and large circular earspools. She is barefoot and wears a shawl decorated with incised crosshatching. Although her arm comes out from beneath the shawl, it is in a damaged area of the stone and only her hand extending from beneath the chin is preserved. Immediately in front of her, between her hand and feet, are two bar numerals with a Glyph J on top of them rendering her name, Lady 10 Naa, whose portrait head decorates the façade of Tomb 6. A speech scroll with two marks emanates from the area above her nose.

The preserved far right side of the stone manifests a great deal of damage. In its lower section, directly in front of the name glyph Lady 10 Naa, are traces of two dots in a vertical column indicating the numeral 2. The area above the coefficient has traces of a Glyph V, two eyes of an alligator placed at either side of an undulating band in a vertical position. This suggests that the male figure who was rendered on the missing right half of the tablet was the apical ancestor of the altar, Lord 2 Alligator, adding the important detail that his calendar name included the numeral 2. The carved stone tablet most likely corresponds to an offering placed in association with Lady 10 Naa’s husband, Lord 1 Lachi, who occupied Structure 195-3 and whose portrait head decorates the façade of Tomb 6.

7.11. Fragments of carved stone tablet and its hypothetical reconstruction

THE DOOR OFFERING

Like the objects in the lintel offering, the twenty-one objects in the door offering occur in two separate spatial clusters—one to the north of the door and one to the south (Fig. 7.12). Only nineteen of the twenty-one objects in the door offering were located three-dimensionally. Two tiny obsidian awls were sifted from the earth around the area of the door. Of the nineteen objects located three dimensionally, eleven occur to the north of the door and eight to the south. The north group includes two spiked braziers, four ladle censers, and five small G-35 bowls. The south group consists of three ladle censers and five small G-35 bowls (Fig. 7.5).

7.12. The Tomb 6 door offering

The distribution of the ten G-35 bowls in the door offering appears patterned (Fig. 7.13, Table 7.4). Two small G-35 bowls were placed in a vertical position on either side of the door jambs (#4 and #10 in Fig. 7.13). In front of each of these are an additional two small G-35 bowls on top of one another. The two in the north (in front of #4) occur one (#2) inside the other (#3) in a nearly upright position. The two in the south (in front of #10) are inverted, one (#8) on top of the other (#9). In addition, a small G-35 bowl (#5) in a nearly upright position is situated in front of the north door jamb. For the pattern burnished designs on the interior bases of these G-35 bowls see Figure 7.14 and Table 7.4.

G-35 bowls were most likely used as food-serving vessels in Zapotec daily life during the Xoo phase, as common at Zapotec meals as dinner plates are with us (Fig. 7.15a). As mortuary offerings, however, no G-35 bowls have been noted to contain macroscopic remnants of food. Frequently, G-35 bowls are found stacked one inside another, inverted, or placed on edge in tomb and burial offerings, as in the Tomb 6 door offering. Although this suggests that they may not have been containers for offerings of food but symbolic offerings of food bowls the deceased was to take to the hereafter, it seems more likely that the stacking, inverting, or placing on edge reflects reuse of the bowls from previous offerings once the food in them had decayed. However, at least two examples (#1 and #3 in Fig. 7.13) contain remnants of white plaster in them, which suggests that they were reused from earlier offerings to hold wet plaster that was applied to the façade or other parts of Tomb 6.

7.13. Plan and profile of the distribution of G-35 and K-14 bowls in Tomb 6

The seven gray ladle censers in the door offering have tiny holes in their bases made by poking a stick-like object through them when the clay was moist and pliable. All of the “pans” have smudged interiors, indicating that they were used to carry copal, a sweet-smelling incense (Fig. 7.15b, Table 7.5). All except two of the ladle censers in the door offering are broken. Both of the complete and intact examples were located next to one another directly south of the door (Fig. 7.5). One of these had traces of carbon within its “pan,” probably from the glowing coals placed within to serve as a base on which to place and ignite the copal resin. The other had traces of copal adhering to the interior of its “pan.” It seems evident, then, that these two intact ladle censers formed part of the last door offering.

Ladle censers are among the most frequent type of offering found in Xoo phase tombs at Monte Albán and Lambityeco. At Monte Albán, 423 Xoo phase ladle censers occur as tomb offerings whereas only eight were found as offerings associated with individuals buried in plain graves (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:434–435). At Lambityeco, ladle censers are common offerings in both simple and elaborate tombs, but none has been found as an offering associated with individuals buried in plain graves. The exceptionally high frequency of ladle censers in Xoo phase tombs at Monte Albán and Lambityeco and their total absence or rare occurrence in plain graves may have been for practical, as well as ritual, reasons. Because the tombs at Lambityeco and Monte Albán were opened repeatedly, the sweet-smelling copal incense carried in the ladle censers may have served to dispel unpleasant odors as well as to ritually purify the area.

TABLE 7.4. G-35 bowls in the door offering

Note:

1. For base designs see Figure 7.14.

TABLE 7.5. Ladle censers in the door offering

7.14. Pattern-burnished designs on the bases of G-35 and K-14 bowls from Lambityeco

7.15. G-35 bowls, ladle censers, and spiked braziers from Tomb 6

Two braziers with tiny cone-like projections or “spikes” occur in the door offering. They were found next to one another on the north side of the door (Figs. 7.5 and 7.12). One of these vessels is in the form of a small jar and one is in the form of a conical or flat-based, straight-walled bowl. Both are gray ceramic vessels, but the jar was also coated with a lime whitewash on its exterior surface (Fig. 7.15c).

The spiked jar has a rim diameter of 12.1 cm and a height of 11.4 cm. Two vents, one in the form of a cross and the other in the form of an inverted “T,” occur on opposite sides. The “T,” or “cloud sign,” was partly broken, leaving a sherd from the wall of the vessel missing. This jar had two handles, on opposite sides of the vessel, but both were broken and missing. The exterior base of the jar had a white “X” painted on it.

