Was+it+an+Empire?

Alfred Tirella ANT3145 Term Paper

Empires are highly developed complex societies. Empires have particular characteristics that are used to categorize them. (See table1) Empires use a centrally located capitol to head military, political, religious and economic systems. They use a strong ideology to maintain a grip on its citizen’s culture and wealth. They use a powerful military to establish new territory. Monte Alban was an urban capitol. Its location inspired its imperial ideology. Its military conquered many groups and influenced politics, settlement patterns, art, religion and the flow of goods. Monte Alban’s culture spread all through the Valley of Oaxaca. Therefore, by looking at archaeological evidence, one will be able to conclude that Monte Alban was an empire.

Monte Alban was the ideal location for establishing an imperial capitol. It attracted military and religious leaders. It stands out from the Valley floor because of its unmatched privacy and protection. Monte Alban was a dissembedded urban capital above two other lower lying mountains. The site is near cloud cover and was an ideal spot for spiritual worship. The site offers panoramic views of the outlying regions and a distinct visual advantage, which allowed for a competitive edge when spotting enemy invaders, locating resources and new territory. “Monte Alban (White Mountain) rests majestically on the leveled-off mountaintop high above the cares of the weary people working in the valley below.” (Hunter 1977: 187) The locals would have recognized the benefits of starting a society on the regions highest mountain top. Much like a modern dissembedded capitol, Washington D.C., they chose to have their center out of the way of most major cities.

All empires need a central imperial ideology. Imperial ideology is expressed in the archeological evidence of the more than 300 Danzantes found at Monte Alban. They are evidence of the groups’ ideology and position as the central dominant power in the region. These graphic stone depictions were publicly displayed in a gallery on the side of building L, which might have been a religious temple built by people from San Jose Mogote. This accessible location allowed the Danzantes to be seen at eye level for the public to see. They were originally thought to be depictions of male figures dancing. But archaeologists believe they are corpses of captives from battle.

The Danzantes glorify militarism and the state. The captives depicted in the Danzantes carvings were elite males that were captured, stripped and sacrificed. The humiliation of stripping foreign captives of high ranks was done to boost civic pride and acted as a daily reminder for the citizens of Monte Alban that their military action pleased their gods. “The most elaborate Danzantes figurers are often adorned with necklaces, earplugs, complicated hairdos, and hieroglyphic names.” (Marcus, Flannery 1983: 176) Some display castration. Each Danzantes was a unique representation, but were fashioned uncoincidentally like ideographic carvings found at San Jose Mogote. Therefore, the Danzantes were symbols of propaganda which were used to enhance the local ideology and promote military conquest for the empire.

The Artwork displayed on the sides of buildings acted as daily reminders to the citizens of Monte Alban that their military action served a higher purpose and justified their imperialistic hold on the region. “The conquest slabs consist of over fifty carved stones that have been interpreted as representations of places conquered by and/or paying tribute to Monte Alban. Each slab contains two distinct elements: 1) A standardized hill glyph signifying a place and 2) a glyph or series of glyphs directly above the hill glyph, differing for each stone and signifying the name of a particular place figure (4.3a) Many of the slabs contain an upside down human head directly beneath the hill glyph, each with a distinct head dress and interpreted as the dead ruler of a conquered locality.” (Brown, Stanton 2003: 55) This emphasis on territorial conquest is a form of propaganda that is characteristic of empires.

Adoption of imperial gods by other cultures is required for empires. Monte Alban’s cultural influences were carried to other parts of the region via expansion of its military. The roots of Monte Alban can be traced back to San Jose Mogote. The city was attacked and burned. According to Dr. Barber, the conflict caused its leaders from San Jose Mogote to look for a new territory to begin a new city. Artistic similarities found in San Jose Mogote’s monument three and carvings at Monte Alban acts as evidence of the regional influences that were possible in the Valley of Oaxaca. It depicts a heart sacrifice in which the human’s blood is spilled in order to satisfy the gods. This evidence links the two distant cultures with a unifying religious practice and cultural similarities.

