Terminal Classic West Mexico

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Terminal Classic West Mexico Post-Classic Maya

• Monte Alban
• Chichen Itza

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Location of Monte Alban
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Map of Monte Alban
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Early Monte Alban

• Period I 500 - 200 BC
• The most prominent Zapotec site in the Valley of
  Oaxaca during the Late Formative period was Monte
  Albán.
• This site is located on a hill cluster that rises
  prominently over the juncture of three valley
  arms. Although there is evidence of occupation at
  this strategic hilltop by 500 BC, it was during
  the period 500 - 200 BC that the site experienced
  rapid growth.
• Period II 200 BC - AD 100
• Building J was constructed during the next
  period, Monte Albán II, which spans the years 200
  BC - AD 100.
• The exterior of this unusually shaped building
  was decorated with more than 50 carved stones
  known as Conquest Slabs.
• These slabs appear to function as a list of
  places that either paid tribute to Monte Albán or
  that had been conquered by the site.

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Mound J
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Later Monte Alban

• Period IIIa AD 100 400
• One of the most striking characteristics of the
  art of Monte Albán IIIa is the representation of
  Teotihuacanos on monuments at Monte Albán.
• Teotihuacan influence during this time period
  also can be seen in the presence of imported
  ceramics from the Valley of Mexico and local
  ceramics done in a Teotihuacan style.
• However, in contrast to the "Oaxaca Barrio" at
  Teotihuacan, there is no known equivalent ethnic
  enclave of Teotihuacanos at Monte Albán.
• Equally striking during Period III are the tomb
  murals, such as those from Tombs 104 and 105,
  which were located beneath small palace
  structures at the site.

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Teotihuacan Influence
The Estela Lisa, or Monument 9, from the South
Platform depicts a procession of four individuals
who proceed toward a figure who is wearing a
typically Zapotec headdress. The four
individuals, however, wear costumes, carry
implements, and are identified by glyph-like tags
that are distinctly Teotihuacano.
http//www.utexas.edu/cofa/a_ah/dir/precol/monte_a
lban.htm
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Late and Terminal Classic

• Period IIIb - IV AD 400 800
• By AD 700, Monte Albán was in decline, and a new
  type of stone monument made its appearance in the
  region.
• This was the genealogical register, which
  documented marriages between important men and
  women from various sites in the Valley of Oaxaca
  or traced the birth and life events of elite
  individuals.
• Unlike the earlier monumental Danzantes or
  Conquest Slabs, these genealogical registers were
  small and obviously meant to be read from
  close-up.
• Period V 750-1520 A.D.
• During the later phases the Valley of Oaxaca
  participates in a pan-Mesoamerican reorganization
  of social structures and the public areas of
  Monte Albán itself are abandoned.
• The hill-sides and base of the hill continue to
  be occupied and used for high-status burials.

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View of the Great Plaza-Monte Alban
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Monte-Alban East side of Plaza
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View of Danzantes Mound
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Danzantes

• The Danzantes, associated with Building L at the
  southern/ceremonial end of the site, are the
  earliest sculpture known from Monte Albán.
• The Danzantes are flat stone slabs carved with
  the depiction of humans who are portrayed in
  postures typically associated with humiliation
  and degradation.
• Some figures display evidence of genital
  mutilation, heart extraction, or other forms of
  torture.
• An early phase of Building L, partially buried
  beneath a later version of the structure,
  demonstrated that at least some of the Danzantes
  were placed on the façade of Building L in
  alternating vertical and horizontal rows.
• Some of the figures also were accompanied by
  hieroglyphic texts that appear to provide dates,
  names, and places of origin.