The spiked conical bowl has a rim diameter of 31.9 cm and a height of 15.6 cm. Unlike the jar, this bowl was not coated with a lime whitewash and did not have conical projections over its entire surface. Instead, the exterior wall was decorated on each of its four opposing sides by two vertical parallel lines of conical projections. Four simply incised crosses occur in the areas between these parallel lines of “spikes” on the exterior vessel wall, and an additional four simply incised crosses occur on opposing sides of the interior vessel wall. Four horizontally placed loop handles modeled to resemble rope occurred on the bowl rim but were broken, leaving only their stubs intact. The bowl was broken and several large pieces are missing from its rim.

Both vessels probably functioned as braziers in which incense may have been burned. Unlike the ladle censers, which were incense burners meant to be carried in processions, the braziers were incense burners meant to be set in one place. Although the spiked bowl does manifest a smudged interior, suggesting incense was burned within it, the jar shows no evidence of having had anything burnt within it. No spiked braziers are reported from tomb or burial offerings at Monte Albán. At Lambityeco, however, spiked braziers have been found in offerings in elaborate tombs (Paddock, Mogor, and Lind 1968:9–10).

Two obsidian awls, sifted from the earth around the door offering, were formed by bilaterally flaking the distal ends of obsidian blades to a central point. Both were gray obsidian, probably from the Pico de Orizaba source in Veracruz. One was 2.2 cm long, 1.3 cm wide, and 2 mm thick. The other was 3.6 cm long, 7 mm wide, and 2 mm thick.

In Zapotec daily life, obsidian awls functioned both as ritual and utilitarian items. As ritual items, they were used to pierce ears, tongues, and, in the case of males, the genitals, in order to obtain blood as a self-sacrificial offering. As utilitarian items, awls functioned to bore holes in leather and other materials. The precise function of the Tomb 6 awls is unknown, although one expects from their context within a mortuary offering that they might have been awls destined to a ritual function

DISPLACED OFFERINGS

An additional sixteen objects, mostly fragmentary, were located outside any offering context in the fill in front of Tomb 6. Among the objects are three braziers, four G-35 bowls, one miniature subhemispherical bowl, one hemispherical bowl, two large storage jars, two obsidian blades, and three shell ornaments. The shell ornaments probably came from previous antechamber or main chamber offerings.

Fragments from at least three braziers were recovered and none of these appears to have been of the spiked type. Instead, among the seventeen brazier fragments are pieces from a large bat effigy brazier, a biconical one, and a fancy bowl-type brazier with appliqué decoration (Fig. 7.16).

The bat effigy brazier is represented by ten fragments, including a lower jaw with fangs and tongue, portion of an upper jaw with a fang, part of an eye, a complete nose, a claw, most of a wide collar or “bib,” and a piece of the rim to which the effigy was attached (Fig. 7.17a). The rim of this gray ceramic brazier measures approximately 30 cm in diameter. It is decorated with two parallel appliqué strips modeled to resemble a rope and a modeled appliqué “bow” or “clasp” that joins the two ends of the rope in a semblance of binding them together. The bat had a fancy wide collar or “bib” around his neck. The collar was decorated along its edge by two parallel appliqué strips modeled to resemble a rope, like that on the rim. The fringe beneath the “rope” was decorated with incised stepped lines like fringes of cloaks or blouses. Caso and Bernal (1952:88–91) illustrate a number of bat effigy braziers with similar attributes, although none comes from Monte Albán. The Tomb 6 bat effigy brazier probably stood more than 70 cm high.

The fancy bowl-type brazier is represented by five fragments (Fig. 7.17b). This vessel had a rim diameter of about 22 cm and stood approximately 20 cm high. The fragments include several pieces from the rim, which had plaques in the form of stepped elements attached to it. The plaques had their edges outlined by appliqué strips and were decorated with appliqué elements in the form of an “S.” Based on epigraphic comparisons, this type of decoration appears to symbolize “rain clouds” (Sellen 2002:11). This brazier was unusual because it was orange instead of gray. It seems probable that this fancy orange brazier was associated with the offering that included the orange jaguar effigy vessel, jaguar claw vessel, and the Pitao Cozobi urn. A similar, but smaller, fancy bowl-type brazier was found in Tomb 2 in Mound 190 at Lambityeco (Paddock, Mogor, and Lind 1968:18, fig. 24). Caso and Bernal (1952:108) illustrate two fancy bowl-type braziers (neither of which comes from Monte Albán) that have attributes similar to the one just described.

7.16. Distribution of brazier fragments in front of Tomb 6

7.17. Brazier fragments from the fill in front of Tomb 6 and their hypothetical reconstruction

TABLE 7.6. Bowls from the fill in front of Tomb 6

Note:

1. For bowl base designs see Figure 7.14.

The biconical brazier, a burnished brown ceramic vessel, is represented by two fragments (Fig. 7.17c). It probably measured about 20 cm high and had a rim diameter of approximately 18 cm. A wide appliqué band with a narrow appliqué strip atop it encircles the center of the brazier. This vessel had a smudged interior presumably from the incense burned within it.

Four bowls were assembled from sherds screened from the fill in front of Tomb 6. Three were gray ceramic G-35 bowls and one was a brown K-14 bowl (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:385). K-14 bowls are brown in color and otherwise identical to the G-35 bowls (Table 7.6).

A miniature subhemispherical bowl was reconstructed from numerous small sherds screened from the fill in front of Tomb 6 (Fig. 7.22a). The vessel is well-burnished and manifests a light gray interior and a dark-gray exterior body. It had a rim diameter of 11 cm and a height of 4 cm. The bowl was broken and had several pieces missing. Similar bowls have been found in two different tombs at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:403, fig. 330i).

A burnished gray ceramic hemispherical bowl was located in the fill in front of Tomb 6. It was less than half complete. It had a rim diameter of 20 cm and a height of 16 cm (Fig. 7.22b). Similar hemispherical vessels, classified as G-3 bowls, occur in both mortuary and nonmortuary contexts at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:383, table XVI; 397). The bowls probably functioned as serving vessels for beverages.

7.18. Flanged-neck tecomates from Lambityeco (photo of reconstructed tecomate courtesy of Marcus Winter)

Two large rim sherds, one from a large olla and the other from a large flanged-neck tecomate, occur in the fill in front of Tomb 6. The olla rim sherd came from a large gray vessel with a rim diameter of 32 cm. Large gray ollas are fairly common in tomb and burial offerings at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:427).

