[Aztlan] El Palmillo and the Zapotec collapse

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

Archaeologists excavating at the Zapotec site of El Palmillo have  
found that its influence began to rival the chief Zapotec city of  
Monte Alban around 700 AD. Gary Feinman of the Field Museum of Chicago  
and his staff have excavated a series of terraces from top to bottom  
to reveal El Palmillo's development, rise and collapse. They have  
recently found human remains and ceramic vessels in an unlooted tomb  
which give major insight into El Palmillo history between 600-900 AD.  
At the end of the period, Monte Alban, El Palmillo and other cities in  
Oaxaca were abandoned.

Feinman  and his team excavated a large palace at the top of El  
Palmillo's hills in the last field season finding it had been rebuilt  
and remodeled several times from 500-900 AD. At the bottom of the  
palace was a masonry tomb where the elite were buried. Bones of three  
people painted with red pigment and 40 ceramic vessels were found in  
that tomb and the remains of a dog. One of the 40 vessels represents  
Cocijo, the Zapotec Rain God. The palace and tomb were built as Monte  
Alban waned and El Palmillo grew stronger. A ball court was added in  
750 AD adjecent to the palace. By 899 AD, the palace was reduced to  
only one patio and then deserted gradually over 100 years.

Perhaps the local economy collapsed and the farming and labor pool  
lost jobs while Monte Alban's breakdown disrupted interregional trade  
and residents had to leave. This collapse was mirrored across  
Mesoamerica. Cities were abandoned and ceramic skills and writing also  
disappeared. Drought played a role in this general collapse alongside  
the collapse of the integrated market system. Warfare resulted and a  
catastrophic market meltdown may have happened.

Mike Ruggeri

National Geographic, which has sponsored the excavations, has the  
story here;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090309-zapotec-missions.html

A tiny URL;
http://tinyurl.com/bs7krl

National Geographic also has a slide show of the tomb finds here;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/photogalleries/zapotec-missions/index.html

A tiny URL;
http://tinyurl.com/cfluco

Mike Ruggeri


Mike Ruggeri's Zapotec World
http://tinyurl.com/3ahcpc