Monte Alban Archaeological Site, Oaxaca, Mexico, Travel
Monte Alban ruin site in Oaxaca saw its first archaeological excavation in the 1890s and then
the first modern scientific mapping and excavation in 1930 when Mexican Archaeologist Alfonso
Caso headed a 16 year excavation.  
Monte Alban Archaeological Ruin site is still just 10% excavated. The huge site sprawls over
three peaks with thousands of house sites and terraced fields still visible on the hillsides below
the platform mound complexes which comprise the museum and site that is opened to the public.
In 1932 the Caso excavations uncovered tomb 7 and the trove of Mixtec art and tomb offerings that
numbered some 500,  much of it amber, obsidian, turquoise, and lost wax process gold.  The Mixtec
people, a group that entered the region after the decline of the city, used the Zapotec tombs to bury their
royal dead, leaving the Tomb 7 offerings in the 14th century.

Monte Alban's  Zapotec builders  laid out the city with a north south orientation 1,300 feet above the River
Atoyac and the alluvial valley. Starting in 500 BC, they quarried stone from the hilltop and flattened the
peak to make a broad level plaza. By 300 AD the population had risen to 30,000 people by some
estimates. The city has stone platforms running the length of the quarter mile plaza, tombs primarily on the
eastern and northern slopes, and two five ball courts two excavated and stabilized.
Glyphs carved in 300 BC depict defeated leaders of neighboring villages in death some researchers
have speculated while others say the stones called the Danzantes( the Dancers)  depict sick and injured
people. Many stelae have a glyph that some claim depict a mutilated penis, while others propose this as a
symbol of fertility..
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Monte Alban Ruin
Site in Oaxaca,
Mexico is still just
10% excavated but
the huge site, one of
the oldest stone
building complexes
in Mexico, sprawls
over three Peaks.
Monte Alban Ruin
has remnants of
thousands of house
sites and terraced
fields  visible on the
hillsides
In 750-850 AD the people
left the city leaving the
hilltop complex
abandoned by 900 AD.
Monte Alban Ruin Site 500 BC-800 AD
17* 20'   96* 59'

The Mixtec people , a group from the northern mountains entered the valley of Oaxaca and used the
abandoned city of Monte Alban as a burial ground. While showing respect for the bodies they found
within the old tombs, they would move skeletons and offerings aside to place their own royalty within the
tombs built lt by the Zapotec people, the original builders of Monte Alban.

Hotel Rivera del Angel ( four blocks south, four blocks west of the Zocalo) has a tour bus terminal
where trips to many Oaxacan sites  are available including Monte Alban.   Round trip bus $3.00 USD  
approximately. ((38 Pesos)  Stay as long as you like. the last bus leaves the ruin at 5:00 PM
Monte Alban site open 8:00 Am to  5:00 PM        Allow three to four hours to visit the ruin
This standing stone is positioned to
show the movement of the sun and
the day of zenith at Monte Alban
Monte Alban archaeological Site in Oaxaca, Mexico is a
huge site and one of the oldest stone building complexes in
Mexico.  Monte Alban Ruin Site sprawls over three Peaks
with remnants of thousands of house sites and terraced
fields  visible on the hillsides
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Monte Alban Archaeological Site, Oaxaca, Mexico,
Monte Alban Archaeological Site at 1300 feet above the
Valley of Oaxaca
Monte Alban Archaeological Ruin Site above Oaxaca City
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