The tecomate rim sherd came from a large yellow vessel with a rim diameter of 32 cm (Fig. 7.18a). A flange occurs just below the rim and remnants of strap handles with drilled perforations on either side are visible. It appears that these perforations were made to insert a cord handle when the ceramic handle broke. No similar tecomates have been found in tombs or burials at Monte Albán. At Lambityeco, however, a complete large flanged-neck tecomate with strap handles and a lid was found in front of Tomb 11 in Mound 185 just north of Mound 195 (Fig. 7.18b) (Winter, personal communication, 1998; Winter, Deraga, and Fernández 1979).

7.19. Shell, bone, stone, and bark ornaments from Tomb 6

Two small obsidian blades were found in the fill in front of the tomb. Both were of black obsidian and probably came from the Altotonga source in Veracruz. One measured 3.4 cm long, 6 mm wide, and 2 mm thick; the other measured 3.7 cm long, 8 mm wide, and 2 mm thick. They may have been used in self-sacrificial bloodletting rituals performed in front of the tomb.

Three shell ornaments were found in the fill and may represent offerings that were originally with the individuals buried in the antechamber or main chamber. These include a tubular bead, a disk, and a pendant (Fig. 7.19a; no photograph of the pendant is available). The tubular bead is 2.1 cm long, 6 mm wide, and 3 mm thick. It has a groove the length of its underside that indicates it was broken in half. The shell is pink and pitted on its underside and chalky white on its topside. This bead may have been part of a necklace or bracelet. The disk was screened from the upper layers of the fill in front of the tomb façade. It is in the form of a ring (too small and too fragile to have served as any kind of finger ring) with a series of notches around it. Its maximum diameter is 1.4 cm and inner diameter 9 mm, and it is 1 mm thick. Three other notched shell rings or disks have been found at Lambityeco but none is from a mortuary context. The pendant (3.3 cm long, 1.9 cm wide, and 2 mm thick) has a pointed upper end that is notched on either side but has no hole drilled through it. Its lower end was cut off horizontally. A similar shell pendant was found in Tomb 11 at Lambityeco (Winter, personal communication, 1998).

Most of the objects screened from the fill in front of the façade of Tomb 6 almost certainly pertained to displaced offerings placed below the lintel area or in front of the door. With the repeated reopenings of the tomb, these offerings were broken and scattered throughout the fill. A few objects, such as the shell ornaments, may have been displaced from offerings originally placed with the individuals buried in the antechamber or main chamber of the tomb.

THE ANTECHAMBER OFFERING

A total of 103 objects plus the remains of two immature dogs and eight birds occur in the antechamber offering. Even if the fifty-eight spindle whorls that were strung together and left in the north niche are considered a single object, instead of separate objects, the total number of objects placed in the antechamber is still more than double that of any other offering context in the tomb. Furthermore, there are twenty-one different types of objects in the antechamber, which is nearly double the number of different types of objects in any other offering context in the tomb. Clearly, the quantity and the variety of objects placed in the antechamber make it the principal and most complex locus of offerings in the tomb.

There is little patterning evident in the distribution of objects within the antechamber. Most of the objects are clustered at the far east end and any purposeful arrangements that might have occurred appear, for the most part, to have been greatly disturbed and displaced during the repeated openings of the tomb (Fig. 7.5).

There are nine G-35 and three K-14 bowls in the antechamber and at least five of these appear to have been purposefully arranged as part of the last offering (Fig. 7.13, Table 7.7). Two small bowls, a G-35 and K-14 (#11 and #12 in Fig. 7.13), occur in an upright position on the antechamber floor on either side of the north niche, and two other G-35 bowls (#13 and #14) also occur in an upright position on the floor on either side of the south niche—although it appears that one (#13) was moved partially out of position. A small K-14 bowl (#15) was in an upright position in the south niche.

Six additional G-35 bowls and a K-14 bowl occur in the antechamber offering and all are located near the east end where considerable disturbance is evident. Four of these are broken and incomplete and most likely served as previous offerings. Two others were broken but complete. One of these (#16 in Fig. 7.13) was inverted and rested directly on the antechamber floor. The other (#18) was upright and contained traces of red pigment on its interior. This bowl was probably reused from a previous offering as a container for red paint. The paint may have been used to decorate the panels on the tomb façade or to paint the skull of the individual who was buried in the antechamber. Finally, one large G-35 bowl had its sherds scattered between the antechamber and main chamber (#22 in Fig. 7.13).

TABLE 7.7. Bowls from the antechamber offering

Note:

1. For base designs see Figure 7.14.

Four ladle censers occur in the antechamber offering (Table 7.8). Two of them were broken. One of these was in the center of the antechamber near the floor and the other was located in the doorway between the antechamber and main chamber (Fig. 7.5). The two complete ladle censers were intact. One was on the antechamber floor just inside and directly north of the tomb entrance. The other was situated near the center of the eastern end of the antechamber in front of the door to the main chamber. It rested above some broken vessels and other offerings and below some of the rubble from the roof of the main chamber. Its location and unbroken condition demonstrate that it was part of the last offering before the hole was dug through the tomb roof to place the final burial. This ladle censer contained traces of copal resin and pieces of carbonized wood and corncobs that were submitted for radiocarbon analysis and yielded a calibrated date of 800 CE. This appears to date the removal of Lord 1 Lachi’s bones from Tomb 6 by his heir or wife, Lady 10 Naa, sometime before her death. No complete primary corresponding to his burial was found beneath the rubble from the roof; therefore, his bones had been removed before her burial.

TABLE 7.8. Ladle censers in the antechamber offering

The spiked brazier in the antechamber offering is in the form of a jar with two loop handles modeled to look like rope. It is a gray ceramic vessel coated with a lime whitewash very similar to, only smaller than, the spiked jar in the door offering (Fig. 7.15c); its rim diameter measured 8.4 cm and it was 7.5 cm tall. Unlike the spiked jar in the door offering, which had large vents cut in its walls, this brazier had small holes poked through its walls in the areas between the spikes. The brazier was complete and intact. Braziers are assumed to have been vessels in which incense was burned but this one showed no evidence of having been used.

