chapter nine

Mound 195: Structures 195-2 and 195-1

Structures 195-2 and 195-1 were the final residences built atop Mound 195. Structure 195-2 was the first to be erected and it served as a temporary residence pending completion of Structure 195-1, which was the final residence. The sequence of events leading up to the building of Structure 195-2 begins with activities surrounding the abandonment of Structure 195-3SE.

Several features in the archaeological remains of Structure 195-3SE correspond to those final activities. These features relate to events taking place just before abandonment and accommodations made during the first stages of construction of Mound 195, which was to cover the houses of Mound 195 Sub and provide a platform atop which first Structure 195-2 and then Structure 195-1 were to be built.

Structure 195-3SE was the first part of the house to be abandoned. Major activities centered on Tomb 6 and the last burial placed in it, the Structure 195-3 female household head, Lady 10 Naa. As noted earlier, she was buried in Tomb 6 by way of a hole dug through the center of the altar to gain direct access to the main chamber. Following her burial the hole was only partially filled and the altar was never repaired. Structure 195-3SE was abandoned following her interment. The hole through the altar was not completely filled until later construction material used to raise Mound 195 was deposited over Structure 195-3SE. The fill clearly dipped into the hole (Fig. 9.1).

9.1. The hole through the altar and later fill

Lady 10 Naa died and was buried in Tomb 6 some time following the death of her husband, Lord 1 Lachi. The final opening of Tomb 6 to retrieve his bones was associated with a calibrated radiocarbon date of 800 CE. If this date is reasonably accurate for the removal of his bones, then Lady 10 Naa died sometime after 800 CE and immediately before the abandonment of Structure 195-3SE. Because she was apparently at least forty-five years old when she died, it seems unlikely that her death occurred more than ten years after the removal of her husband’s bones. Therefore, her death and the abandonment of Structure 195-3SE probably occurred around 810 CE.

STRUCTURE 195-3SE POST-ABANDONMENT ACTIVITIES

Excavations revealed that, following abandonment, adobe retaining walls had been built projecting westward from the west side (front) of Structure 195-3SE and construction fill was used to raise Mound 195 in this area. The west room of Structure 195-3SE remained partly covered with construction fill for some time, as indicated by a differential discoloration of the plaster on the room walls showing the level to which the room had been filled. Following abandonment, the western part (entry and west room) of Structure 195-3SE and the area west of it—extending to the front of Mound 195—was built up to form the base of the western half of Mound 195, whereas the eastern part of Structure 195-3SE was abandoned but remained free of construction fill for some time (Fig. 9.2).

Excavations revealed evidence of some of the post-abandonment activities on the floors of Structure 195-3SE. Explorations uncovered deposits of trash and some areas where fires had been built on the floors. Some time following abandonment, the roof of the southeast corner room burned. The charred roof poles and thatching were left on the room floor where they had fallen until they were covered by construction fill used to raise the eastern half of Mound 195. Excavations recovered remnants of the charred thatching and roof poles (see Fig. 6.5c).

A sample of carbonized thatching yielded an anomalous uncalibrated radiocarbon date of 1055±95 CE that should be corrected (Rabin 1970:14–15).¹ A second sample of wood charcoal from the charred roof poles rendered an acceptable calibrated radiocarbon date of 830 CE. Wolfman (1973:199, 232) also obtained an archaeomagnetic date of 725 CE from the floor, which was oxidized by the heat of the fire when the room burned but this date seems much too early.²

9.2. Plan and profiles of Structure 195-2 showing its relationship to Structure 195-3

STRUCTURE 195-3NE

Structure 195-3NE remained occupied following abandonment of Structure 195-3SE (Fig. 9.2). The new occupants of Structure 195-3NE, almost certainly unrelated to the former noble family that previously had occupied the household, were probably responsible for depositing and burning trash on the floors of Structure 195-3SE. They also set the fire, apparently purposefully, that burned the roof of the southeast corner room.

In order to remain in Structure 195-3NE after the abandonment of Structure 195-3SE and following initiation of construction of the western half of Mound 195, it was necessary for the new occupants to create an unencumbered entry. After the final remodeling of Structure 195-3, the only access to Structure 195-3NE from the outside was via the west entry to Structure 195-3SE (see Fig. 6.1). Because this entrance was blocked by construction of the western half of Mound 195, a new entry was needed.

The new occupants of Structure 195-3NE opened a doorway through the wall in the southwest corner of the west entrance hall. Outside this doorway they built a narrow (70 cm wide) raised walkway that ran northward along the west side of the house and cornered to turn east outside the wall of the northwest corner room. That the walkway was somewhat makeshift is apparent from its alignment, which does not neatly parallel the west wall of the house but angles toward the east.

The walkway was delineated by a single row of stones at its western edge, forming its curb (Fig. 9.3). The ancient excavation made to place this curb cut through the western edge of the floors of the earlier Structure 195-4NE west and northwest rooms. The remaining sections of these floors, east of the curb, were reused as the “flooring” of the walkway. The ancient excavation made to place the curb also resulted in destroying the cranium of Burial 68-19, which had originally been placed beneath the floor of the northwest corner room of Structure 195-4NE (see Fig. 5.15c).

Construction of the doorway communicating with the walkway provided an unencumbered entry to Structure 195-3NE while the western half of Mound 195 was being built. The location of the walkway helps explain why the north wall of Mound 195 was purposefully terminated where it was. Because the walkway leads straight to the end of the north wall, it is evident that the wall was terminated so that it would not inhibit passage to and from Structure 195-3NE while the western half of Mound 195 was being built up (Figs. 9.4a and b). Also, the adobe retaining walls used to contain the fill in the northwest section of Mound 195 were purposefully terminated about 1.6 m directly west of the walkway, which prevented filling operations from obstructing passage to and from Structure 195-3NE along the walkway.

9.3. The walkway along the west side of Structure 195-3NE

CONSTRUCTION OF THE WESTERN HALF OF MOUND 195

While Structure 195-3NE remained occupied, filling operations were in progress to build the western half of Mound 195. The filling operations were carried out in two stages. First, the entire western half of Mound 195 was elevated between 2.5 m and 3.5 m with construction fill—the northern sector being raised to a level of 2.5 m and the southern sector to 3.5 m. Most of the material used as fill in these lower levels is ash mixed with earth and was probably obtained from refuse deposits around salt production areas (Fig. 9.2).

9.4. Purposeful termination of the north wall of Mound 195 and fill of hemispherical adobes in Mounds 195 and 190

The second stage of filling operations involved the selection of an area 11 m by 16 m in the northwest sector of Mound 195. This area was to be the locus of the construction of Structure 195-2. The eastern limits of the area were marked off by the construction of a sturdy adobe retaining wall. West of this wall a fill of hemispherical adobes was placed, providing a solid containment for the area being filled (Fig. 9.4c). A similar fill of hemispherical adobes underlies Structure 190-1, the last house built atop Mound 190, indicating that it was built around the same time (Fig. 9.4d). A 1.4 m layer of fill was then placed, elevating Mound 195 to a level of nearly 4 m in this area. Most of the material used as fill in this area was a reddish-brown gravelly soil that occurs as a natural geological formation underlying the topsoil at Lambityeco.

