Danzantes of Building L at Monte Albán
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This report was written and submitted in 1994 and, barring some minor revisions, reflects data, research, and publications to that date.

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Research Year:  1994
Culture:  Zapotec
Chronology:  Classic
Location:  Oaxaca, México
Site:  Monte Albán

Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction: Monte Albán
Building L
Doing the Danzante: A History of Interpretations
The Danzantes of Monte Albán and the Ballplayers sculptures of Mound A, Dainzú
Report submitted to the Proyecto Especial Monte Albán 1992-1994
Figures
Sources Cited

Abstract

The supporting grant provided by FAMSI in January of 1994 enabled me to continue my studies at the important PreColumbian city of Monte Albán until the end of March, 1994.  I had worked in a voluntary capacity at Monte Albán since September 1993, under the direction of Marcus Winter, for the Proyecto Especial Monte Albán. My FAMSI project was conceived due to the imminent need to record excavations undertaken in the North Tunnel of Building L, to determine the construction sequence of this structure, and to document the poorly known area north of Building L (Area L-North).

The Danzantes wall of Building L at Monte Albán is perhaps the sole structure at this site with its sculptural program in primary context. The Danzantes sculptures are pecked figures with some hieroglyphs carved on the surface of removable stone slabs or blocks which faced rubble core structures as revetment walls. Some slabs have been recarved with two or more Danzantes. The Danzantes figures are considered by several researchers to represent sacrificed individuals, probably captives of war (refer to discussion in Orr 1997). This type of carving dates to the Late Formative period and seems to appear with the foundation of Monte Albán. The profusion of these carvings (more than 300 known) indicates an emphasis on this form of power during the initial development of the mountain-top capital city. Clearly, an understanding of how these carvings functioned in the architectural-sculptural programming of early Monte Albán is critical to discussions of elite political strategy and the Late Formative political configuration of the city and other valley centers with which it interacted. The Danzantes wall is the sole location in which the Danzante carvings are found in situ. The wall has been built over and modified. The original structure which it faced has been buried and truncated by later construction activities. Earlier excavations in the area yielded important data, however, the explorations of the Proyecto Especial provided a unique opportunity to determine the construction sequences of the area and to reconstruct the type of structure decorated by Danzantes carvings and how such structures functioned in ritual. In addition, the area between Building L and System IV (Area L-North, Figure 4), which bore a significant relationship to the Danzantes building in its early stages of construction, was cleared, consolidated, tested, and recorded by myself and supervising archaeologist Miroslava Zúñiga Vásquez.

Submitted 08/01/1994 by:
Heather S. Orr
horr@western.edu

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