The guide was aspirational as she spoke of the Zapotec people, telling stories of the Olmecs before, and tying in references to Clovis culture, as well as remote peoples of Alaska and their genetic similarities to those at the extreme southern end of Argentina.
Bursting with pride, she showed us these engraved stones, explaining the imagery carved upon their ancient surfaces.
She walked us to the ancient ruins of Monte Alban, intoning in grandiose language about the preclassical period and the classical period. She told tales of trade with far-away Teotihuacan, and eventually the fall of Monte Alban and rise of other cities in the valley.
And as great as it could have been, it was honestly a mess. She was clearly enthusiastic, which makes me feel bad saying this, but I couldn’t follow her at all, other than a few interesting points that she made.
Such as this depiction of what appears to be a pregnant woman. And has she delivered twins?
And this likeness of a bat (I think that’s what she said).
We spent a great deal of time inside the museum, when really I wanted to be at the archeological site.
Then we spent a great deal of time while she expounded outside on the walk to Monte Alban (but still not in the site itself), pointing out a neighboring city on a hill (and the terraced farming), as well as the many shards of red pottery on the ground.
Only wealthy people had red pottery.
The site of Monte Alban itself (when we got there) was extraordinary. It spans a time period from about 500 BCE to 750CE.
Our guide spoke in great detail about the magnificent pyramids around us, and the differences from Egyptian (ratios, for example) and pointed out that this area was the “Beverly Hills” of its day, and the pyramids were residential in nature. She described the faded glory of the homes that would have been at the top, bedecked with columns and bamboo.
This all seemed a bit dubious to me (even so, I’ve now learned that some species of bamboo are truly native to Mexico). Elsewhere in the world, anything requiring such an investment as required to build these would have tend to have a religious or governmental connection (exceptions do come to mind, however).
She was correct in telling us that this is the Observatory, and I might be willing to accept that the sun rises at some point between the blocks on top (I am unable to verify this however). Then again, she also said it points to Venus, which makes no sense to me, as Venus is a planet and its movement in the sky is less predictable than the sun, moon, or stars.
Finally, we got a break and had 20 minutes at each end of the valley to ourselves. We had some minutes to climb the tall steps and view the hilltop from above.
We had a chance to read the signs that described the many temples around the site (yes – they were mostly temples).
And to just enjoy a few minutes of solitude under the sun above, communing with the long lost spirits of the Zapotec people who, millennia ago, had a great civilization here.
And those 40 minutes were worth it. I wouldn’t go back with that particular guide, but I would go back.
Because Monte Alban was simply awesome.
butterblogger 