It is apparent that this reddish-brown gravel came from excavations along the western front of Mound 195—excavations undertaken in conjunction with the construction of a large plaza (System 195) attached to the west side of Mound 195. Because the natural terrain slopes downward from north to south in the area where the plaza was laid out, it was necessary to level the area prior to construction. This was done not by adding fill to the south but by excavation in the north to bring this section down to the desired level. The earth removed from this excavation was a reddish-brown gravel.

The fill within the western half of Mound 195 was faced on its north, south, and west sides by large taludes made of faced stone. Its north wall was about 19 m long and 2.5 m high (Fig. 9.5a). As noted above, it was purposefully terminated in the east to allow access to Structure 195-3NE. The south wall of Mound 195 was also about 19 m long and 2.5 m high (Fig. 9.5b). The west wall, or front, of Mound 195 was about 33 m long and nearly 3 m high (Fig. 9.5c). It cornered with the north and south walls and had a 1.37 m wide raised walkway along its base, which fronted on the large plaza of System 195. At the center of the west wall was a 9 m wide stairway, consisting of nine steps, which led from the plaza below to the top of Mound 195.

The fill in the northwest sector atop which Structure 195-2 was to be constructed left a platform elevated above the level of the surrounding fill in the southwestern half of Mound 195. Directly east of this elevated area in front of Structure 195-3NE the fill remained exposed for some time, as indicated by the presence of a weathered surface identified in excavations in this area. The fill in the southern sector of the western half of Mound 195 was about 40 to 50 cm below the level of the elevated northwest sector. Excavation in this southwestern sector revealed a cluster of features interpreted as a work area related to the construction of Structure 195-2 and later Structure 195-1.

9.5. North, south, and west walls of Mound 195

These features include a plaster-lined basin, a kiln, and a collection of rim sherds placed on edge and arranged in a series of concentric circles (Fig. 9.2). The basin and kiln were only partly uncovered because the Structure 195-1 west room with its panel of step frets partially covered them. The kiln, made of adobes, was circular in form and measured about 1 m in diameter. It probably functioned to produce lime for plaster. The plaster basin was also circular and measured about 1.1 m in diameter (Fig. 9.6a). It probably served as a deposit for water used to mix plaster. The circular area of rim sherds measured about 80 cm in diameter although only its southwestern section still retained rim sherds in situ. The rim sherds were probably selected and arranged by masons’ helpers and used by the masons in the construction of Structure 195-2 and, later, Structure 195-1. This work area atop the southwestern sector of Mound 195, then, was probably established preparatory to the construction of Structure 195-2 and probably remained in use until the later Structure 195-1 was nearly complete.³

Two radiocarbon samples were obtained from within the fill beneath the level of Structure 195-2. Neither sample was sealed by Structure 195-2 construction (Fig. 9.2). One sample consisted of wood charcoal gathered within the fill. This sample yielded a calibrated radiocarbon date of 805 CE. The other sample, also wood charcoal, was gathered in direct association with an “offering” that had been placed in the fill (Paddock, Mogor, and Lind 1968:23). It rendered a calibrated radiocarbon date of 830 CE. These dates indicate that the fill was probably placed sometime between ca. 800 and 830 CE and that Structure 195-2 was built shortly thereafter.

9.6. Plaster basin in the work area and vessels from the “centerline offering”

The “offering” with which the calibrated radiocarbon date of 830 CE was associated occurred in construction fill near the east-west centerline of Mound 195. It includes seven vessels arranged in three groups (Fig. 9.6c; Table 9.1). The first group (#1 in Fig. 9.6b) was composed of a large upright hemispherical bowl with a small G-35 bowl inverted and placed inside it. The G-35 bowl had a small hole drilled through its base. The area immediately surrounding these two vessels was replete with charcoal, suggesting that a small ritual fire was made in association with the “offering” (Paddock, Mogor, and Lind 1968:23). The calibrated radiocarbon date of 830 CE came from charcoal gathered from within the large hemispherical bowl and above the base of the G-35 bowl inverted within it. The second group of vessels (#2 in Fig. 9.6b) included a small upright hemispherical bowl with two small inverted bowls, one a K-14 and the other a G-35, covering it. The third group (#3 in Fig. 9.6b) consisted of an upright burnished black tripod bowl with a small inverted G-35 bowl covering it. Caso, Bernal, and Acosta (1967:406, 411, fig. 341b) illustrate similar Xoo phase burnished black tripod bowls from Monte Albán.

TABLE 9.1. Objects from the “centerline offering”

Note:

1. For base designs see Figure 7.14.

Although referred to as the “centerline offering,” which implies a ritual or dedicatory cache placed within Mound 195, an alternate interpretation is possible. The “offering” may correspond to the ritual interment of umbilical cords from babies born to the Structure 195-2 household. Parsons (1936:76), writing of Mitla seventy years ago, noted that Mitleños place the umbilical cord from a newly born baby in a small jar covered by a bowl and bury it under the house floor. In 1980, Lind found upon inquiry that the practice still occurred in Mitla and Tlacolula, where the bowls are covered and buried beneath the patio of the house.⁴ He requested that Alejandro Aguilar, a Tlacolula Zapotec, purchase the jars and bowls used in 1980 from the Tlacolula market and was struck by their similarity to the Lambityeco examples of more than a millennium ago (Fig. 9.7). The “offering” was in fill 1 m below, but not sealed by, the Structure 195-2 patio. It is entirely possible that the “offering” was placed beneath the patio floor, but because the patio floor was not preserved in its southern section this is uncertain.

9.7. Ancient and modern vessels for umbilical cords

STRUCTURE 195-2

The Structure 195-2 house was built to provide temporary quarters for the new noble household so that they could abandon Structure 195-3NE, thereby permitting filling operations to begin in the eastern half of Mound 195, which would lead to the completion of Mound 195 and the Structure 195-1 residence they were ultimately to occupy. The Structure 195-2 house occupied only the northern part of the western half of Mound 195 (Fig. 9.2). The southern part was left free so that workmen could continue their filling operations and initiate the construction of Structure 195-1 unencumbered.

Remnants of white plaster floors corresponding to a patio with a room north of it and a walkway along the north side of the room constitute the preserved portions of the Structure 195-2 house. There was no evidence for a room on the south side of the patio, although it might have been demolished, and there was no space for an additional room on the west side. It is possible that two additional rooms existed, one on the east side and the other at the northeast corner of the patio. However, it was not possible to excavate this area because of later construction that covered it (Fig. 9.8a). Therefore, the preserved remains of the Structure 195-2 house consisted of at least a single room raised above a patio on its south side and with a narrow walkway on its north side.

Most of the northern edge of the patio and sections of its eastern and western edges were preserved intact. From these remains it was possible to determine that the patio was rectangular, measuring 7 m east-west and at least 8.4 m north-south, although its southern terminus was not preserved. Much of the 14 cm high curb along its northern edge was preserved intact. Instead of being made of stone, the curb was made of rim sherds placed horizontally one on top of another with their regular rim edges forming the facing of the curb (Fig. 9.8b).

Only fragmentary sections of the room and the walkway north of it were preserved. The room, located 14 cm above the level of the patio, probably ran the length of the north side of the patio, making it 7 m long, east-west; it was probably 3 m wide, north-south. The walkway north of the room was 13 cm below the level of the room floor. It probably extended the length of the room, making it 7 m long, east-west, and it may have measured 1.1 m wide. It also seems likely that the walkway descended a step and turned south to run along the western edge of the room and patio to communicate with the stairway of Mound 195 (Fig. 9.9).

