MICHAEL LIND AND JAVIER URCID THE LORDS OF LAMBITYECO POLITICAL EVOLUTION IN THE VALLEY OF OAXACA DURING THE XOO PHASE The Lords of LambiTyeco Mesoa Merican Worlds: FroM the olMecs to the danzantes General editors: davíd carrasco and eduardo Matos Moctezuma editorial Board: alfredo lópez austin, anthony aveni, elizabeth Boone, and charles h. long After Monte Albán, Jeffrey P. Blomster, editor The Apotheosis of Janaab’ Pakal, Gerardo aldana Carrying the Word: The Concheros Dance in Mexico City, susanna rostas Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica, nancy Gonlin and Jon c. lohse, editors Conquered Conquistadors, florine asselBerGs Empires of Time, anthony aveni Encounter with the Plumed Serpent, maarten Jansen and GaBina aurora Pérez Jiménez In the Realm of Nachan Kan, marilyn a. masson Invasion and Transformation, reBecca P. Brienen and marGaret a. Jackson, editors The Kowoj, Prudence m. rice and don s. rice, editors Life and Death in the Templo Mayor, eduardo matos moctezuma The Lords of Lambityeco, michael lind and Javier urcid Maya Daykeeping, John m. Weeks, frauke sachse, and christian m. PraGer The Madrid Codex, GaBrielle vail and anthony aveni, editors Maya Worldviews at Conquest, leslie G. cecil and timothy W. PuGh, editors Mesoamerican Ritual Economy, e. christian Wells and karla l. davis-salazar, editors Mesoamerica’s Classic Heritage, davíd carrasco, lindsay Jones, and scott sessions, editors Mockeries and Metamorphoses of an Aztec God, Guilhem olivier, translated By michel Besson Rabinal Achi, alain Breton, editor; translated By teresa lavender faGan and roBert schneider Representing Aztec Ritual, eloise Quiñones keBer, editor Ruins of the Past, travis W. stanton and aline maGnoni, editors Skywatching in the Ancient World, clive ruggles and Gary urton, editors Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community, dean e. arnold The Social Experience of Childhood in Mesoamerica, traci ardren and scott r. hutson, editors Stone Houses and Earth Lords, keith m. Prufer and James e. Brady, editors The Sun God and the Savior, Guy stresser-Péan Sweeping the Way, catherine r. dicesare Tamoanchan, Tlalocan: Places of Mist, alfredo lóPez austin Thunder Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, anath ariel de vidas; translated By teresa lavender faGan Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, h. B. nicholson The World Below, JacQues Galinier The Lords of LambiTyeco Political Evolution in th E va l l E y o f oa xaca during th E x o o P h a s E michael lind and Javier urcid Illustrations by Elbis Domínguez Covarrubias With an Appendix on Calibrated Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Classic and Postclassic Periods in the Valley of Oaxaca by Robert Markens, Marcus Winter, and Cira Martínez u n iv E r s i t y P r E s s o f c o l o r a d o © 2010 by the University Press of Colorado Published by the University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of the Association of American University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, and Western State College of Colorado. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1992 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lind, Michael. The lords of Lambityeco : political evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo phase / Michael Lind and Javier Urcid ; illustrations by Elbis Domínguez Covarrubias. p. cm. — (Mesoamerican worlds) “With an Appendix on Calibrated radiocarbon dates for the Late Classic and Postclassic periods in the Valley of Oaxaca by Robert Markens, Marcus Winter, and Cira Martínez.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-87081-951-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Lambityeco Site (Mexico) 2. Excavations (Archaeology—Mexico—Lambityeco Site. 3. Zapotec Indians—Antiquities. 4. Zapotec Indians—Politics and government. 5. Social archaeology—Mexico—Oaxaca Valley. 