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part 1 Offering to the Sacred Bundles ∵ Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> chapter 1 Tomb 7 at Monte Albán As it was a Saturday, the day when workers were paid, I had left Mr Valen- zuela in charge of the exploration, and had gone down to Oaxaca to col- lect the funds. When returning together with my wife, and arriving where Valenzuela was working, he received me with the word ‘Guelaguetza!’, which means offering or gift in Zapotec, hung the jade necklace around my neck and showed me the conch trumpet. caso 1969: 44 With these words the Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso Andrade (1896– 1970) recalls the beginning of the exploration of one of the most famous Mexican archeological discoveries, Tomb 7 at the archaeological site of Monte Albán, near Oaxaca City, on 6 January 1932. Its fame is primarily due to the magnificent treasure of hundreds of precious artifacts scattered among a large quantity of bones: necklaces with golden figures (beads, bells, turtle carapaces, etc.) combined with coral, pearls, turquoise, amber and azabache, furthermore earspools of obsidian, jade and rock crystal, various vases of tecalli and silver, jade rings, jade nose plugs, a copper axe, golden tweezers, bracelets of gold and silver, a fan handle of gold, ‘false nails’, a lip plug of gold and jade in the form of a bird’s head, pectorals, rings and pendants of gold and silver represent- ing birds, butterflies or deities, and so on. Several of these precious items have forms or decorations that, in accordance with the artistic conventions of their time, convey specific meanings. This applies in particular to the more than forty animal bones – mostly of jaguars and some of eagles – on whose surface figurative scenes are recorded in a very fine and precise form of miniature art. These are true pictorial texts with a synthetic and precise content, which allow us access to the thoughts and feelings of those who left these objects and relics at the site. In his magnum opus El Tesoro de Monte Albán (1969), Alfonso Caso present- ed a detailed material and iconographic analysis of all the artefacts.1 His clear, 1 The text was republished as volume 5 of his Obras Completas (2006). In December 2011, the journal Arqueología Mexicana devoted a special edition (number 41) to El Tesoro de Monte Albán, offering a comprehensive catalogue of the found objects with excellent new © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/97890043405Maarten Jansen and�7_003 Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> 46 chapter 1 erudite and detailed comments provide a complete picture of the findings and are the obligatory starting point for any further study. Most of the excavated artefacts are exhibited today in the regional muse- um in the former Santo Domingo convent in Oaxaca City. Traditionally they were organised in material categories, following the same analytical manner in which Caso (1969) had published them. Some items are in the Museo Na- cional de Antropología in Mexico City, where they are exhibited together with similar findings from other tombs in the Oaxaca region. As is so often the case, the contents of the tomb have been fragmented, reduced to loose elements of specific material categories without a meaningful cohesion and message: the original structure and relationships have been lost or destroyed, making it dif- ficult to grasp their message today.2 We consider the contents of the tomb as a coherent iconographic complex with a specific message. Therefore, our interpretation – which, of course, to some extent has to remain hypothetical – must take into account both the information content of each sign and the manner in which these signs are connected among each other and with other contextual elements in a structured discourse as a message that makes sense within the paradigm in which we are analyzing these fragmentary remains. The interpretive exercise is one of reintegrating cultural memory: we have to bring together again the dispersed data of archaeology, iconography, history and present-day oral tradition, in order to situate the treasure of Monte Albán in its appropriate context. 1 A Deposition of Two Periods The ancient city of Monte Albán was built on the tops and on the slopes of a mountain range that overlooks the valley of Oaxaca. From this central lo- cation, it exercised a considerable influence over a large region in southern Mexico, reflected in the distribution of archaeological elements with a diag- nostic style, such as the effigy vessels or ‘urns’. Most likely it was the capital of photographs and a selection of Caso’s descriptions. The original publication can now be con- sulted on-line: http://www.difusion.inah.gob.mx/images/ebook/TesoroMonteAlban00/. 2 See the dissertation of Moss (2012) for a detailed and critical contextualisation of the way these archaeological findings were handled and exhibited in the days of Caso’s project, pay- ing attention to the ideological background of the nation’s self-representation. Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> Tomb 7 At Monte Albán 47 Illustration 1.01 The location of Monte Albán a multiethnic empire, dominated by the Beni Zaa (Zapotecs).3 The prominent location in the landscape and the many temples present in the center leave no doubt that the site had great religious significance and probably counted as a sacred place since its very origin.4 As for the chronology of the site we have to refer to the autonomous devel- opment of Mesoamerican civilisation as reconstructed on the basis of archae- ological observations and dating methods (mainly art styles in combination with stratigraphy and C14) as well as epigraphic and historical information. Archaeologically speaking, Monte Albán is first and foremost a Classic site, i.e. it belongs to a period (ca. ad 200–ad 850/900) that witnessed an intense 3 For an overview of the archaeology of Monte Albán and its context, see for example the books of Blanton (1978), Flannery and Marcus (1983), Blanton et al. (1999), Urcid Serrano (2001), Marcus (2008) and Joyce (2010). 4 See the contribution by Joyce in: Hendon and Joyce (2004). Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> 48 chapter 1 Illustration 1.02 The temple building above Tomb 7 at Monte Albán Illustration 1.03 Entrance of Tomb 7 (under the temple building) Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> Tomb 7 At Monte Albán 49 Illustration 1.04a Entrance to the main chamber of Tomb 7 Illustration 1.04b Interior of Tomb 7 (main chamber) Maarten Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez - 9789004340527 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:49:55PM via free access <UN> 50 chapter 1 urban development throughout Mesoamerica. The tomb that was assigned the number 7 by Caso, was built as an underground space for a burial underneath a temple located in the northern part of the site. It is located behind the North Platform, which probably functioned as the rulers’ residence. On stylistic grounds the complex of temple and tomb can be dated back to the beginning of the Classic period (Monte Alban phases ii and IIIA). Diagnostic elements from the Early Classic period in Tomb 7 are: a calendric inscription on a slab placed on the roof of the antechamber, fragmentary re- mains of a mural on the wall, and three effigy vessels (‘urns’), representing an old man flanked by two images of the Rain or Storm God (Cocijo in Zapotec). These elements exhibit the specific style and system of graphic communica- tion used at Monte Albán during the Classic period.5 The vast majority of the artifacts found in Tomb 7, however, belong to an- other style, which is also manifest in polychrome ceramics and pictorial manu- scripts and which is characteristic of the Postclassic period (ca. 900–1521 ad). The ‘heartland’ of this style (and iconography) is Central and Southern Mexico: therefore it is generally referred to as the ‘Mixteca-Puebla style’.6 Caso rightly concluded that Tomb 7 had been constructed and used at the beginning of the Classic period, but was later reused in the Postclassic period. At that time the realm of Monte Albán had already come to an end and the site itself had been largely abandoned (cf. Blomster 2008). 2 The Human Remains in Tomb 7 Originally the access to Tomb 7 was from the courtyard in front of the temple below which it was constructed. Its orientation is from West (under the tem- ple) to East (entrance). Tomb 7 looks a lot like the other tombs of that period 5 Sellen (2007) presents an iconographic analysis of the characteristic effigy vessels. Presum- ably Zapotec was the main language spoken at Monte Albán during the Classic period. The Monte Albán writing system of that time occupied hieroglyphic signs in columns to record words and sentences (Urcid Serrano 2001, 2005). Its style influenced various parts of the Oaxaca region. For the archaeology of the classic tombs of Monte Albán see Martínez López, Winter and Markens (2014). 6 On the Mixteca-Puebla style see for example Robertson (1959, 1966, 1970, 1982), Anders (1975), Smith and Heath-Smith (1980).
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  • Oaxaca, Mexico

    Oaxaca, Mexico

    OAXACA MEXICO ~ June 12 - 19, 2018 Join DeLaSalle High School alumni and friends on an 8-day / 7-night tour to Oaxaca, Mexico. This fully-escorted, private trip will include guided tours in Oaxaca City, as well as two of Mexico’s most famous archeological sites - Monte Albán and Mitla. We’ll visit four villages on their weekly market days to take in the sights and experience their unique specialties. In addition - we’ll take a Oaxacan Cooking Class to taste the special dishes of the region, and enjoy a Mezcal Tasting Tour. *Sample Itinerary / Overnight City / Activities Tues, June 12 Oaxaca - Depart for Mexico, Arrive Oaxaca! Transfer to Hotel Wed, June 13 Oaxaca - Guided City Tour + Visit Villa de Etla Market + Welcome Dinner Thur, June 14 Oaxaca - Visit Villa de Zaachila Market + Monte Albán Ruins Fri, June 15 Oaxaca - Ruta del Mezcal Tour & Lunch Sat, June 16 Oaxaca - Visit Mitla Craft Market + Mitla Ruins Sun, June 17 Oaxaca - Tlacolula Market + Cooking Class Mon, June 18 Oaxaca - Day Free to Explore + Farewell Dinner Tues, June 19 Oaxaca - Transfer to Airport, Depart Mexico for Minneapolis * This itinerary - including the order in which sites are visited, may change to accommodate or to benefit the tour. Sample Flight Itinerary Tues, June 12 UA 3484 dep Minneapolis 10:30am; Arr Houston 1:35pm UA 4077 dep Houston 5:00pm; Arr Oaxaca 7:40pm Tues, June 19 UA 4089 dep Oaxaca 7:25am; Arr Houston 10:05am UA 3506 dep Houston 12Noon; Arr Minneapolis 2:55pm Hotel Accommodation Holiday Inn Express Oaxaca-Centro Historico Dia Quintas: 115, Col.