Following the abandonment of Structure 195-3NE and the subsequent occupation of Structure 195-2, the new noble household’s temporary quarters atop Mound 195, construction continued to complete Structure 195-1, which was to be their permanent residence. The abandonment of Structure 195-3 permitted filling operations to begin in the eastern half of Mound 195 so that this half of the mound could be completed and the Structure 195-1 residence built atop it. Adobe retaining walls were constructed along the north side of Structure 195-3NE and along the east side of Mound 195 Sub so that these areas could be filled (Fig. 9.10a). A stone talud was erected along the east side to complete the construction of the walls around Mound 195 (Fig. 9.10b).

9.8. The Structure 195-2 patio floor

9.9. Isometric reconstruction of Structure 195-2

Some of the material composing the fill was a reddish-brown gravel that was most likely obtained from excavations to level the plaza. A calibrated radiocarbon date of 825 CE was obtained on wood charcoal gathered from the fill in the southeast corner of the mound. The charcoal was relatively high up in the construction fill and occurred in the “newly” constructed area outside the limits of the earlier east wall of Mound 195 Sub but within the limits of the “newly” constructed east wall of Mound 195. Therefore, the charcoal was placed in the mound when filling operations were nearing completion. The Structure 195-1 residence was probably built shortly after its placement, that is, around 830 CE.

STRUCTURE 195-1

Structure 195-1, the final structure occupied by the noble household, was a large governmental building (PPA) that included the private residential quarters built atop Mound 195 and System 195—the large plaza with its surrounding platforms attached to the west side of Mound 195 (Figs. 9.11 and 9.12). System 195 was the public part of the building. The private residential quarters of the noble household, located 6 m above the plaza floor of System 195 atop the two-tiered pyramidal platform of Mound 195, were clearly set apart from the public area of the building.

9.10. Adobe retaining walls and the east wall of Mound 195

9.11. Plan of Structure 195-1

THE STRUCTURE 195-1 RESIDENCE

The Structure 195-1 residence was built atop Mound 195 in two stages. First, a large patio was laid out near the center of Mound 195, east of the Structure 195-2 residence, and rooms were built on the north, east, and south sides of the patio. These rooms served as the “new” residential quarters for the occupants of Structure 195-2. Once they were completed, Structure 195-2 was abandoned and the second stage of construction began. The second stage involved the demolition of Structure 195-2 and the construction of a large raised room or hall along the west side of the Structure 195-1 patio.

Although sections of its plaster floor were broken up, the Structure 195-1 patio was virtually intact and its limits were well-defined in excavations (Fig. 9.13a). The large patio was nearly square, measuring 11.36 m, north-south, and 10.7 m, east-west. At over 121 m² it was much larger than any of the patios of the earlier structures within Mound 195, and most closely parallels in size those of the House of Tomb 105 and the East Palace at Monte Albán (Fig. 9.14). The raised walkways encircling the patio were less well-preserved but sections of them remained intact, permitting determination of their dimensions. All were raised about 20 cm above the level of the patio floor.

9.12. Profiles of Structure 195-1

During the 1961 excavations, a pit was excavated through the patio floor in front of the center of the stairway of the Structure 195-1 west room or hall and another was dug in the center of the patio to search for possible offerings. None was found. From 1969 to 1970, when excavations were undertaken to remove the Structure 195-1 patio so that the houses of Mound 195 Sub could be explored more fully, at least two separate offerings were found.

One offering consisted of a turkey placed in construction fill beneath the patio floor. Because the virtually undisturbed and articulated skeleton was sealed beneath the intact floor, the turkey must have been sacrificed in a ritual associated with the construction of the Structure 195-1 residence. Parsons (1936:27) notes that “in Lachiguirri, a Zapotec town on the route to the Isthmus, before moving into a new house a chicken is buried in the middle of the floor, with a candle under each wing, that no sickness or evil befall the family.” Perhaps this turkey was sacrificed at Lambityeco and placed beneath the patio floor for a similar reason.⁵

The second offering includes three objects. One is a large, flat tripod-supported metate that was placed upside down in the fill 80 cm below the level of the patio floor. The other two objects include an upright hemispherical bowl with a G-35 bowl inverted inside it, which was placed 48 cm above the metate and 32 cm below the patio floor (Fig. 9.13b; Table 9.2). The location of these two separate groups suggests that they constituted a single offering. Despite a vertical separation of 48 cm, the objects were situated horizontally in the same location. Because their horizontal locus was not in the center of the patio nor in front of any stairways, it seems a remarkable coincidence for them to have been placed accidentally one above another. In fact, their location is somewhat enigmatic. At 3.5 m south of the northern edge of the patio and 4.7 m east of the western edge, the objects are near (but not on) the north-south centerline but far removed from the east-west centerline. Perhaps the offering was intended to be situated out in the patio more or less in front of the center of the north room. The offering was placed in a hole cut into the construction fill, but whether it had been cut through the patio floor is uncertain.

9.13. The Structure 195-1 patio and “patio offering”

TABLE 9.2. Objects from the Structure 195-1 “patio offering”

Although the offering may have been placed in a dedicatory ritual consecrating the Structure 195-1 residence, its skewed location makes this unlikely. Instead, the “offering” may correspond to the ritual interment of an umbilical cord from a baby born to the household, like those mentioned relative to Structure 195-2. If the hemispherical bowl covered by the G-35 bowl was an “umbilical cord offering,” then the metate associated with it may indicate that it corresponded to a female baby.

Unlike the patio and walkways encircling it, the rooms around the north, east, and south sides of the patio were eroded away. Although the room floors were certainly raised above the walkways that fronted them, none of these floors was preserved to verify this. However, some segments of the foundations of the room walls were located in excavations. From these intact remains, it was possible to define the arrangement of rooms on the north, east, and south sides and at the northeast and southeast corners around the patio.

Sections of the south and west walls of the north room were preserved (Fig. 9.15a). In both intact segments, two rows of stones occurred one on top of the other. The upper row was inset 20 cm behind the lower row. This suggests that the room was raised considerably above the level of the walkway and must have been reached by a stairway. Confirmation of this comes from a rectangular break in the plaster floor of the walkway that fronted the room. This again makes the Structure 195-1 house very similar to the East Palace and House of Tomb 105 at Monte Albán, which have their rooms raised above their patios and accessed by stairways (Fig. 9.14).

9.14. The Structure 195-1 elite residence and Monte Albán elite houses

The west wall of the north room was situated about 45 cm in from (east of) the western edge of the patio. Assuming that the room was centered along the north side of the patio, it would have measured about 9.8 m long from exterior room wall in the west to exterior room wall in the east. Its width, north-south, was indeterminate, although it was probably at least 3 m wide. The walkway that fronted the north room was 1.3 m wide, north-south.

9.15. Structure 195-1 rooms

The northwest corner of the wall of the east room, including a 3 m long section of its western face, was also preserved (Fig. 9.15b). Again, assuming that the room was centered along the east side of the patio, it would have measured 8.2 m long from exterior room wall in the north to exterior room wall in the south. Its width, east-west, was indeterminate, although it was probably at least 3 m wide. The walkway that fronted the east room was 1.51 m wide, east-west. The east room was built above Tomb 1 and served as the ancestral shrine.

