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The Central Valleys of Oaxaca, the cradle of Zapotec civilization, are three broad valleys—Etla in the west, Ocotlán in the south and Mitla in the east—that join at an altitude of about 4500 feet above sea level in the center of what today is the state of Oaxaca. They are located about 200 km south of Mexico City.
There were large temples built called yo hopèe, the house of the vital force, in which the priests performed religious rites. In the spiritual realm the pè , or life force, lived within various natural elements including wind, breath and was believed to be the spirit, or vital force, of all beings.
The partly excavated main pyramid of San Jose Mogote San Jose Mogote and other important Formative Period settlements.. San José Mogote is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Zapotec, a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in the region of what is now the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
There are historical records from the area dating back as far as the 12th century, but except for the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, there is very few records of the native peoples of the state from the pre-Hispanic era into much of the colonial era. [3] By 500 BC, these valleys were mostly inhabited by the Zapotecs, with the Mixtecs on the eastern side.
There are four basic groups of Zapotecs: the istmeños, who live in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec [10] the serranos, who live in the northern mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, the southern Zapotecs, who live in the southern mountains of the Sierra Sur and the Central Valley Zapotecs, who live in and around the Valley of Oaxaca.
Mitla is the second-most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. [1] [2] The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca, [3] in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three cold, high valleys that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. [4]
In 1486, a fort would be established on the hill of Huaxyácac (now called El Fortín), overlooking the present city of Oaxaca and would become the seat of an Aztec garrison that enforced tribute collection from the Mixtecs and Zapotecs. [6] The Zapotec were likewise conquered by the Aztec under the Emperor Ahuitzotl, between 1497 and 1502 ...
The main archeological site is located on a large hill called Guiengola, Gola, Gui’ngola or Guien-Gola. It and a nearby volcanic cone were fortified with walls, trenches and towers on the slopes. On the summit, terraces, bases, pyramids and temples were constructed with slabs of stone covered in stucco.