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Danzante Figure
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Danzantes Figure
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Vaulted Stairway
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Entrance to Tomb
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Funerary Urn-Monte Alban III
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Clay offering vessel found buried in Main Plaza
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Clay figurine of a woman wearing headdress and
shawl similar to those worn by traditional woman
in Mexico today.
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Sculpture of the Bat God
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Polychrome vessel with hummingbird
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Gold Pectoral from Tomb 7
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Necklace from Tomb 7
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Rock Crystal Vase from Tomb 7
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Ball Court
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Carved rings-goals?
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Reconstruction of Rubber Ball
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Bas-Relief Image of a Ball Player
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Chichen Itza

• The name Chichen Itza means "well of the Itzas."
• Late in its history, the site was occupied by the
  Itza family, Mayas who resisted the Spanish until
  the 17th century by withdrawing to a fortress at
  Lake Peten.
• In the Middle Preclassic period (800 B.C. - 300
  B.C.) some villages grew into small ceremonial
  centers.
• By the Late Classic period (600 - 900 A.D.) one
  of these provincial centers, later called Chichen
  Itza, contained a number of large structures
  built in the Puuc style of the South, exemplified
  by the Nunnery and the Palace of the Governors at
  Uxmal, some 100 miles southeast of Chichen Itza.

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Maya historical tradition

• States that in 987 A.D., a leader called Kukulkan
  (in Maya, "feathered serpent," in the Toltec
  language, "Quetzalcoatl") arrived from the sea to
  the west and conquered the land, probably with
  the aid of some of the indigenous people.
• Kukulkan was almost certainly the Quetzalcoatl
  who had dominated the Toltec capital at Tula to
  the west and whose faction had been exiled from
  Tula in 987 A.D.

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Chichen Itza Toltec Influence

• The Toltec invaders, with the aid, forced or
  willing, of the Chichen Itza Mayas, proceeded to
  build a new capital close to the site of the
  older Maya center.
• They built new buildings in the Toltec style,
  altered older Maya structures to suit their own
  needs, and left some of the older buildings
  untouched.
• They may have built a wall around their new
  plaza, which is bounded by the Temple of the
  Warriors at one end and the Great Ball Court at
  the other.
• The result of the building program was a lively,
  exciting melding of styles and forms, for many of
  the innovations of Tula were brought to the
  Yucatan and refined by Maya craftsmen.

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http//maya.csuhayward.edu/archaeoplanet/ParisGra/
ChichenMap.htm
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Later Chichen Itza

• The Toltecs ruled at Chichen Itza for 200 years
  and then abandoned the site, probably overthrown
  by the Mayas.
• Although the building program ended, people
  continued to inhabit the site to this time there
  is recent evidence that some minor Maya religious
  rituals, such as the burning of incense, are
  still practiced in the older sections of Chichen.

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Castillo
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Earlier entrance under Castillo
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Jaguar Temple
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Jaguar Throne
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Eagle Platform
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Temple of the Warriors
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Venus Platform
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Cenote Excavations

• In the late 19th century, the American Edward
  Thompson bought a hacienda located on the site of
  Chichen Itza. An amateur archaeologist, he
  investigated many of the structures, of which
  only a small percentage have been excavated as of
  the present time.
• Thompson's main interest, like many of the
  investigators who succeeded him, was in the
  Sacred Cenote. This is a limestone sink, not
  uncommon in the Yucatan, which serves as the only
  steady natural source of water in this region of
  low rainfall.
• During the Toltec era, probably before it, and
  certainly long after, sacrifices of various kinds
  were thrown into the cenote.
• These included human beings, as well as objects
  made of gold, jade, copal, rubber, and copper.
• Although the Spanish believed (or hoped) the
  human sacrifices were beautiful virgins, there is
  no skeletal evidence for this belief. Skeletons
  of children, old men and mature women have been
  dredged from the Cenote.

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Cenote
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Structure on side of Cenote
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Objects found in Cenote (Jade and Shell)
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Gold objects in Cenote
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The Caracol
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Ruins of a High Priests House
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Necklace found in High Priest house excavations
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Ballcourt
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Mural Depicting Battle
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Chacmool Figure
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The Nunnery
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Skull Rack
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Close-up of Skull Rack