Only a single stone along the north wall of the south room was preserved. This stone, however, demonstrated that the walkway that fronted the south room was 1.1 m wide, north-south. Based on the north room, it appears that the south room was centered on the patio and measured 9.8 m long, east-west. This, of course, is based on the assumption that the west wall of the south room, like that of the north room, was situated 45 cm east of the western edge of the patio. Furthermore, it is based on the assumption that the north and south rooms were centered on the patio and that, therefore, their east walls were also situated 45 cm in (west of) the eastern edge of the patio. Confirmation of this assumption comes from a preserved segment of the north wall of the southeast corner room—a room adjacent to the east side of the south room. This preserved segment had its western terminus situated 45 cm in from (west of) the eastern edge of the patio—a point where the east wall of the south room must have been situated before its destruction.

The north wall of the southeast corner room was preserved for more than a l m stretch, indicating that it was a step above the walkway. The room was inset 40 cm behind (south of) the front wall of the south room, leaving a sunken area at the level of the walkway in front of it. The corner room above the sunken area was probably L-shaped with south and east wings that may have measured 2 m by 3 m each. Like the southeast corner room, the northeast corner room probably had its front walls inset 40 cm behind the walls of the rooms that flanked it. Although no segments of its walls were preserved, the plaster floor of the walkway extends into the inset sunken area in front of where the walls would have been, demonstrating that the northeast corner room also had a sunken area at the level of the walkway in front of it. The northwest corner room was probably a step above the sunken area in front of it and was most likely L-shaped with wings in the north and east that may have measured about 2 m by 3 m each. Very similar inset L-shaped corner rooms above a sunken area occur in the East Palace and the Houses of Tombs 104 and 105 at Monte Albán (compare Figs. 9.11 and 9.14).

When the residential rooms around the north, northeast, south, and southeast sides of the patio and the room on the east side of the patio were finished, the noble household who had been occupying Structure 195-2 was able to abandon it and occupy their new Structure 195-1 residence. Once Structure 195-2 was abandoned, it was buried beneath a platform that formed the base for a large hall built along the west side of the Structure 195-1 patio. The platform was made of a solid fill of gray-black adobes placed over the Structure 195-2 patio and rose to a height of at least 1.5 m above the level of the Structure 195-1 patio floor (Fig. 9.8a). Any floor that might have occurred in the west room atop the platform had long since been destroyed by erosion. Therefore, its original height was indeterminate.

The length and width of the platform and west room or hall atop it are difficult to determine because the walls along its north, south, and west sides have been eroded away. Only on its east side, where it fronted on the Structure 195-1 patio, were the walls and a stairway of the platform preserved (Fig. 9.15c). The stairway was located in the center of the platform and consisted of three steps that descended 1.3 m from the top of the platform to the walkway that fronted it. The stairway was preserved its full 9 m width and was centered along the west side of the patio. The walkway was 75 cm wide in front of the stairway and between 1.8 m and 2 m wide in front of the northern and southern extensions of the walls on either side of the stairway.

The walls flanking the stairway were preserved to a height of 1 m above the level of the west walkway, but their original height, like that of the platform, was indeterminate because the tops of the walls were eroded (Fig. 9.16). Each wall had a panel 35 cm high set within it. The wall north of the stairway extended northward for 5.45 m before terminating in a jut to the east, marking the end of the panel within it. The wall was eroded away north of the jut. However, if the panel was framed by a double cornice at its northern terminus, it seems likely that this wall was about 6 m long. The wall on the south side of the stairway extended 4 m before ending, having been eroded away. However, it too was probably 6 m long. This indicates that the west hall atop the platform was probably 21 m long in its north-south dimensions.

The panels in the walls on either side of the stairway were decorated with step frets made of stone and rim sherds covered with plaster (Figs. 9.16 and 9.17). The step frets are in the form of xicalcoliuhquis, a design consisting of step frets terminating in rectilinear hooks and glossed in Codex Magliabechiano as jícara tuerta or “twisted gourd” (Boone 1983, 2:5v, 6r). The late Howard Leigh (personal communication to Lind, 1980) interpreted this type of design as a symbol of clouds and rain.

TOMB 1

Tomb 1 was built into Structure 195-1 from its inception. It was located beneath the east walkway and east room or ancestral shrine. The offering in front of the tomb door was sealed beneath the intact construction of the patio, whose floor was neither cut nor manifested any evidence of having been repaired or resurfaced (Fig. 9.18a). Likewise, the walkway in front of the east room had its plaster floor intact above the door and front part of the tomb (Fig. 9.18b). However, the floor of the east room had been destroyed by erosion so that there is no evidence that it sealed the back part.

9.16. Structure 195-1 west room or hall with step frets

9.17. Isometric view of the Structure 195-1 elite residence

9.18. Tomb 1

Tomb 1 consisted of a single chamber oriented along an east-west axis with its door in the west. It was 1.95 m long, east-west, 62 cm wide, north-south, and measured 90 cm high from its dirt floor to its flat stone roof. The north and south walls were made of stone, but the east (back) “wall” consisted of the coarse, compact reddish-brown gravel of the construction fill into which the tomb had been cut. The tomb walls all lacked niches. All but one of the flat roof stones had been removed or had collapsed into the tomb following the abandonment of Structure 195-1. The single intact stone was the westernmost or first roof stone and also served as a lintel above the door (Fig. 9.18c). Two superimposed rows of small flat stones were placed on top of this “lintel” to form a rudimentary façade. The doorway was 75 cm high and 45 cm wide. It was framed by stone door jambs and had a stone threshold at its base. A large well-cut rectangular stone slab formed the door (Fig. 9.18d).

SKELETAL REMAINS

Evidently, most of the remains buried in the tomb were removed when Structure 195-1 was abandoned, much as the bones from Tomb 4 had been removed when the house was abandoned. It appears that the roof was removed and the bones taken out. Only a handful of human bones were located along the north wall (Fig. 9.19). Most of these bones were too fragmentary to permit identification. Among them were a fragment of an adult human mandible and possibly a fragment of a metacarpal (Victoria Bach, personal communication to Lind, 1970); however, Urcid (1983:59–60) reports that although presumably human, the handful of bones are too eroded and amorphous to permit identification. Because the tomb was sealed by Structure 195-1 construction, it appears that at least one of the individuals who headed the Structure 195-2 household died and was buried in the tomb before having his or her bones removed following the abandonment of Structure 195-1.

OFFERINGS

The Tomb 1 offering includes eighteen objects located in two separate spatial contexts. One group of eleven objects was found in front of the door and formed the door offering. The second group of seven objects was within the tomb and formed the main offering (Fig. 9.19; Table 9.3).

Door Offering

The door offering includes seven G-35 bowls and three ladle censers (Fig. 9.20a). All the G-35 bowls were in a more or less upright position and two groups of them included vessels placed one inside another. The group of two in front of the north door jamb (#1 and #2 in Fig. 9.19 and Table 9.3) were both complete and intact. The upper one (#1) showed evidence of burning on its interior and contained unidentified carbonized remains. The G-35 bowl (#2) beneath it showed light traces of a lime-like coating, suggesting that it had held some liquid.

The remaining five G-35 bowls were all broken and incomplete (Fig. 9.20b). One group of two was located in front of the center of the door and included one G-35 bowl (#3) inside another (#4). Another G-35 bowl (#7), found in front of the south door jamb, manifested light traces of lime, as if it had once held some liquid. It also contained ash within it, although there was no evidence of anything having been burned inside it; that is, its interior was not burnt. None of the other G-35 bowls manifested macroscopic traces of contents.

