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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.
The Zapotecs call themselves Bën Za, which means “The People.”. For decades it was believed that the exonym Zapotec came from the Nahuatl tzapotēcah (singular tzapotēcatl), which means "inhabitants of the place of sapote".
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]
The Zapotecs were the earliest to gain dominance over the Central Valleys region. [2] The first major dominion was centered in Monte Albán, which flourished from 500 BC until 750 AD. [ 3 ] At its height, Monte Albán was home to some 25,000 people and was the capital city of the Zapotec nation. [ 2 ]
Zapotec civilization, a historical indigenous pre-Columbian civilization and archaeological culture of central Mexico; Zapotec languages, a group of closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages
Later the public structures on Mound 1 were rebuilt as a residence for a high-ranking family. [6] By 500 BCE, with the emergence of Monte Albán as the area's main city, San José Mogote's 1000 years of dominance ended, and it was relegated to the status of a lesser community that fell under Monte Albán's control. [6]
One of the earliest settlements in the Oaxaca Valley was San José Mogote, located in the northwestern part of the Etla arm.Initially a permanent agricultural village during the Early Formative, it eventually developed social stratification where elite social positions were ascribed, i.e., sociopolitical prominence was achieved at birth, rather than earned.
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