One unburnished gray ceramic vessel in the form of a patojo was found in the antechamber offering (Fig. 7.20a). The vessel is 21 cm long and has a rim diameter of 11.1 cm and a height of 11.7 cm. Present-day Mixes use patojos to cook beans (Paddock, personal communication, 1983). The Tomb 6 patojo is smudged from cooking fires on its exterior lower half and has traces of lime on its interior from the water boiled within it. Two nubbin handles located on opposite sides of the vessel probably facilitated its removal from the cooking fire with the sides of the hands when hot. Remnants of a loop handle that had extended from the rim to the toe of the patojo were visible but the handle was broken and missing.

At Monte Albán, patojos are apparently scarce and occur in tomb and burial offerings of only the Pe (Monte Albán I) and Chila (Monte Albán V) phases (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:460). In the Tlacolula arm of the valley, however, a patojo was found in a Nisa phase (Monte Albán II) tomb offering at the site of Brawbehl and, of course, the Tomb 6 patojo dates to the Xoo phase. In addition, patojos have been found in Chila phase deposits at Macuilxóchitl (Markens, Winter, and Martínez 2008:206). Apart from the Tomb 6 example, no other patojo has been found in a tomb or burial offering at Lambityeco.

A single, well-burnished gray ceramic tecomate, with a conical bowl-like lid occurs in the antechamber offering. The vessel has a rim diameter of 15.5 cm and a height of 16.6 cm. Three small vertically placed handles occur on the body. A well-burnished, black-slipped ceramic lid, 20.3 cm in diameter and 8.5 cm high, covered the top of the tecomate. The lid also manifested three vertically placed handles. Similar tecomates, but without handles and lids, have been found on occasion in tomb and burial offerings at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:429, 430, fig. 364). The tecomate was located directly on the floor in the northeast corner of the antechamber with the lid in place on top of it (Fig. 7.5). Both were complete and intact. In Chapter 3, this tecomate with a lid was discussed and interpreted as a spinning kit, used to spin cotton fibers into thread (see Fig. 3.6b). The spinning kit was probably placed as an offering for one of the females buried in the tomb. The tecomate had within it two small manos, three spindle whorls, one double cup, and a small Fine Orange pitcher.

The sixty-two spindle whorls (bigus in modern Mitla Zapotec), represent the most numerous object of any single type in the Tomb 6 offering. The spindle whorls are reddish-brown (K-14 ware) in color and have small round holes near their centers. All were complete and intact and all were found in the antechamber. Fifty-eight spindle whorls were found together like beads on a necklace from which the string has disintegrated. They were located in the north niche and probably served as an offering for one of the females buried in Tomb 6. They ranged between 3.4 cm and 4.1 cm in diameter and were from 3 mm to 4 mm thick.

Four other spindle whorls were found separate from the above fifty-eight. Three of these were inside the tecomate with the lid discussed above. Their diameters measured 3.1 cm, 3.5 cm, and 3.7 cm and all were 3 mm thick. The fourth spindle whorl was found directly on the antechamber floor and measured 3.6 cm in diameter and was 3 mm thick. Whether all of these spindle whorls were intended as an offering for a single female or constituted parts of separate offerings for more than one of the females buried in Tomb 6 is uncertain. In Chapter 3, these spindle whorls were illustrated and discussed as implements for spinning cotton (see Fig. 3.6a).

Two stone manos were found in the antechamber offering located inside the tecomate with a lid. Both were complete and intact and manifested parallel scratch marks on their surfaces, which showed that they had been used (see Fig. 3.6b). One of the manos is oblong in shape and has a triangular cross-section. It was made of a fine-grain gray rock, probably basalt. All three of its surfaces were very smooth and two showed striations, indicating use in a back-and-forth rubbing motion. Both of these surfaces manifested traces of red pigment. This mano measured 12.2 cm long, 6 cm wide, and 5.9 cm thick. The second mano is oval in shape and has a somewhat elliptical cross-section. It measured 10.1 cm long, 7.6 cm wide, and 5.7 cm thick and was made from a whitish coarse-grain rock, probably granite. Because of its shape it had only two grinding surfaces. One of these was smooth and showed striations, indicating use in a back-and-forth rubbing motion. This surface had traces of red pigment on it. The other surface was rough and heavily pitted and lacked traces of any pigment.

At Lambityeco, manos occur in offerings in elaborate tombs, simple tombs, and plain graves. Manos functioned as grinding stones, somewhat like rolling pins, and served principally to grind corn into meal but also to grind chocolate. The Tomb 6 manos show only slight wear and had obviously been used to grind red pigment, probably hematite. The red pigment may have been used to dye threads or to paint parts of the tomb, bones, or other objects. Therefore, the manos, like the spindle whorls, may have formed part of the spinning kit contained within the tecomate with a lid or simply left in the tecomate after having been used to grind hematite for the red paint used in the tomb.

In her study of manos from excavations at Lambityeco, Victoria Bach (1971) demonstrated that a difference exists between manos from mortuary offerings and those found in middens or other household contexts. The household manos were all heavily worn and broken following daily use in Zapotec kitchens and had been discarded in middens. Those in mortuary offerings were in good condition—unbroken and showing little signs of wear. No study of the manos from tomb and burial offerings at Monte Albán has been published.

A single double cup was found in the antechamber offering. It is a gray ceramic vessel but was coated with a lime whitewash. Both of the cups forming the double cup were virtually the same size—one was 9.3 cm high and the other 9.2 cm high. Although this double cup was found inside the tecomate with a lid (see Fig. 3.6b), it does not appear to be associated with the spinning kit, as mentioned in Chapter 3, and may have been picked up and placed in the tecomate following one of the many reopenings of the tomb. Like the double cup in the lintel offering, the function of the example in the antechamber offering is unknown, although it may have been used for mixing liquids or powders.

Two vessels, one with a lid, constitute the three pieces of Fine Orange from the antechamber offering (Fig. 7.20b). One vessel is a small pitcher with a maximum diameter of 6.8 cm and a height of 9.1 cm. Similar Fine Orange pitchers occur at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:383, table XVI). No macroscopic traces of contents were found within the Tomb 6 pitcher. The pitcher was complete and intact.

