Monte Albán

Seems that I skipped a day in my blogging due to fatigue and hot weather. On Sunday we capped the main tour by visiting the archaeological site of Monte Alban outside of Oaxaca.

This Mayan ruin is spectacular! Our local guide was a woman from Denmark who moved here decades ago to work on the digs here. Her knowledge was very comprehensive.

The site has at least 23 temples to various deities. Some of the pyramids can still be climbed. The views at the top are spectacular.

The oldest structures, dedicated to ceremonial art and dance, are at the southwest corner of the temple complex. This site was active for more than 1,000 years, so there was plenty of time to add on.

There were residential buildings here, but the only residents on the mountaintop were the families of priests and rulers. Lesser servants had to carry water and food up to them from the valley. Tombs are found in the residences -- the Mayans didn't believe in cemeteries. Dead family members were buried under the house.

Unfortunately, one of our group members took a fall and scraped up his leg rather badly. Fortunately, no broken bones.

The day was very hot and the sun was unrelenting, so even though the site was so intriguing, it became difficult to concentrate on all of the information being shared.

One significant feature was the ball court. The Meso-American ball game evolved from Mayan culture and continued into the days of the Aztecs, taking different forms over time.

At Monte Alban, the ceremonial ball court is in the temple complex, but at least four other "training" courts have been found around the perimeter.

The most spectacular discovery at Monte Alban was the "Tomb 7," a Mayan burial site that had not been looted over the centuries, but remained intact until it was unearthed by archeologists in the last century.

The treasures of Tomb 7, and other artifacts, are back in Oaxaca in the cultural museum. After resting from the heat for a bit, we recovered sufficiently to visit the museum, which is in a former convent adjacent to one of the churches we had visited earlier.

The convent is architecturally interesting in itself. It was seized from the church during the Mexican Revolution and used as a military barracks, causing some damage.

But much remains, including a rather extensive library, as well as the chapel areas. Individual cells in which the nuns lived have been converted into smaller display rooms.

The most important treasure of Tomb 7 is a jade death mask. But there was also a great deal of jewelry of various kinds on display, including pearls -- even though Monte Alban is far from the sea.

At dinner in the evening we got to meet our tour leader's wife and son. His daughter was visiting her grandparents, so we didn't get to meet her. Dinner was a buffet. The food was good and very plentiful, but much of it wasn't very Mexican.