[Aztlan] 5th Monte Alban Round Table Announced

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

INAH has announced the 5th Monte Alban Round Table

Mike Ruggeri


“Monte Alban at Regional and Disciplinary Crossroads” (Monte Alban en  
la encrucijada regional y disciplinaria) is the thematic axis of the  
fifth edition of the round table dedicated to the ancient Zapoteca  
city, from September 2nd to 5th, 2009, that will take place in Oaxaca  
City, to present results from most recent archaeological  
investigations conducted in different regions of the State, from  
Central Valleys to Isthmus, and from Mixteca to Coast.

Archaeologists, physical anthropologists, ethno historians,  
architects, and other specialists will present in 30 lectures themes  
like Origins; Monte Alban during its peak, life and collapse;  
Transformation; Archaeology and history, among others, at the  
gathering organized by the National History of Anthropology and  
History (INAH) through Monte Alban Archaeological Zone.

At the press conference organized at National Museum of Anthropology  
(MNA), Dr. Nelly Robles Garcia, director of Monte Alban Archaeological  
Zone, explained that the main theme of the Fifth Round Table was  
decided based on consensus among the round table’s Scientific Committee.

“To present, Monte Alban studies are at a crossroads; either we  
continue them per se, or we broaden them to understand more in terms  
of quality and quantity of data and subjects, surpassing  
archaeological perspective”.

“Regarding location, we may focus research on Central Valleys or open  
it to different Oaxaca regions and areas of Mesoamerica, with the aim  
of understanding the phenomenon that allowed Monte Alban’s development  
(500-850 AD) as a cultural, religious and politic controlling State”,  
expressed the general coordinator of the round table.

This quandary will be reflected at the encounter’s lectures; some of  
them are related to places that had never been subject of research:  
Santa Maria Atzompa (at the north of Monte Alban, which correspond to  
its last phase, between 700 and 850 AD); Copalita, in Huatulco, and  
other sites at Mixe and Isthmus zones; and the relation with  
settlements in Veracruz.

Ivan Rivera, academic coordinator, announced other case to be  
discussed: Cerro Palmillo, an archaeological site near Santa Cruz  
Tepenixtlahuaca, in Chatina region, where a stele with High Plateau  
iconography was discovered.

Archaeologist Nelly Robles commented these works will contribute to  
complete Oaxaca Archaeological Atlas, “to know which sites and of  
which nature are distributed in the state. We need to continue the  
study in the Mixteca, because this is the second ethnic group in  
quantity, and research in Mixe area, specifically Sierra Juarez, which  
has been relegated due to its inaccessible orography”.

Academics from INAH, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM),  
Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology  
(CIESAS), as well as from international institutions like University  
of Colorado at Boulder, Leiden University, Field Museum of Chicago and  
the American Museum of Natural History of New York.

Homage to Roberto Gallegos Cruz

Mixteca arrived to Central Valleys near 1000 AD, when Monte Alban had  
already lost its regional power, but codices, historical information  
compiled by Francisco de Burgoa, and Alfonso Caso contributions,  
referred to Mixteca and Zapoteca relations.

Findings at tombs 1 and 2 in Zaachila, headed by archaeologist Roberto  
Gallegos Ruiz in 1962, verified this connection. His contributions to  
Mexican archaeology will be acknowledged during the framework of the  
Fifth Monte Alban Round Table.

Further information at: www.inah.gob.mx/mesamontealban

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America Museum Exhibitions, Conferences and  
Lectures
http://tinyurl.com/c9mlao