7.20. Patojo, Fine Orange vessels, and bone implements from Tomb 6

The vessel with the lid is in the form of a small goblet (Fig. 7.20b). This vessel has a rim diameter of 4 cm and is 5 cm high. Two tiny holes 3 mm in diameter occur just below the rim on opposite sides of the vessel. The lid, which fits over the mouth of the goblet, is in the form of a circular cap 5.7 cm in diameter and 1.5 cm tall. Two tiny holes 2 mm in diameter occur on opposite sides of the top of the lid. The presence of the holes in the lid and in the goblet suggests that both parts could be securely fastened by means of a string.

A virtually identical goblet and lid, but of G-7, or black-slipped, ware and not Fine Orange, was found in Tomb 92 at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:438, fig. 372). Several other “goblets” with lids but without pedestal supports occur in tomb offerings at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:418) and one example is Fine Orange (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:430, fig. 364d). The function of these receptacles with lids is unknown. The Tomb 6 goblet lacked macroscopic traces of any contents. The goblet was intact, although a small fragment was broken from its pedestal base and missing from the vicinity of the tomb.

The tiny pitcher and the tiny goblet with a lid appear to have formed a set that served as an offering for one of the individuals buried in Tomb 6. The pitcher was located inside the tecomate with a lid, and the goblet and lid were situated in the north niche with the string of fifty-eight spindle whorls wrapped around them (Fig. 7.5). Although intact, all three pieces were located in places that would inhibit accidental breakage. This, combined with the fact that a piece was broken and missing from the goblet, suggests that these Fine Orange vessels had been placed with an earlier, instead of the last, offering.

Four bone battens were found in the antechamber offering (Fig. 3.6c). Three of the battens were large and made from deer tibiae split lengthwise and cut and rounded or squared off at the distal ends. All three have the proximal ends intact and were made from the posterior halves of left tibiae—one of these from an immature deer. All three also had traces of red paint near their proximal ends. One measured 25.5 cm long and was 2.2 cm wide and 9 mm thick at the small end. Its end was squared. The second measured 24.6 cm long and was 1.5 cm wide and 1 cm thick at the small end. Its end was rounded. The third measured 21.8 cm long and was 2 cm wide and 1.1 cm thick at the small end. Its end was concave. All three occur directly on the antechamber floor—two near one another and the third a short distance away. In Chapter 3, these battens were discussed and interpreted as weaving implements.

The fourth bone “batten” was similar in form to the above three but was very small (Fig. 7.20c). It measured only 3.8 cm long and was 8 mm wide and 4 mm thick at the small end. Its end was squared. It was broken but complete and the type of animal bone and anatomical element from which it was made is unknown.

Three bone pins or awls were clustered together above the floor of the antechamber (Fig. 7.20c). The type of animal bone from which they were made is not known. Each is rounded on its thick end and narrows to a point at its thin end. All have more or less round cross-sections. One is 8.2 cm long and 3 mm thick. The second is 9 cm long and 4 mm thick, and the third is 7.4 cm long and 4 mm thick. All are heavily pitted near their pointed ends as if they had been chewed, or perhaps this texture merely reflects the trabecular tissue⁴ of the bones used to make these objects.

In their size, shape, and pitted ends, the small awls or pins appear remarkably similar to the small awls used by the Dugum Dani (illustrated in Robert Gardner’s film Dead Birds) to weave funerary bands. In the process of weaving these bands, the Dani are constantly sticking the awls between their teeth to free their hands so that they can pull the cord through the loops they have made with the awls. The ones from Tomb 6 may have served a similar function, and been used in a similar manner, or they may have served to weave baskets.

A single obsidian blade occurred in the antechamber offering. It was a whole blade, complete and intact, with a ground striking platform. It measured 9.3 cm long, 1.2 cm wide, and 3 mm thick. The whole blade was unmodified and showed no evidence of use retouch, which indicates that it was a “new” and unused item when placed in the tomb as an offering. In Zapotec daily life, unmodified blades functioned as cutting implements. Similar blades are found in offerings in elaborate tombs, simple tombs, and plain graves at Lambityeco. The Tomb 6 blade was black and probably came from the Altotonga source in Veracruz.

An object that had been coated with a veneer of green paint was found in the antechamber offering near the floor. Although only the green painted veneer was preserved for a length of 21.5 cm and a width of 3 cm, it appears that it had once coated a wooden object. This object may have been a blowgun. Parsons (1936:48–49) mentions that the Zapotecs of Mitla and Huilá used angular, not round, green painted blowguns and clay pellets to hunt birds and rabbits. She states that the blowguns were about eight feet long and that the mouth end into which the clay pellet was placed narrowed down to an inch in diameter. It is possible, then, that this was the remnants of a blowgun that had been placed in the antechamber as an offering for one of the males. Reinforcing this interpretation is a solid ceramic ball or sphere 4 cm in diameter that was located in the north niche of the antechamber. It was reddish-brown in color, like the spindle whorls, and was complete and intact. It most likely served as a pellet for a blowgun. Tiny ceramic balls or pellets have also been found in tomb offerings at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:437, 440, fig. 374). Ceramic pellets occur in offerings in both elaborate and simple tombs at Lambityeco, but none has been found in offerings in plain graves.

A single greenstone bead, 1.4 cm in diameter and 9 mm thick, was found in the antechamber offering (Fig. 7.19a). Greenstone beads occur in offerings in elaborate and simple tombs as well as plain graves at both Lambityeco and Monte Albán. The widespread Mesoamerican custom of placing a greenstone bead in the mouth of the deceased does not appear to have been followed at Lambityeco, because no primary burials have been found to have had greenstone beads placed in their mouths. However, given the disturbed nature of tomb burials, it is possible that some individuals, particularly in elite tombs, were interred with a greenstone bead in the mouth.