9.19. Plan and profiles of Tomb 1 contents

TABLE 9.3. Objects from the Tomb 1 offering

Note:

1. For bowl base designs see Figure 7.14

9.20. The Tomb 1 door offering and interior offering

Two of the three ladle censers in the door offering were complete and intact (#8 and #10 in Fig. 9.19 and Table 9.3). Both contained carbonized material within them (see #10 in situ in Fig. 9.20a). They were located in front of the north (#10) and south (#8) door jambs, respectively. The third ladle censer (#9) was broken and incomplete (Fig. 9.20c). It was placed in front of the south door jamb. Fragments of a large gray olla were also found in the fill in front of the door. Such fragments are common in fill and therefore it is uncertain whether this vessel was intended as an offering.

Main Offering

The offering within the tomb chamber included five G-35 bowls and a large spherical stone. All five G-35 bowls were located near the center of the tomb (Fig. 9.20d). Four of the five were in more or less upright positions, but one was inverted (#15 in Fig. 9.19). All were broken but all, except one (#18), were complete. Two (#16 and #17) had burnt interiors, suggesting that something was burned within them. However, neither had any macroscopic contents (Fig. 9.20e).

Apart from the G-35 bowls, a large spherical stone was found in the tomb chamber (Fig. 9.20f). The stone was purposefully shaped into a sphere with a diameter of 13 cm. A similar spherical stone was found as an offering in Tomb 8 at Lambityeco and in the fill leading to the entrance of Tomb 5 at Cerro de la Campana, Suchilquitongo. These stone spheres are probably representations of rubber balls for ballgames.

In addition to the spherical stone, the neck of a thin gray narrow-mouth cántaro (“spherical canteen”) and a fragment of plaster were found in the tomb chamber. Cántaros are used like canteens as containers from which water can be directly consumed. A corncob is used as a “cork” to plug the mouth of the cántaro by present-day Zapotecs. However, the cántaro was only represented by a few sherds and sherds from cántaros are common in fill; therefore, it is uncertain whether this vessel was intended as an offering. Finally, the plaster fragment had an indeterminate design painted on it. It may have been plaster that had decorated the tomb wall, although this is uncertain.

PATTERNS IN THE TOMB 1 OFFERING

Unlike Tombs 3 and 6, Tomb 1 had no lintel offering. In fact, no urns or effigy vessels were present. It is possible that any urns or effigy vessels might have been removed at the time the skeletal remains were retrieved from the tomb.

The Tomb 1 door offering presents much the same pattern as the Tomb 6 and Tomb 3 door offerings. The ubiquitous G-35 bowls were arranged in front and on either side of the door. Perhaps they represented offerings of food. Also present in the door offering were ladle censers, which reflect ritual incense burning, perhaps when opening or closing the tomb door.

The Tomb 1 main offering follows a pattern similar to the offering in the main chamber of Tomb 6. The body was accompanied by an offering of G-35 bowls and little more. However, the Tomb 1 main offering also included the stone sphere. It may have been intended as an offering for a male noble household head who participated in the ritual ballgame. Unlike Tomb 6, there was no evidence that birds or dogs were sacrificed to accompany the interment. Furthermore, no personal adornments, such as pendants or beads, were found in Tomb 1.

The Tomb 1 offering presents several interpretive problems. As noted above, the door offering was sealed beneath the intact floors of the Structure 195-1 patio and east walkway. However, it contains broken and incomplete objects as well as complete and intact objects. This suggests that the tomb was opened on at least two different occasions before the Structure 195-1 patio, east walkway, and east room floors were laid.

It is obvious that Tomb 1 was built into Structure 195-1 before the patio floor, east walkway, and east room were completed. The first opening may have been to consecrate the tomb. The second opening may have been to place a burial, probably the Structure 195-2 male household head (given the stone representation of a ball). However, this burial would have been placed before the patio, east walkway, and probably east room floor were finished. A third opening of the tomb appears to have taken place by digging through the east room floor and removing the roof to retrieve the skeletal remains of the individual, or perhaps individuals, buried there. This third opening would have corresponded to the abandonment of Structure 195-1. Yet, this probable third opening of the tomb cannot be verified. The floor of the east room had been completely eroded away and therefore it was not possible to demonstrate that the floor had been dug through to access the roof.

SWEATBATH

The third or final phase of construction of the sweatbath 10.3 m north of the north wall of Mound 195 was probably carried out in association with the construction of Structure 195-1 (Fig. 9.21). This phase of construction expanded the size of the sweatbath to 5.55 m north-south and 6.75 m east-west. Evidence for a small doorway, 60 cm wide, occurs in the south wall. It is possible that Mound 195 had a narrow stairway in its north wall, similar to the secondary stairway on the west side of Platform 1 from San José Mogote (Fernández Dávila 1997), that provided easy direct access from the Structure 195-1 residence to the sweatbath and the large residential plot below (Fig. 9.11).

STRUCTURE 195-1: SYSTEM 195

System 195 includes the large plaza with its surrounding platforms attached to the west side of Mound 195 to form Structure 195-1 (Fig. 9.11). Access to the plaza from the Structure 195-1 residence above was provided by a 9 m wide stairway that descended the west side of Mound 195. The stairway had a niche centrally located at its base (Fig. 9.22a). Its interior measured 1.1 m wide, 70 cm deep, and 80 cm high. In the center at the base of the back wall of the niche was a flat stone forming a pedestal that measured 60 cm long, 19 cm wide, and 5 cm high. The pedestal may have supported a carved stone slab, as depicted in a reconstruction of the niche (Fig. 9.22b). Caso (1932:9–10) reports that these niches at Monte Albán were once small roofed chambers.

9.21. Third phase of construction of the sweatbath north of Mound 195

As noted above, the natural terrain sloped from north to south in the area where the plaza was built. Therefore, it was necessary to dig into the natural soil to level the area prior to constructing the plaza. Some of the material from this excavation was used as construction fill to raise Mound 195. Additional fill used to construct the platforms along the west and south sides of the plaza was probably also obtained from the leveling operations in the areas adjacent to these platforms. Photos were taken of the plaza before excavations (Fig. 9.23a).

The large plaza of System 195 and the raised walkways encircling it were uncovered virtually intact in excavations (Fig. 9.11). The plaza was nearly square, measuring 27 m north-south and 25.7 m east-west and covering an area of almost 694 m². Its entire surface was covered by a white plaster floor laid on top of a cobblestone base. The plaza’s surface sloped slightly toward the south. Its northern surface was 26 cm higher than its southern surface. The slope of the open plaza served to divert rainwater to a stone-lined drain in the southwest corner. The drain passed beneath a walkway at the juncture of the south and west platforms and emptied outside the southern limits of the west platform (Fig. 9.23b).

9.22. Niche in the main stairway of Mound 195 and hypothetical reconstruction

9.23. System 195 before excavation and the plaza drain

The walkways encircling the plaza were also surfaced with white plaster and all measured 1.37 m wide, except for the west one, which was only 1.17 m wide. Unlike the other walkways, the north one sloped from north to south, probably for drainage. Its back (north) part was 18 cm above the level of the plaza floor, whereas its front (south) curb was only 10 cm high. At a height of 36 cm, the south walkway was much higher than the others, probably because it trapped rainwater and diverted it to the drain. The east walkway was raised 18 cm above the level of the plaza floor, whereas the west one was 25 cm high.

