Archaeology in the Americas, Part 2- Mitla Ruins, Oaxaca, Mexico

Located 45 kilometers SE of the city of Oaxaca, Mexico, Mitla was inhabited at least since the Classic Period (100-650 C.E.) and perhaps as early as 900 B.C.E.  It began as a fortified village, then became the main religious center for the area.  The Mixtecs took control of the area around 1000 C.E. although it also remained populated by the Zapotec.  The city reached its height and largest size between 750 and 1521, with both Zapotec and Mixtec influences in its architecture during that time.  Mitla is one of the areas which represents Mesoamerican attitudes towards death as the most consequential part of life after birth. It was built as a gateway between the world of the living and the world of the dead.  

(courtesy of www.oaxaca-mio.com)

Mitla was occupied until the 16th century when the Spaniards destroyed or dismantled a temple building in order to use the foundation and many of the cut bricks from the original city to build a cathedral. What we now call the Town of Mitla or San Pablo Villa de Mitla, grew up around the ruins (and cathedral) which makes an interesting contrast between a once beautiful and great city in ruins and the current city, which has never regained the stature of the pre-Spanish era. 

The ruins of Mitla are one of Mexico's most interesting sacred places. Evidence shows that the site was occupied from about 900 B.C.E. Mitla's visible structural remains date from about 200 C.E. to 900 C.E. when the Zapotecs were ruling the area, from 1000 CE when the Mixtecs took control of the site, and from 1200 CE (some sources say 1500), when the Zapotecs were back in control.

Mitla was the second most important ceremonial center after Monte Alban. The name Mitla or Mictlan is of Nahuatl origin and means "Place of the Dead" or "Inframundo". In Zapotec it is called "Lyobaa", which means "Burial Place", and in Mexico it became known as Mictlan, "Place of the Dead" which is shortened in Spanish to Mitla. The archaeological site and town itself are Zapotec. Mitla was inhabited in the Classic Period (100-650 DC), with its greatest growth and height in the Post Classic period (750-1521 DC).

 

The most unique feature of Mitla is the rich variety of mosaic tile (grecas) that is displayed throughout the site's different buildings. This achievement is also due to a system of columns, that sets it apart from the rest of Mexicos archaeological zones. The nearby ruins of Yagul show some of these characteristics, however they are not as well made as at Mitla.

The archaeological zone of Mitla includes five main groups of structures, and by the beginning of the Christian era the town stretched for more than two thirds of a mile along either side of the Mitla river. There are five different groups of buildings, known as: Southern Group, Clay Group, Creek Group, Columns Group and Church Group. The first two have been classified as ceremonial centers, formed by the presence of mounds and central squares. The last three are classified as palaces, comprised by several chambers, set around square yards. From these five groups perhaps the most studied/well known are the Columns Group and the Church Group.

The "Hall of Columns," 120 x 21 feet in size, has six monolithic columns of volcanic stone that originally supported a roof covering the entire hall. The darkened doorway leads through a low and narrow passageway to the interior of another enclosure, now roofless, but also covered in ancient times. This chamber is one of the most astonishing artistic artifacts of pre-Columbian America. Its walls are covered with panels of inlaid cut-stone mosaic known as stepped-fret design. The motif of these intricate geometric mosaics are believed to be a stylized representation of the Sky Serpent and therefore a symbol of the pan-regional Mesoamerican deity, Quetzalcoatl. Archaeologists are mystified regarding the use of this chamber. An early Spanish explorer, named Canseco, who visited Mitla in 1580, wrote of the Hall of Columns, "In this building they had their idols, and it was where they assembled for religious purposes, to make sacrifices to their idols, and to perform heathen rites". Regarding the interior chamber, Canseco says it was the residence of the high priest. The oldest information we have about the chamber however, and possibly the most revealing, is a legend that says the chamber was used for the final initiation of shamans who had been trained in magic and healing in the school of Mitla. In the "Patio of Tombs" adjacent to the Hall of Columns is a 2.8 meter tall column known as the "Pillar of Death."  Legend says that if you hold your arms around this pillar and feel it move, then your death is immanent. The "Pillar of Death" is now blocked off and inaccessible to visitors.  

The most characteristic architecture in Mitla is the group of the columns where the Great House of Pezelao is located, generally considered by many to be the most beautiful archaeological site in the Americas. The group contains two squares. The northern is bordered by platforms on all four sides- the main building is in the northern part. In the central patio there are vestiges of an altar. It is formed by two bands raised over the base, the panel and the cornice. The great Hall of Columns is rectangular. You pass through this hallway to enter the main palace which is behind a narrow door. Behind this passageway is the decorated patio, which provides access to each of the four salons. Each is decorated by three panels with ornate mosaics of carved stone which forms different geometric designs in each band. The panels contain thousands of polished stones, which are cut to fit without mortar.

The most beautiful tombs are located in the northern and eastern buildings, where the Zapotec priests and kings were buried. In the first, in front of the stairs, is the entrance to a cruciform tomb with antechamber. The ceiling has large single stone dinteles and the walls are decorated with ornate mosaic panels. The eastern is characterized by a monolithic stone column that supports the ceiling.

Mitla was considered to be the fabled home of Mictlantecuhtle, Lord of The Underworld.

 

In the Seventeenth Century, the Church Of San Paublo was built upon the Mitla Courtyard C and the church was constructed of stone from the Prehispanic Mitla Temples. This archaeological site dismantling for church/monastery construction was common throughout all of Mexico until 1850, when Benito Juarez passed the Ecclesiastical Real Estate Nationalization Law which put an end to the practice.

(courtesy of www.saa.org and www.delange.org/Mitla)

-Maureen Lang

Comments

[steve]

Fascinating article. Thanks.

I found it fascinating too that in Mexico City's main plaza--next to the magnificent cathedral--are the ruins of the pre-Columbian Aztec temple, the building blocks for the cathedral. It always impressed on me the absolute integration of Indian and European culture which is modern day Mexico.

I would also like to add what I consider an essential book for those interested in pre-Columbian America, "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus", by Charles Mann.

A fascinating book detailing the technological and social complexity of native cultures. Of particular note is what is believed to be the first human attempts at genetic engineering of crops--corn in Mexico's central valley in 2000 BC.

Of further note is the author's theory that the east coast of the US was absolutely jam-packed with densely populated native towns in 1500. Yet what the colonists discovered 100 years later was a basically depopulated area which allowed relatively easier colonization. Why? The author theorizes that prior to colonization, the native populations had been wiped out by smallpox introduced by Newfoundland fishermen.

Were it not for smallpox and the depopulation of the natives prior to colonization, US and world history may have been quite different.

[Allen Thomson]

> the site was occupied from about 900 B.C.

So about from the time of the breakup of the United Monarchy in Israel, but many centuries after the rise of civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Fascinating stuff.

[Dennis McCarthy]

Five years ago a friend and I toured around the Oaxaca area and took a day trip to Monte Alban, but we grew hot and tired and opted out of going on to Mitla. I wish now that we hadn't. Thanks for sending me a link to this post, Maureen.