An earring made from a single large canine tooth, probably from a jaguar or mountain lion, occurred on the antechamber floor near the greenstone bead (Fig. 7.19b). The earring was made by splitting the canine longitudinally—one half forming this earring was found in the antechamber and the other half came from the main chamber. Both earrings were 5.7 cm long, 1.3 cm wide, and 1 cm thick. The pointed end of the canine formed the lower end of the earring and two holes 2 mm in diameter were drilled horizontally, perforating the upper (root) end of the tooth for suspension. The main chamber example had its upper end partially broken near the top of the holes. The jaguar tooth earring pendants are like those rendered in the portrait head of Lord 1 Lachi that decorates the façade of Tomb 6. These were most likely the earrings he was wearing when he was buried in the main chamber of Tomb 6. The two earrings probably became scattered between the main chamber and antechamber when his bones were removed from the tomb.

A single bracelet that may have been made from bark cloth was found in the north niche of the antechamber (Fig. 7.19b). It was squashed nearly flat and measured 5.4 cm long, 2.4 cm wide, and 4 mm thick. The interior edges on both sides of the bracelet are notched. If it was a bracelet, it either had not been worn by one of the individuals buried in the tomb or was removed from their bones and placed in the north niche.

A single hollow bone tube was found in the north niche of the antechamber. It measures 7.6 cm long and is 8 mm in diameter. It is broken at both ends, which makes it impossible to determine if the ends had been cut purposefully to shape it into a small hollow tube. Perhaps the tube was open on one end and closed on the other, forming a case for the bone awls or pins found in the antechamber.

Most of the remains of two immature dogs occur in the antechamber. The immature dogs had their remains scattered outside the tomb in the area of the door offering, indicating that they had formed part of an earlier offering in the antechamber. Canseco (1580:145, 149) reports that Zapotecs sacrificed dogs to ancestral coqui, and Parsons (1936:152) cites Mitla Zapotecs, who refer to dogs who help them cross a big river when they die. At Lambityeco, dogs occur as offerings associated with individuals buried in elaborate tombs, simple tombs, and plain graves (Urcid 1983; Zárate 1992).

The remains of at least eight small birds occur in the tomb; two in the south niche of the antechamber and six scattered between the antechamber and main chamber. One bird skull was found together with some of the remains of the immature dogs in the area of the door offering outside the tomb. It appears that originally all the birds were in the antechamber and some of their remains were displaced to the main chamber and outside the tomb door.

Although the bird remains have not been identified yet, two varieties are represented. Sacrificial offerings of birds were quite common at the time of the Conquest. Zapotecs from Mitla and Tlacolula were reported to have sacrificed quail, turkeys, and other birds (Canseco 1580:149). Because the birds in Tomb 6 are small (none is a turkey), it is possible that they are the remains of quail (gidgish in modern Mitla Zapotec) and mitreños (bigin in modern Mitla Zapotec)—small crested birds—both of which occur in the area and probably served as sacrificial offerings in Prehispanic times (Parsons 1936:495, 553). Birds occur as offerings in elaborate tombs at Lambityeco.

THE MAIN CHAMBER OFFERING

Few artifacts, in comparison with the antechamber, were placed in the main chamber. Only twenty-one objects, mostly serving vessels, were left as offerings (Fig. 7.5). The last burial (68-22) placed in the main chamber, that of Lady 10 Naa, did not have her body passed through the tomb door and antechamber. Instead, she was buried directly in the main chamber by way of a hole dug through the altar and Tomb 5 (Fig. 7.1). The hole collapsed the roof of the main chamber, which was made of adobes arranged to form a vault. These adobes and the fill above them fell onto the main chamber floor and some spilled out into the east end of the antechamber. Lady 10 Naa was buried directly on top of the rubble formed by the collapsed roof and fill. A mat shroud was placed over her body and two G-35 bowls, one inside the other, were placed in an upright position near her right elbow. These two G-35 bowls and the mat shroud appear to have been the only offerings accompanying her remains (Fig. 7.3).

The remaining offerings in the main chamber were mixed in with the rubble and fill from the collapsed roof or near the main chamber floor beneath the fill. Most of the bones of the individuals buried in the main chamber before her had been partially removed some time prior to the placement of her body. Most of the earlier offerings were left mixed with the rubble from the collapsed roof and fill, and five G-35 bowls appear to have been removed from the main chamber and placed in what was left of Tomb 5 coincident with her burial (see Figs. 5.6 and 5.7; Table 5.2).

Apart from the two G-35 bowls associated with Lady 10 Naa, four others occur in the main chamber offering. One was assembled from sherds scattered throughout the rubble from the collapsed roof and therefore was not located three-dimensionally. Three G-35 bowls, placed upright one inside another (#23, #24, and #25 in Fig. 7.13) and located in the southwest corner of the main chamber near the floor, were covered by rubble from the collapsed roof (Fig. 7.21b). One of these is a small G-35 bowl (#23) and the other two are large (#24 and #25). All of these G-35 bowls were broken and certainly formed offerings for one or more of the earlier burials in the main chamber (Fig. 7.21a). No macroscopic contents were found in any of the G-35 bowls (Table 7.9).

Five miniature bowls occur in the main chamber offering (Fig. 7.22a, Table 7.10). Three of these are conical cups. All are gray and unburnished. Similar miniature conical cups occur in tomb and burial offerings at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:396, fig. 325a; 397). Two other miniatures are G-35 bowls. One is burnished and lacks supports, and the other is also burnished but had solid tripod supports that were broken and missing. A total of 149 Xoo phase tripod-supported miniature G-35 bowls, but only two without supports, occurs in offerings (including tomb and burial offerings) at Monte Albán (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967:400, 401, fig. 330a). The function of these miniatures is unknown, although they may have served as receptacles for condiments.

A single hemispherical bowl, very similar to one found in the fill in front of the tomb, was found in the main chamber offering (Fig. 7.22b). It was burnished and had a rim diameter of 16 cm and a height of 11 cm. The bowl, although broken and missing a piece, was nearly complete. The bowl probably functioned as a serving vessel for beverages. However, it lacked macroscopic traces of contents.