The plaza of System 195 with its encircling walkways is virtually identical in size to the plaza of System IV at Monte Albán (see Fig. 2.4). Like the plaza of this Monte Albán building, the plaza of System 195 has within it a small, nearly square raised platform. At Monte Albán, Caso (1935) called these small raised platforms adoratorios or altars.

ALTAR

Unlike virtually all the Monte Albán examples, which are located near the centers of their respective plazas, the altar at Lambityeco is located in the eastern half of the plaza of System 195 (Fig. 9.11). It is, however, centered in front (west) of the stairway of Mound 195 at a distance of 5.47 m from the east walkway of the plaza.

The altar measures 5.18 m north-south and 4.68 m east-west, making it most comparable in size to the altars of Systems M and IV at Monte Albán but much smaller than the altar of the Patio Hundido in the North Platform of Monte Albán (Urcid 2001:342, table 5.5). Any floor or other structure atop it had evidently long since been eroded away, making it impossible to determine its original height. The walls around it were preserved in sections to a height of 46 cm above the plaza floor, although the fill within it rose to a maximum height of 74 cm (Fig. 9.24a).

The taludes, made almost entirely of rim sherds covered by white plaster, rested on outset vertical moldings at the base. The north (Fig. 9.24b) and south (Fig. 9.24c) walls were the best preserved, retaining sections of their white plaster covering. The east wall, facing the stairway of Mound 195, was less well-preserved (Fig. 9.24d). The west wall, except for its foundation, was virtually obliterated. It is quite likely that a centrally placed stairway to reach the top of the altar was built on this side, evincing another difference with several of the altars at Monte Albán, like System M and the Patio Hundido, which have a stairway on each side of the altars.

9.24. Plan, profile, and views of the altar in System 195

A large section of the plaza floor between the altar and the stairway of Mound 195 had been patched. Excavations beneath this patched area both in 1961 and in 1968 failed to reveal evidence of any offerings or burials that might have occasioned the repairs to the plaza floor. Therefore, it appears that the repairs were required because of heavy foot traffic in this area at the base of the broad stairway. On the opposite (west) side of the plaza, another equally large section of the plaza floor in front of the broad stairway of the west platform of System 195 had also been repaired. Again, the reason for the repairs is almost certainly heavy foot traffic. However, sealed beneath the patched floor was an unusual double primary burial—Burial 67-1.

BURIAL 67-1

This burial was located directly in front of the center of the broad stairway of the west platform, 1.45 m east of the plaza’s west walkway curb (Fig. 9.11). It included two primary interments placed in a shallow grave scarcely large enough to hold both bodies. The grave measured 90 cm wide, north-south, and 1.8 m long, east-west, and was some 50 cm beneath the level of the plaza floor. The southern edge of the grave closely paralleled the plaza’s east-west centerline.

9.25. Burial 67-1 and accompanying offering

The skeletons were labeled 67-1A and 67-1B (Fig. 9.25a). Both were extended primaries with their heads to the west and feet to the east. Burial A, an adult female forty to fifty-five years old, had been placed first, resting on her back, and occupied the more northerly part of the grave (Fig. 9.25b). Burial B, an adult male also forty to fifty-five years old, had then been placed next to her. He rested on his left side, facing her, along the southern edge of the grave (Fig. 9.25c).

An offering, consisting of two objects, was located along the back (south) side of Burial B, the male (Fig. 9.25d). One object is a small G-35 bowl with tripod supports (Field No. 5875) and appears to have been wedged on its side with its mouth against his back. The bowl is gray, but oxidized brown on part of one side, and was very well-burnished on the interior and exterior, including its exterior base. No pattern burnished design occurs on its interior base. The supports, 2 cm long and 2.7cm wide, are rounded and hollow and each has a hole in it. The bowl has a rim diameter of 18 cm and a height (including supports) of 6 cm. It is complete and intact, except for a small chip from its rim, and had no macroscopic evidence of contents.

The other object is a small bipod effigy vase (Field No. 5876) that was placed in an upright position near the calves of his legs. It is also gray and very well-burnished on its exterior. The bipod supports are in the form of slabs 2 cm long and 2.5 cm wide with their fronts decorated by four incised, parallel vertical lines, perhaps simulating toes. The neck is decorated with an attached plaque molded in the form of a Glyph C. The plaque is 4 cm wide and 6 cm long (one end is broken). No effigy of Cociyo was attached to the neck. The vase has a rim diameter of 8.5 cm, an orifice diameter of 3.2 cm, and a height of 11.5 cm. The vessel is intact but has sections of its rim above the plaque broken. This is the only offering of a bipod effigy vase in a burial at Lambityeco, making Burial 67-1 special. Both objects were located on the plaza’s east-west centerline.

Two separate alignments of stones were found in the grave. One, consisting of two large stones oriented east-west, lined the southern edge of the grave, paralleling the backs of the legs of the male burial. The second alignment consisted of a series of smaller stones oriented north-south that was laid across the pelvic region of Burial A (Fig. 9.25a).

As noted above, the patch in the plaza floor above Burial 67-1 was far too large to have been made to repair any cut made through the floor to place the burials and, in fact, the patch appears to have nothing to do with the burials. It does present a problem, however. Because of the patch, it is uncertain whether Burial 67-1 was cut through the original plaza floor or if it had been placed beneath the plaza before the original floor was laid. Had the burials been dug through the original intact plaster floor of the plaza, one would expect to find fragments of plaster mixed with the earth used to fill the grave. However, the excavators of Burial 67-1 reported no plaster fragments in the earth filling the grave nor were any plaster fragments readily observable in photographs of the excavation. Therefore, it seems likely that the burials were placed before the plaza was surfaced with plaster.

PLATFORMS

The platforms around the plaza duplicate on a large scale the rooms around the patio of the Structure 195-1 residence atop Mound 195. The north and south platforms, like the north and south rooms, are low, whereas the west platform, like the large raised west room, is much larger and higher (Fig. 9.11). No structures or floors were preserved atop the platforms and therefore it was not possible to determine how high they originally stood above the level of the plaza floor or if they supported structures atop them.

9.26. The north and south platforms of System 195

The south wall of the north platform, which fronted on the plaza, was preserved its entire length of 25.7 m east-west (Fig. 9.26a). It cornered at the east and west ends of the platform and terminated abruptly. However, in excavating the House of Tomb 4, adobes were located marking the northern limits of the north platform, making it 6 m wide and indicating that the platform covered more than 154 m² (see Fig. 8.17a). The platform’s taludes rested on an outset vertical molding and were topped by double inset vertical moldings (Fig. 9.26b). The walls were preserved to a height of 1 m above the plaza floor, which in this northern area in front of the platform had been dug down 1 m deep into tepetate to level the area for the plaza floor. The top of the north platform was therefore level with the natural terrain. However, the adobes placed over the patio of the House of Tomb 4 indicate that the platform was, or was intended, to be raised to a level higher than that of the natural terrain. The north platform had a 3.65 m wide stairway with three steps at its center.

The south platform was a mirror image of the north platform. The north wall of the south platform, which fronted on the plaza, was preserved its entire length of 25.5 m east-west (Fig. 9.26c). It cornered at the east and west ends of the platform and terminated abruptly. The taludes of the south platform rested on outset vertical moldings and were topped by double inset vertical moldings (Fig. 9.26d). The walls were preserved to a height of about 1 m above the level of the plaza floor, although because of erosion their original heights are unknown. The south platform had a 3.6 m wide stairway at its center, also with three steps. Unlike the north platform, the south one had been built entirely of construction fill. However, because a later dirt road ran along its south side, any south wall of the platform would have been destroyed. The platform was probably 6 m wide, like the north platform, and would have covered an area of about 153 m².

