Zapotec script
The writing system of the Zapotec culture represents one of the earliest writing systems in Mesoamerica.[1] Rising in the late Pre-Classic era after the decline of the Olmec civilization, the Zapotecs of present-day Oaxaca built an empire around Monte Alban. One characteristic of Monte Albán is the large number of carved stone monuments one encounters throughout the plaza. There and at other sites, archaeologists have found extended text in a glyphic script.
Some signs can be recognized as calendar information but the script as such remains undeciphered. Read in columns from top to bottom, its execution is somewhat cruder than that of the later Maya script and this has led epigraphers to believe that the script was also less phonetic than the largely syllabic Maya.
San Jose Mogote danzante
The earliest known artifact with Zapotec writing is a Danzante ("dancer") stone, officially known as Monument 3, found in San Jose Mogote, Oaxaca. Placed as a doorstep to the ceremonial structure [2], it has a relief of what appears to be a dead and bloodied captive with two glyphic signs between his legs, possibly his name. Glyphs depict drops of blood and a possible calendar day-name "1 Earthquake." These are the earliest Zapotec glyphs known to exist. First dated to 500–600 BC, this was initially considered the earliest writing in Mesoamerica. However, doubts have been expressed as to this dating as the monument may have been reused.
By 500 BCE, 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.[3]
Monte Albán danzantes
With the emergence of Monte Albán as the area's main city by 500 BCE, monuments with similar danzantes figures were erected at the site.[4] The 19th century notion that they depict dancers is now largely discredited, and these monuments, dating to the earliest period of occupation at the site, are now seen to clearly represent tortured, sacrificed war prisoners, some identified by name, and may depict leaders of competing centers and villages captured by Monte Albán.[5] Over 300 “Danzantes” stones have been recorded to date, and some of the better preserved ones can be viewed at the site's museum.
Monte Albán conquest slabs
A different type of carved stones is found on the nearby Building J in the center of the Main Plaza, a building characterized by an unusual arrow-like shape and an orientation that differs from most other structures at the site. Inserted within the building walls are over 40 large carved slabs dating to Monte Albán II and depicting place-names, occasionally accompanied by additional writing and in many cases characterized by upside-down heads. Alfonso Caso was the first to identify these stones as "conquest slabs", likely listing places the Monte Albán elites claimed to have conquered and/or controlled. Some of the places listed on Building J slabs have been tentatively identified, and in one case (the Cañada de Cuicatlán region in northern Oaxaca) Zapotec conquest has been confirmed through archaeological survey and excavations.[6][7]
Zapotec writing at other sites
The westernmost extent of Zapotec script is the pacific coast of Oaxaca and Guerrero, with most inscribed material dating from 600 - 900 CE.[8]
Later developments
The Zapotec script appears to have gone out of use in the late Classic period, most inscriptions were carved before 700 CE.[1] It is possible that it influenced later Mixtec and Aztec writing systems.[9]
References
- ^ a b Marcus, Joyce (1980). "Zapotec Writing". Scientific American. 242 (2): 50–67. ISSN 0036-8733.
- ^ Price, T. Douglas; Gary M. Feinman (2005). Images of the Past (Fourth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-286311-0. p.321
- ^ Price, T. Douglas; Gary M. Feinman (2005). Images of the Past (Fourth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-286311-0. p. 322.
- ^ Price, T. Douglas; Gary M. Feinman (2005). Images of the Past (Fourth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-286311-0.
- ^ Blanton, Richard E.; Gary M. Feinman; Stephen A. Kowalewski; Linda M. Nicholas (1999). Ancient Oaxaca: the Monte Albán State. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57787-X. OCLC 41420906.
- ^ Spencer, Charles S. (1982). The Cuicatlán Cañada and Monte Albán: A Study of Primary State Formation. New York and London: Academic Press.
- ^ Redmond, Elsa M. (1983). "A Fuego y Sangre: Early Zapotec Imperialism in the Cuicatlán Cañada". University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Museum of Anthropology Memoir 16. 16.
- ^ Urcid, Javier (1993). "The Pacific Coast of Oaxace and Guerrero: The westernmost extent of Zapotec script". Ancient Mesoamerica. 4 (1): 141–165. ISSN 0956-5361.
- ^ Justeson, John S. (February 1986). "The Origin of Writing Systems: Preclassic Mesoamerica" (PDF). World Archaeology. 17 (3). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul: 449. doi:10.1080/00438243.1986.9979981. ISSN 0043-8243. OCLC 2243103. Archived from the original (online facsimile) on 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2009-06-09.