7.21. G-35 bowls in the main chamber of Tomb 6

TABLE 7.9. G-35 bowls in the main chamber

Note:

1. For bowl base designs see Figure 7.14.

TABLE 7.10. Miniature vessels from Tomb 6

A single bone batten was found in the main chamber. It was virtually identical to the three large bone battens from the antechamber (see Fig. 3.6c). It measured 21.3 cm long and was 2 cm wide at the base and 8 mm thick. Its end was slightly concave. Like the battens in the antechamber, this one was made from a deer tibia split lengthwise and cut off at the distal end. The proximal end of this batten is cut, precluding identification of the side of the deer tibia from which it was manufactured. However, like the others, its proximal end contained traces of red paint.

7.22. Miniature and hemispherical bowls from Tomb 6

A large bone pin was also left in the main chamber offering (Fig. 7.20c). Unlike the much smaller bone awls or pins from the antechamber, this one measures 17.7 cm long and has an elliptical cross-section that is 9 mm wide and 3 mm thick. Although large bone pins occur in other elaborate tombs at Lambityeco, their function is unknown. It is possible that the pin served as a weaving implement or perhaps to secure a fancy headdress or coiffure like a hat pin.

A single distal phalanx from a deer was uncovered in the main chamber. It measured 2.6 cm long and, because of its pointed configuration, may have been used as an awl (Fig. 7.20c).

A triangular-shaped shell pendant was found in the main chamber offering (Fig. 7.19a). It is 2.5 cm long, l cm wide at the base, and 4 mm thick. Its upper (pointed) end has a hole drilled through it for suspension. The hole measures 4 mm in diameter on one side, narrowing to 2 mm in diameter on the opposite side. The lower half of the pendant was cut off diagonally. Its color is reddish-brown on one side and off-white on the other.

A bone pendant found in the main chamber was assembled from fragments screened from the rubble layer (Fig. 7.19b). The pendant was made from a piece of bone cut from a large mammal. It is highly polished and rounded at its upper part where a 2 mm hole was drilled through it for suspension. The pendant measures 1.3 cm wide and 3 mm thick and has a length (as far as its broken end) of 3.2 cm.

Part of the skeletal remains of a mature dog was found in situ on the floor of the main chamber. However, some of its remains were also found in the antechamber and a few of its bones were outside Tomb 6 on top of the altar through which the hole had been dug to gain access to the main chamber. Whether the dog was sacrificed in the main chamber to accompany his master to the hereafter or had been sacrificed before putting it into the main chamber is unknown.

PATTERNS IN THE TOMB 6 OFFERINGS

Despite considerable disturbance, patterns are evident in the offerings associated with Tomb 6. Both earlier and later lintel offerings contain all of the urns, effigy figures, and bipod effigy vases as is attested by their presence in and around the vicinity of the lintel and by the final arrangement in front of the portrait heads that decorate the façade above the lintel. No urns, urn fragments, effigy figures (with the possible exception of the bat effigy brazier in the door offering), or bipod effigy vases were found within the door, antechamber, or main chamber offerings. Even a piece of the carved stone tablet was found in the area of the lintel, suggesting that it may have formed part of a lintel offering.

The function of these urns and effigy figures has been debated. Caso and Bernal (1952) considered them to embody Zapotec deities. Marcus (1983) interpreted them as deceased ancestors impersonating supernatural forces. Sellen has taken a middle ground between these positions, suggesting that they represent noble ancestors impersonating deities in various ritual activities and that “these images accompanied the impersonator to his or her grave, where perhaps they continued to play a ritual role in the afterlife” (Sellen 2002:17).

We posit, following Sellen, that the Cociyo urn from the lintel in Tomb 6 represents an ancestral impersonator of the Zapotec deity of rain and lightning. Three of the bipod effigy vases depict Cociyo and the fourth has a human face with a Glyph C in the headdress that relates to Cociyo. Caso and Bernal (1952:40) noted that most bipod effigy vases are associated with the rain god. The large plaster busts of Cociyo decorating a small room in Mound 190 at Lambityeco (see Fig. 5.3) show Cociyo pouring water from similar vases (Lind and Urcid 1983:84, fig. 12b). The bipod effigy vases, then, were clearly ritual items associated with the rain deity and were certainly used in rituals aimed at petitioning rain and hence good maize crops. The latter theme is also evident in the two nearly identical human effigy figures with renditions of mature and budding maize in their headdresses. Originally, these two effigies and the incomplete one similar to them found in the fill (Fig. 7.9d) may have formed a set of five, the smaller ones occupying the four quadrants of the world and the larger one representing Lord 1 Lachi as the axis mundi. Such a tableau would have construed the ruler as overseer of the four corners in rituals involving the planting, growth, and harvesting of maize. Such rituals were probably conducted by Lord 1 Lachi during his lifetime.

A similar tableau may have been formed by the box and lid urn, with the representation of one of the previous rulers embodying Pitao Cozobi placed in the center and four now missing box and lid urns of Cociyo in the four corners. This other tableau may have been deployed in rituals related to rainmaking that were enacted by the household heads during their lifetimes.

The bearded male effigy figure may also represent Lord 1 Lachi in yet another ritual role. Given the long robe that covers him and the sacrificial knife hanging from a necklace around his neck, it is possible that this depicts him in his role as a sacrificer. The carved tablet depicts Lady 10 Naa addressing the highly venerated apical ancestor of the noble lineage, Lord 2 Alligator, perhaps making an important legitimatizing claim upon the death of her husband. Finally, the jaguar effigy vessel is a symbol of the noble status of those venerated ancestors buried in the tomb.

Many of the objects in the door offering reflect rituals performed before and during the opening or following the closing of the door to the tomb. The seven ladle censers are more or less symmetrically arranged in front of the north and south door jambs, and the two spiked braziers together with the three braziers (including the bat effigy brazier) from displaced offerings testify to a great deal of activity involving the ritual burning of incense. Likewise, the two obsidian awls (and two additional obsidian blades found in the fill) most likely relate to bloodletting rituals in front of the tomb door to invoke the ancestors.

Apart from rituals involving bloodletting and incense burning, the objects in the door offering also imply offerings associated with food. Ten small G-35 bowls, which most likely functioned as food-serving dishes, were purposefully arranged on either side of the door and an additional four bowls were recovered from the fill. Likewise, a hemispherical bowl from the fill probably functioned as a beverage container. Remnants of two large storage vessels found in the fill, an olla and tecomate, may have served as water and/or food storage containers.