The west platform was the largest and its walls were preserved all the way around it, except at the southwest corner where it was destroyed by a later dirt road. The platform measured 32 m long, north-south, and 8.2 m wide, east-west, and covered more than 262 m². It had vertical stone walls around it instead of taludes like the north and south platforms (Fig. 9.27a). The walls were preserved to a height of 1 m above the plaza floor. Large stairways were located in the center of the platform on both its east and west sides. The east stairway was 11.9 m long and had two steps. The west stairway was 12 m long and also had two steps. Walkways ran along both the east and west sides of the platform. The east walkway was 1.17 m wide and ran the full length of the east side of the platform (Fig. 9.27b). The west walkway was 1.15 m wide. It ran for 26.9 m along the west side of the platform but was not preserved in its northern and southern extremes.

THE STRUCTURE 195-1 CIVIC RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX (PPA)

Structure 195-1 with its plaza and altar surrounded by platforms and with its large residence built atop Mound 195 was clearly a civic residential complex or PPA (Fig. 9.28). The large plaza attached to the western side of Mound 195 with its altar and surrounding platforms was the civic part of the building. Although the function of the platforms is uncertain, there are obvious differences between the west platform and the north and south platforms. The very large 12 m wide stairways on the east and west sides of the west platform were designed for the movement of large numbers of people into and out of the plaza. Whether the west platform had, or was intended to have, any structure or structures built on top of it is unknown. However, if it did, they must have been planned so as not to inhibit traffic flow into and out of the plaza by way of the two large stairways.

9.27. The west platform of Lambityeco System 195 and of the Patio Hundido at Monte Albán (photo d courtesy of Paola Vera)

9.28. Isometric view of the probable intended configuration of Structure 195-1

The north and south platforms were neither as long nor as wide as the west platform, had only narrow stairways, and could only be entered from within the plaza. Whether they had, or were intended to have, structures built upon them is uncertain. However, the narrow stairways suggest the possibility that they were probably intended to be walled and roofed enclosures, perhaps to be used as meeting halls for administrative purposes, warehouses, or even barracks for soldiers. Access to and from the north and south platforms was extremely limited in comparison to the west platform.

The function of the altar in the plaza of System 195 needs further discussion. Although Caso (1935) called these small raised platforms in the centers of plazas at Monte Albán adoratorios, implying some ceremonial or ritual function, he never explained what functions they might have served. Here we have slightly different interpretations. Lind suggests that the “altar” might have served as a podium or stage for public ceremonials, such as the investiture of a coqui or other political officials. Likewise, it might also have served as a stage for cyclical religious or public rituals the coqui was expected to perform. As many as twenty public officials could have fit comfortably atop the podium, and the plaza and surrounding walkways would have comfortably accommodated more than 800 persons.

Urcid proposes that these features are platforms that supported quadripartite ancestor memorials and that these were used as stages to perform rituals to validate political power (Fig. 9.29). Such interpretation is based on now out-of-context sets of carved monuments, like the hypothesized primary setting of the blocks that eventually were placed as orthostats in the corners of the South Platform at Monte Albán (Urcid 2001:chapter 5) or on single squared stones carved on multiple surfaces, like a peculiar monolith of unknown provenience now stored in the cloister at Cuilapan (Urcid 1995).

9.29. Hypothetical reconstruction of a quadripartite ancestor memorial with a carved monolith of unknown provenience

Also, within the plaza, Burial 67-1 resembles another double burial in the South Group at Mitla belonging to the Pitao phase (Caso and Rubín de la Borbolla 1936:13–15). This interment was found sealed 1.3 m beneath the plaza floor and directly in front of the stairway of the west platform along the east-west centerline of System K. It was accompanied by a lavish offering of three effigy vessels, twenty-nine ceramic vessels, three fragments of small shell plaques (probably from personal adornments), and fragments of the head of a Late Formative jade figurine in Olmec style. The location of these special burials along the centerline of the structures and their interment before the plaza floors were laid out suggests that the buried individuals were sacrificed and placed as dedicatory offerings to consecrate the edifices (Urcid 2005:30–31, fig. 3.4).⁶ Although the effigy vase associated with Lambityeco Burial 67-1 relates to Cociyo, the significance of the tripod bowl—a ceramic form common in the domestic realm—may have involved a metaphor of sacrifice as food for the rain and earth deities.

The large elite house with its spacious rooms and its great western hall built atop Mound 195 was the probable residence of the noble household who ruled Lambityeco. The north and south rooms were probably living quarters, one of which was occupied by the married couple who headed the household. The other may have been for a married son, a secondary wife and her children, or visiting dignitaries. At 9.8 m long, the living quarters of this residence were nearly twice as large as the largest living quarters of the houses of Mound 195 Sub.

The northeast and southeast corner rooms, associated respectively with the north and south living quarters, may have been kitchens, storerooms, sleeping quarters, or used for other activities. These corner rooms are similar to the large southeast corner room of Structure 195-3SE with its tiny patio that has an L-shaped room along the south and east sides. The only difference is that the sunken areas in front of the Structure 195-1 northeast and southeast corner rooms do not have raised walkways enclosing them to form a tiny patio with a drain (compare Figs. 6.1 and 9.11). The presence of corner rooms with tiny patios, like Structure 195-3SE at Lambityeco and the House of Tomb 103 at Monte Albán, and L-shaped corner rooms with sunken areas in front of them, like Structure 195-1 at Lambityeco and the East Palace and the Houses of Tombs 104 and 105 at Monte Albán (Fig. 9.14), may represent an architectural change within the Xoo phase with the former being earlier and the latter later as the sequence of houses at Lambityeco clearly demonstrates. Urcid, however, is of the opinion that the difference is functional and may have nothing to do with temporality. To him, their configuration suggests distinct practices. He points out that Caso (1938:74, 82) considered the House of Tomb 103 with three of its corner rooms forming tiny patios and the House of Tomb 104 with its inset corner rooms to be contemporaneous.

The west room or hall was certainly the largest and most elaborate room of the residential complex. Like the raised south room of Structure 195-3SE, only significantly larger, it was decorated with xicalcoliuhquis, which may have symbolized clouds or rain. Although its function is uncertain, perhaps it was intended to be like the platform on the south side of the Patio Hundido in the North Platform at Monte Albán, which was accessed by a monumental stairway and served as a large entrance hall with a roof supported by columns (Fig. 9.27d).

The east room built above Tomb 1 functioned as the ancestral shrine where offerings were placed and rituals performed honoring the household ancestors. Tomb 1 was very simple and small when compared to the larger and much more elaborate Tomb 6 associated with the houses of Mound 195 Sub. However, the occupation of Structure 195-1 was probably of relatively short duration and the planning and construction of a more elaborate tomb may not yet have been undertaken.

There is no evidence in the Structure 195-1 residence of an altar complex with friezes depicting the ancestors of the noble household who occupied it. In this respect, Urcid’s contention that the altar in the plaza was an ancestral memorial gains support because it was located, like the altar complex of Structure 195-3SE, in the most public part of the Structure 195-1 civic residential complex (PPA). Likewise, it is possible that a carved stone slab depicting the Structure 195-1 household ancestors was placed upon the pedestal in the niche at the base of the main stairway to Mound 195, again a very public setting.

