page_title: Zapotec civilisation
section_title: Technology
hierarchical_section_title: Zapotec civilisation / Technology
caption_attribution_description: Funerary urn from Oaxaca. Estimated to originate from Period III (AD 300- 650). Although listed in the display case and on the original catalogue page as a "bat god" (even though it does not have wings), the online "virtual hall" lists this urn as a "jaguar". Compare with this clay jaguar, also from Oaxaca.
context_page_description: The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization. It was mainly in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeologists think their culture goes back at least 2500 years. The Zapotec left traces at the ancient city of Monte Albán. There are buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods. In the graves, finely worked gold jewellery was found. Monte Albán was the first major city in the western hemisphere. It was the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of what is now the state of Oaxaca.
context_section_description: The Zapotec developed a calendar and a special system of writing. This system has a separate glyph for each of the syllables of the language.  It is one of several candidates thought to have been the first writings system of Mesoamerica. It is the predecessor of the writing systems developed by the Maya, Mixtec, and Aztec civilizations. Currently there is some debate if Olmec symbols, dated to 650 BC, are actually a form of writing which is older than the earliest Zapotec writing dated to about 500 BC.
  In the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, there were Zapotec and Mixtec artisans who made jewellery for the Aztec rulers (tlatoanis), including Moctezuma II.  Relations with central Mexico go back much further. This can be proven by archaeological remains of a Zapotec neighborhood within Teotihuacan and a Teotihuacan style "guest house" in Monte Albán. Other important pre-Columbian Zapotec sites include Lambityeco, Dainzu, Mitla, Yagul, San José Mogote, El Palmillo and Zaachila.
  The Zapotec were a sedentary culture. They were a well-advanced in civilization, living in large villages and towns, in houses constructed with stone and mortar. They recorded the principal events in their history by means of hieroglyphics, and in warfare they made use of a cotton armour. The well-known ruins of Mitla have been attributed to them and were claimed to be the tombs of their ancestors.
caption: A funerary urn in the shape of a "bat god" or a jaguar, from Oaxaca, dated to AD 300 - 650. Height: 9.5 in (23 cm).
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