The door offering, then, appears to have been the principal locus of ritual incense burning and bloodletting preparatory to opening the tomb door and perhaps following the closing of the door. It was also the locus for placing offerings of food and drink in serving and storage vessels—an activity that took place as a last rite subsequent to closing the tomb door.

Despite the quantity and diversity of objects left in the antechamber, certain patterns are evident. The twelve G-35 and K-14 bowls indicate that the antechamber, even more than the door, was a locus for offerings of food. Besides food-serving bowls, the antechamber offering included four ladle censers and a spiked brazier that are artifacts related to the burning of incense. The small number of incense burners in comparison with the door offering suggests that these incense burners were carried into the antechamber by the few people allowed in there and were left following their use in ritually purifying the area.

The remains of two immature dogs and eight birds were left in the antechamber. It is possible that they were sacrificed in front of the tomb door and their remains deposited inside. The dogs were most likely immolated in accordance with a pan-Mesoamerican belief that they would aid their masters in the journey to the hereafter. Bird sacrifice was a common Zapotec ritual for the invocation of ancestors at the time of the Conquest and clearly formed part of elite Zapotec rituals during the Xoo phase, as further evidenced by their representation in several carved monuments.

Most, nearly 75 percent, of the objects in the antechamber appear to be personal items or special items intended as offerings for specific individuals buried in the tomb. Artifacts corresponding to spinning, weaving, food preparation, hunting, and personal adornments occur in the antechamber offering. The personal adornments are scarce and include a jaguar tooth earring (whose counterpart was found in the main chamber), a bark-cloth bracelet, and a greenstone bead. Two objects, a possible blowgun and ceramic pellet, most likely relate to hunting and were probably placed in the tomb as an offering for one of the males. One item, a patojo, is associated with food preparation and most likely formed an offering for one of the females.

Items associated with spinning are the most common. These include sixty-two spindle whorls, of which fifty-eight were found strung together and left in the north niche, and the spinning kit formed by the tecomate with a lid, which also contained three spindle whorls. The other spindle whorl was found on the antechamber floor. These items probably formed offerings for the females buried in the tomb. Two manos were also found in the tecomate with a lid and may have been used to grind pigments to produce dyes. However, these may not have been offerings at all but simply manos left in the tomb after grinding pigment for paint or powder either to paint the tomb or to sprinkle on the remains of the deceased.

The one small and three large bone battens found in the antechamber were weaving implements. Although spinning is a female activity, there is no reason to assume weaving is female associated. Today, Zapotec men from Teotitlán del Valle, Santa Ana del Valle, and Mitla are the weavers, but this may result from the introduction of mechanized wooden looms after the Conquest; women appear to have been the weavers before the Conquest. The three bone awls or pins were also most likely weaving implements; none had an eye for sewing. They may have been used to weave baskets but their specific gender association is uncertain.

The small Fine Orange pitcher and tiny Fine Orange goblet with a lid appear to have formed a matched set. These exceptionally fine pieces must have been a prized possession or offerings for one of the individuals buried in the tomb. The single complete and intact obsidian blade found on the antechamber floor was new and unused and may have been intended as a cutting implement or a blade to be used in ritual bloodletting in the hereafter. Finally, the double cup found inside the tecomate with a lid, like the double cup in the lintel offering, is of uncertain function. The small size and double nature of these cups suggest that they may have been used to mix liquids or powders.

The main chamber from the time of its construction as part of Structure 4 was the mortuary facility set apart to house the mortal remains. However, with the exception of the last interment, most of the bones of earlier burials in the main chamber had been removed. Few objects were left as offerings and most of those that were appear to have been limited to a few carefully arranged serving vessels and in one case at least a sacrificed dog placed next to its master. The food-serving bowls include two large and four small G-35 bowls; in addition, the four small and one large G-35 bowl found in Tomb 5 should be included because they were most likely removed from the main chamber when the hole was dug to place the last burial. The five miniature bowls probably served as containers for condiments, although the three conical ones may have been used for beverages. The hemispherical bowl was likely a container for beverages.

The remaining objects in the main chamber appear to have been objects with which the bodies were attired for burial. These include the jaguar tooth earrings (of which one was found in the antechamber) that were probably worn by Lord 1 Lachi. In addition, the shell and bone pendants were most likely worn by individuals buried in the main chamber, and it is possible that the tubular shell bead and pendant sifted from in front of the tomb had been displaced from the main chamber along with the shell disk during one of the reopenings of the tomb. The long bone pin (if it was not a weaving implement) may have been used to secure a fancy headdress or functioned as a hairpin for an elaborate coiffure.

The bone batten and awl made from a deer phalanx originally may have been left as offerings in the main chamber or may have been displaced from the antechamber during one of the reopenings of the tomb. The bone batten is almost identical to three other bone battens in the antechamber and all four probably formed a matched set for one of the individuals buried in the tomb.

The traces of a mat shroud with the last burial are important. No other burial in any tomb in Oaxaca has produced evidence of a shroud. It is possible that other burials at Lambityeco and elsewhere in the Valley of Oaxaca were covered with shrouds of which no traces remain.

NOTES

1. This chapter represents a revised and expanded version of an earlier article on Tomb 6 published by Lind (2002).

2. Osteophytosis refers to the development of nodules of dense bone along the margins of articulations related to the aging process or to trauma.

3. By its very nature, the lintel offering had to be removed each time the tomb was opened and replaced each time the hole in front of the façade was filled. The hole in front of the façade was opened and filled at least five times to place five burials before the sixth and final burial was interred through the roof of the main chamber. However, the tomb was also most likely reopened an additional number of times to retrieve the bones of immediate ancestors once the flesh had decayed and also to conduct rituals invoking the ancestors.

4. Trabecular tissue, in contrast with dense cortical tissue, characterizes the inner structure in the ends of long bones or in other anatomical elements such as the bodies of vertebrae, sacrum, or pelvic bones. This beam-like structure reduces the overall weight of bones at the same time that it provides strength for the attachment of muscles.