Oaxaca

doi:10.1017/CHO9781139017831.069

2.21 - Oaxaca

from VI. - The Americas

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014

Andrew K. Balkansky

Edited by

Colin Renfrew and

Paul Bahn

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Andrew K. Balkansky: Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Colin Renfrew: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge

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Summary

Introduction

“God has taken pains in distinguishing this country from the others of the world in two things: in mountains and languages” (Ajofrín 1936: 23). This observation comes from the diary of Fray Francisco de Ajofrín, who passed through Oaxaca in 1766 (cited in Kowalewski et al. 1989: 6). We might make the same observation today. Oaxaca’s mountains, and the linguistic and cultural diversity sheltered within them, give the region its distinctive character and shaped its development from Paleo-Indian times to the present. Ajofrín encountered speakers of Mixtec and Zapotec, the two majority ethno-linguistic groups with more than half a million members still living in Oaxaca. Their ancestors spoke versions of Proto-Otomanguean, among the oldest language families in Mexico, and built its first cities; understanding the divergent evolution of the Otomanguean peoples (Chatino, Cuicatec, Mixtec, Trique, Zapotec, etc.) is the essence of Oaxaca archaeology (Flannery & Marcus 1983).

Oaxaca corresponds to an archaeological and ethnographic culture area (Bernal 1965), and was for most Prehispanic periods a distinct zone within Mesoamerica (Paddock 1966). This culture area was dominated by the native Mixtec and Zapotec, whose core regions in the Mixteca Alta and Oaxaca Valley are the best known among Oaxaca’s several archaeological regions (Map 2.21.1). Monte Albán was the Prehispanic focal point; it is no coincidence that the site was located in the largest valley near the geographic centre of Oaxaca. Nonetheless, Oaxaca’s many ethnolinguistic/archaeological regions exhibited substantial internal diversity.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge World Prehistory , pp. 1026 - 1042

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139017831.069 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2014

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