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..
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 ball courts.
Monte Alban Oaxaca, Ruin Site, Archaeological Site In Oaxaca
Mexico  Oaxaca City, Mexico
Monte Alban was
abandoned starting in
750 AD.
The hilltop complex was  
entirely depopulated by
900 AD.
Monte Alban ruin site in Oaxaca
saw its 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.  The
complex of platforms, plazas and
stone pyramidal structures has a
museum tha is also open to the
public.
In 1932,  the Caso excavations
uncovered Tomb 7.  This  trove of
Mixtec art and tomb offerings  
numbered some 500,  much of it
amber, obsidian, turquoise, and lost
wax process gold.  
Other Oaxacan ruin site within 30 miles of Oaxaca City
Monte Alban Ruin
Site in Oaxaca,
Mexico is one of
the oldest stone
building
complexes in
Mexico.
The ruin site of
Monte Alban has
remnants of
thousands of
terraced house
sites  visible on
the hillsides but
only 10% of the
city has been
excavated.
Monte Alban Archaeological Site
500 BC-800 AD
Monte Alban Ruin Site in Oaxaca Mexico is just outside the modern City of Oaxaca. The
preserved colonial historic center offers a mix of accommodations from luxury hotels,
inns, B&Bs,  posada, and hostels.
Jet flights to Oaxaca's modern airport (OAX) put a culinary tour in the city, a ruins tour,
or a hiking and biking tour in the mountains within easy reach for a travel vacation.
Great restaurants, reasonable car rentals, good bus service, and the proximity to
Huatulco resort beaches and the surfing beaches of Puerto Escondido make Oaxaca a
great place for a vacation.
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 Archaeological Ruin site is still just 10%
excavated. The huge site sprawls over three peaks
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 using the old tombs, they showed respect for
the bodies they found within.  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.

Bus to 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 and museum.