Early (300−100 B.C.) temple precinct in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

Archaeological investigations during the past two decades in Mexico's Valley of Oaxaca have documented the appearance of key public buildings, such as the royal palace and multiroom temple, associated with the rise of an archaic state at ca. 300−100 B.C. A fuller picture is now emerging from the site of El Palenque, where recent excavations have defined a temple precinct on the east side of the site's plaza. This precinct exhibits characteristics similar to those of the temple precincts of later Mesoamerican states described by Colonial period sources. The excavation data document a walled enclosure containing three multiroom temples, two special residences identified as priests' residences, and an array of ritual features and activity areas. The temple precinct's components are interpreted as comprising a hierarchy of temples staffed by a specialized priesthood. A series of radiocarbon dates indicate that the precinct's differentiated components were all in use during the 300−100 B.C. period of archaic state emergence. The El Palenque temple precinct is the earliest temple precinct excavated thus far in the Valley of Oaxaca.Zapotec religion | state institutions | Mesoamerican archaeology W hen archaeologist V. Gordon Childe (1) proposed his defining criteria of urban civilization, he highlighted monumental public buildings, especially temple precincts. Such precincts, consisting of one or more temples and their attached facilities, were considered an expression of occupational specialization within society, which he saw as a hallmark of civilization. Building upon Childe's perspective, Adams (2) and Flannery (3) focused on the sociopolitical institutions associated with the state as a form of government. These authors characterized the state as highly centralized and hierarchical, managed by a professional ruling class whose legitimacy was often reinforced through the tenets and practices of a state religion maintained by full-time priests.Adams (2) traced the development of Mesopotamian temple precincts in terms of the monumental scale of construction and increasing differentiation in function. The temple precincts at Uruk, the capital of a first-generation state, tended to be set apart from the community by an enclosure wall. The temples and temple precincts were variable in morphology and presumed function, and included attached living quarters for their attendant personnel.Flannery (4) examined the archaeological indicators of early state institutions and proposed that a state religion was frequently associated with standardized, multiroom temples and special residences for full-time priests. Such priestly living quarters were often attached to the temples, or in close proximity behind or to one side of the temples, which the priests accessed by entryways or stairways different from those used by the public. Access to them was restricted and privacy achieved by narrow corridors and curtain walls. In some cases, priestly residences were similar in size and layout to each other, and shared the same astronomic...

Monte Albán's Hidden Past: Buried Buildings and Sociopolitical Transformation

“…Comparisons with Period I ritual structures at El Palenque, located in the Valle Grande near the modern town of San Martín Tilcajete, are also helpful (Redmond and Spencer 2008; 2013). Three Late Period I temples (Str.…”

“…19B supported Str. 28, a wattle-and-daub temple that was burned a short time after 600 BC (Flannery and Marcus 2015:147-164 (Redmond and Spencer 2008;2013). Three Late Period I temples (Str.…”

Ancient palace complex (300–100 BC) discovered in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

“…The palace's differentiated ground plan reflects the centralized, hierarchical, and internally specialized administration of a state. The radiocarbon dates associated with the palace complex span the Late Monte Albán I phase of the Late Formative period (300-100 BC), a time period for which there is considerable evidence of state organization in the Valley of Oaxaca (4,21). This 2,300-year-old palace is the oldest multifunctional palace excavated to date in the Valley of Oaxaca and is a key indicator of the early state society that emerged there at this time.…”

“…We have argued that the Ocotlán-Zimatlán polity centered at El Palenque resisted domination by the expansionistic Monte Albán state, centered in the Oaxaca Valley's Etla-Central subregion, until the first century BC All three temples were destroyed by fire in the early years of the Monte Albán II phase (100 BC-AD. 200), as were the priests' residences behind them, as evidenced by the conventional radiocarbon dates obtained from fragments of charcoal recovered in the carbonized abandonment deposits (21). The sudden abandonment of the temple precinct was marked by the careless interment of an adult individual of indeterminate sex in the firebox of one of the priests' residences.…”

“…Behind the temples lay specialized activity areas, ritual features, and residences for the full-time priests who served there. The 14 C dates associated with the temple precinct's differentiated components span the Late Monte Albán I phase; the earliest conventional radiocarbon date of 2,200 ± 50 B.P or 250 ± 50 BC and a 2-σ calibrated range of 390-110 BC was obtained from a charcoal fragment recovered in the construction fill (β-202178) of the largest temple platform (21). We have argued that the Ocotlán-Zimatlán polity centered at El Palenque resisted domination by the expansionistic Monte Albán state, centered in the Oaxaca Valley's Etla-Central subregion, until the first century BC All three temples were destroyed by fire in the early years of the Monte Albán II phase (100 BC-AD.…”