THE ABANDONMENT OF STRUCTURE 195-1

How long the Structure 195-1 civic residential complex (PPA) was occupied before being abandoned is difficult to determine. The Structure 195-1 residence was completed and occupied. However, the platforms surrounding the plaza of System 195 were never completed. Both the north and south platforms had their walls facing the plaza corner and then terminate abruptly, unfinished. Furthermore, a mound of construction fill was left on the south end of the west platform intending to raise it to a higher level, but filling operations were never completed to raise the platform (Fig. 9.27c). Excavations determined that this mound was construction fill and not a structure. Finally, a layer of construction fill was left in the center of the south platform to raise it to a higher level but filling operations were never completed (Fig. 9.26c). Excavations also determined that this layer was construction fill and not remnants of a structure built atop the south platform.

Evidence of other unfinished features was found at the southwest and southeast corners of Mound 195. At the southwest corner, where Mound 195 met the south platform, an adobe retaining wall was built preparatory to building a stone wall to seal off entrance to the plaza at this point. The stone wall, however, was never built. Along the northwest corner, where Mound 195 met the north platform, a stone wall had been completed to seal off access to the plaza at this point (Fig. 9.11).

At the southeast corner of Mound 195, a large rectangular limestone block, which measured 1.76 m long, 57 cm wide, and 60 cm high, rested about 1 m south of and at the same level as the base of the south wall of Mound 195 (Fig. 9.30b). No building stone occurs around Lambityeco so this large limestone block must have been quarried in the mountains and brought to Lambityeco to provide the raw material necessary to build the walls of Mound 195. It is evident where stone masons had knocked off slabs to produce stones to build the walls. However, the large limestone block, which was not fully used, was left at the southeast corner (Fig. 9.11).

9.30. Unfinished features at the southeast corner of Mound 195

Finally, a low stone wall nearly 7.5 m long and 30 cm high was built 2.7 m south of and parallel to the south wall of Mound 195 (Fig. 9.30a). The wall ran a little more than 4 m beyond the east end of Mound 195 and seemingly did not corner at either end. However, remnants of a white plaster floor occurred just 30 cm south of the wall and extended 2.75 m farther south. The floor was at the same level as the top of the wall (Figs. 9.30a and c). This suggests that a raised paved walkway or road, 3 m or more wide, was in the process of being built along the south side of Mound 195 (Fig. 9.11). This elevated paved walkway or road was never completed.

It is apparent that the Structure 195-1 civic residential complex (PPA) was a work in progress at the time of its abandonment. Although the Structure 195-1 residence atop Mound 195 was completed and occupied, the platforms surrounding the plaza of System 195 were still undergoing construction that was never finished before abandonment. Assuming that the Structure 195-1 residence was occupied around 830 CE, then the entire Structure 195-1 civic residential complex was abandoned sometime thereafter, perhaps around 850 CE.

POST-ABANDONMENT ACTIVITIES

Subsequent to its abandonment, the Structure 195-1 civic residential complex fell into ruin. When Paddock (personal communication, 1967) excavated the top of Mound 195 in 1961, he found a considerable amount of ash covering the rubble from the collapsed and eroded adobe walls of the Structure 195-1 residence. As Peterson (personal communication, 1979) observed, this ash was from salt-boiling activities that took place on top of the ruins of Mound 195. Although no radiocarbon dates were obtained in association with this salt-boiling activity, Wolfman (1973:200–201, 232) processed three archaeomagnetic dates associated with salt-boiling activities atop the ruins of Mound 190, located 10 m south of Mound 195 and, like Mound 195, abandoned around 850 CE (Lind 2008). The archaeomagnetic dates from Mound 190 were 1035, 1050, and 1065 CE, which suggests that the salt-boiling activities took place nearly 200 years after the abandonment of Mound 190. Silho or X Fine Orange pottery was found in association with the dates, which is consistent with the chronological placement of this pottery type in Mesoamerica, that is, between 900and 1100 CE (Lind 1991–1992:182–183).

Additional evidence of post-abandonment activities was found along the north walkway and in the plaza of System 195. An area of yellow ash was found on the north walkway with a nearby hearth cut through the plaster floor of the walkway. Peterson (personal communication, 1979) explained the presence of this yellow ash. The salt obtained from salt boilers generally has a yellowish tint, representing bitterns within the salt. To remove the bitterns, salt producers place a cloth over a layer of gray ash and then spread the yellowish salt over the cloth. They then sprinkle fresh water over the salt, which removes the bitterns and transfers them to the ash beneath the cloth, turning the ash yellow. The hearth and yellow ash, then, probably relate to the activities of salt producers along the north walkway of the plaza following the abandonment of System 195. A short distance away from the hearth and yellow ash a Silho or X Fine Orange hemispherical bowl was found in a hole cut through the plaza floor. In addition, a Silho or X Fine Orange olla was found nearby in the plaza (Lind 2008:176, fig. 5.4). Therefore, it appears that these salt-producing activities took place between 900 and 1100 CE, or up to 200 years after the abandonment of the Structure 195-1 civic residential complex.

NOTES

1. The sample that yielded the anomalous date of 1055±95 CE is carbonized tropical grass, probably thatching from the roof. Rabin (1970:14) cites studies by Bender (1968) that demonstrate that carbon samples of tropical grasses consistently yield dates that are about 300 years too recent. If 300 years are subtracted from the 1055 CE date, the result is 755 CE, which is precisely the uncalibrated radiocarbon date for the sample of wood charcoal from this same roof. Calibrated, the date is 830 CE.

2. Wolfman (personal communication to Lind, 1970) had practically no radiocarbon dates in the 700 CE range to serve as a guide to help calibrate his archaeomagnetic dates. The series of uncalibrated radiocarbon dates from Lambityeco Mound 195 ranging from 700 to 755 CE was used by Wolfman as a guide to help calibrate his archaeomagnetic dates. Since obtaining the calibrated radiocarbon dates, we now know that the uncalibrated radiocarbon dates from Mound 195 are about 100 years too early.

3. Although the kiln and circular area of sherds were located and drawn three-dimensionally (see Fig. 9.2), no photos of these features could be located in the excavation archives.

4. A Mitla Zapotec, Rutilio Martínez, informed Lind in 1980 that his son and daughter had their umbilical cords buried in similar pots beneath the courtyard of his house. He said that the umbilical cord had to be kept free from dirt and was wrapped in a cloth and then placed in the jar, which was covered with the bowl. If the cord got dirty, the child would become blind. Darío Quero, another Mitla Zapotec, also pointed out that Zapotecs use their umbilical cord burial to mark their village of origin. He said someone might say, “I live in Tlacolula but my umbilical cord is in Mitla” (Vivo en Tlacolula pero mi ombligo está en Mitla)—indicating that he was born in Mitla.

5. The turkey skeleton beneath the patio was described in field notes. However, no precise location, three-dimensional drawing, or photo was found in the excavation archives. Therefore, its precise location beneath the patio floor is unknown.

6. The condition and treatment of the skeletal remains of Burial 67-1 upon retrieval, applying to the fragile bones still covered with soil a hard adhesive (Elmer’s glue diluted in water), precluded ascertaining if the remains exhibit evidence of traumatic death as would be expected from the treatment of sacrificial victims. The remains from Mitla have never been analyzed to determine the presence or absence of such evidence.