6. Oaxaca Valley (Mexico)—Antiquities. I. Urcid, Javier. II. Title. F1219.1.O11L55 2009 972'.74—dc22 2009044650 Design by Daniel Pratt An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. The open access ISBN for this book is 978-1-60732-715-8. More information about the initiative and links to the open-access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. To the memory of John Paddock, our teacher, mentor, and friend contents List of Figures x / i List of Tables v / x Foreword by Arthur A. Joyce / xvii Preface / xxiii 1. Introduction / 1 2. Lambityeco in the Valley of Oaxaca / 15 3. Lambityeco: The Economic Basis / 49 4. Site Structure and Community Organization / 83 5. Excavations in Mound 195 Sub: Structures 195-6, 195-5, and 195-4 / 109 6. Structure 195-3 / 141 7. Tomb 6 / 171 8. The Houses of Tomb 3 and Tomb 4 / 233 9. Mound 195: Structures 195-2 and 195-1 / 265 10. Political Evolution during the Xoo Phase and the Collapse of Monte Albán / 317 vii viii — c ont E n t s A ppendix 1. Calibrated Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Classic and Postclassic Periods in the Valley of Oaxaca by Robert Markens, Marcus Winter, and Cira Martínez / 345 appendix 2. The Lambityeco Mounds / 365 appendix 3. Moundless Xoo Phase Structures at Lambityeco / 379 References / 381 Index / 401 figures 2.1 The Valley of Oaxaca / 16 2.2 Xoo phase settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca / 22 2.3 Xoo phase settlements in the Tlacolula arm of the valley / 27 2.4 Xoo phase monumental architectural complexes at Monte Albán and Lambityeco / 33 2.5 Products sold in the Tlacolula market / 42 2.6 Additional products sold in the Tlacolula market / 43 3.1 Ancient and modern salt production at Lambityeco / 50 3.2 Xoo phase salt production at Lambityeco / 53 3.3 Plan and profile of Tomb 9 in Mound 91 at Lambityeco / 56 3.4 Rim sherd construction at Lambityeco / 61 3.5 Evidence of ceramic production at Lambityeco / 63 3.6 Tools for textile production from Lambityeco / 69 3.7 Plan and profile of Lambityeco Tomb 10 / 76 4.1 The archaeological site of Lambityeco / 84 4.2 Cerro Yegüih / 85 4.3 Xoo phase Lambityeco / 87 4.4 Map of Mitla, ca. 1930 / 89 4.5 Model of a residential plot in Mitla / 95 4.6 Model of Xoo phase residence / 96 4.7 The center of Xoo phase Lambityeco / 100 ix x f— i gur E s 4.8 Sunrise over Mound 195 during the winter solstice, December 22, 1987 / 106 5.1 Mound 195 at Lambityeco / 110 5.2 Mound 195 before excavations / 111 5.3 Cociyo urns from Tomb 2 and Cociyo busts from Mound 190 / 113 5.4 The sequence of elite structures in Mound 195 / 114 5.5 Plan and profiles of Structure 195-6 / 116 5.6 Plan and profile of Tomb 5 / 118 5.7 Tomb 5 beneath altar / 119 5.8 West talud of the Structure 195-5 platform / 120 5.9 Plan and profiles of Structure 195-5 / 121 5.10 Plan and profiles of Tomb 6 in Structure 195-5 / 122 5.11 Plan and profiles of Structure 195-4 / 125 5.12 West room of Structure 195-4SE / 126 5.13 Plan and profiles of Tomb 6 in Structure 195-4SE / 128 5.14 Vaulted roof of the main chamber of Tomb 6 / 129 5.15 Some features of Structure 195-4NE / 130 5.16 Entryways between Structures 195-4SE and 195-4NE / 132 5.17 Sweatbath north of Mound 195 with three phases of construction / 134 5.18 Plan and profiles of the innermost or original sweatbath / 135 5.19 Sweatbath in Mitla in 1980 / 136 5.20 Isometric reconstructions of Structures 195-6, 195-5, and 195-4 / 137 6.1 Plan and profiles of Structure 195-3 / 142 6.2 Structure 195-3NE / 143 6.3 Southwest corner of the platform of Structure 195-3SE / 146 6.4 South room of Structure 195-3SE / 149 6.5 Southeast corner room of Structure 195-3SE / 150 6.6 Earlier east room of Structure 195-3SE / 153 6.7 Plan and profiles of Tomb 6 in Structure 195-3SE / 154 6.8 Cut above the Tomb 6 façade / 155 6.9 Plaster portrait heads on the façade of Tomb 6 / 156 6.10 The altar complex in Structure 195-3SE / 158 6.11 The lower friezes of the altar complex / 159 6.12 In-situ and loose fragments of the stucco figures upon which the hypothetical reconstruction of the friezes is based / 161 6.13 Reconstruction of the altar complex / 163 6.14 Second phase of construction of the sweatbath / 164 6.15 Isometric reconstruction of Structure 195-3 / 164 f i gur E s — xi 6.16 View of the altar complex from the end of the southwest entrance corridor / 165 6.17 View of the south room in Structure 195-3SE from the north vestibule / 167 6.18 Plan of the House of Tomb 103 at Monte Albán / 168 7.1 Profile of the hole dug through the altar, Tomb 5, and the roof of the main chamber of Tomb 6 / 172 7.2 Plan and profile of the Tomb 6 skeletal remains / 173 7.3 Burial 68-22, a female thirty-five to forty-five years old / 174 7.4 Graph of chi-square results from comparisons of bones in tombs at Lambityeco / 177 7.5 Plan and profile of the Tomb 6 offering / 186 7.6 The Tomb 6 lintel offering / 189 7.7 Ceramic effigies found in the Tomb 6 lintel offering / 191 7.8 Distribution of urn fragments in front of Tomb 6 / 195 7.9 Ceramic effigy fragments from the fill in front of Tomb 6 and their hypothetical