Both Smith’s and Doyle’s definition of an empire includes a key point that “ refers to the nature of interactions between the capital and the provinces.” (Smith 2001: 246) “We divide transnational processes into two categories, economic exchange (between capital and provinces) and political control.” (Smith 2001: 246) The empire’s most powerful tool for interregional influence came from its military force. Empires need to have control of periphery polities and have influenced their economic exchange with the capitol. Monte Alban’s interaction with other polities in the region may have resulted in the conquering of smaller periphery groups. “Many highland archaeologists favor a model of interaction in which the Monte Alban Empire subjugated its hinterland during the late Terminal/Formative period in an attempt to consolidate power, and, some argue to maintain the crucial flow of foreign prestige items.” (Workinger 2002: 19) San Jose Mogote was believed to have been conquered by Monte Alban. San Jose Mogote was a separate complex society. In the architecture, hierarchical structures are found in houses 13 and 17, which show obvious signs of status difference.

Furthermore, At Monte Alban and Teotihuacán there are artistic carvings of native men “elegantly dressed in Tlacloc headdresses, jaguar headdresses and serpent headdresses. They all carry small copal bags.” (Marcus, Flannery 1983: 176) The men were most likely high ranking foreign ambassadors or tax collectors who traveled on trade routes between Teotihuacán and Monte Alban. The headdresses were signs of the rain gods. These carvings are evidence of Monte Alban’s far reached influences of ideology, economy and infrastructure.

The population of Monte Alban and the surrounding regions underwent enormous growth. “Total population for those areas intensively surveyed, including the site of Monte Alban itself, probably ranged between 7,070 and 14,1474 in phase 1a and between 28,563 and 58,397 in phase1c.” (Marcus, Flannery 1983: 96) The population grew even more by phase II and remained consistent during phase III. The territory of Monte Alban stretched from sites, not only along major river tributaries, but also up small mountainous slopes. This evidence supports the idea that with population growth in the expansionary phase of a militaristic culture, it is more than likely that the multiple groups would have had meaningful contact with each other. Monte Alban used military power to conquer new territory. They incorporated new territories to produce goods which were sent back to Monte Alban.

Empires need an infrastructure to exchange goods from the capitol to outlying regions. Trade goods were sent back to Monte Alban via an interregional trading system. Some have suggested a four-tiered hierarchical system of social and political infrastructure in periphery settlements controlled by the Monte Alban Empire. There were three levels of administrative centers above the hamlet level. “In the eclipse of San Jose Mogote: there was an establishment of a new, larger and more centrally located administrative and ceremonial center at Monte Alban; and the emergence of a series of second-order communities between the regional center and the smallest villages.” (Marcus, Flannery 1983: 96) The region used trade routes for exchange of goods and resources. These routes run outward from Monte Alban to coastal, highland and lowland areas of Mexico. Monte Alban’s attraction of wealth was certainly supported by this interregional interaction.

Monte Alban’s economic system could have functioned using the world-system theory. “The core of the world system controls trade with peripheral regions, importing large quantities of staple goods and raw materials. According to Wallerstein, the relationship with the core strengthens the power of local elite and often leads to the development of greater complexity in the periphery.” (Workinger 2002: 46) Monte Alban was supported by lower land farming people because it lacked proper farming land. The maize farmers on the Valley floor, who provided these resources, were the lowest ranked in a four-tiered hierarchical system called the hamlet rank. Their production would have provided food for those at Monte Alban. The three upper-tiers were comprised of two administrative ranks, which may have included priests, merchants and shamans. The highest rank would have been a central political figure.

Empires are characterized by a distinct ruling class or individual leadership. Political leadership was concentrated at Monte Alban almost exclusively for administrative purposes. The lay out of the main plaza and other neutral buildings suggest that Monte Alban was the center for politico-religious leaders to gather and oversee the rest of the Valley. There may be a single person or a group of elites in charge of military, economy and religious affairs. “Unfortunately, political processes are the hardest for archaeologists to identity and analyze.” (Smith 2001: 246) But, at Monte Alban archaeologists have discovered special burial tombs filled with imported artifacts and religious goods that might symbolize an imperial leader.

Monte Alban was the center for ideology and political activity for the region. Evidence is found in wealthy burial tombs. The richest tomb discovered so far is Tomb 43. It had 72 vessels, including at least 10 conch shell effigies, a duck effigy, frog effigies and other elaborate vessels. “Because the conch shell trumpet among the Zapotec was associated with public office, such a large number of effigies may indicate a person of some importance.” (Marcus, Flannery 1983: 90) When compared with dozens of burials at Monte Alban without tombs or vessels it is made clear that there was special tribute paid to elite leadership. “On this hilltop have been found some of the richest tomb treasures in America. There are over 150 tombs located here, burial grounds for nearly two thousand years, and some of them are painted with brilliant murals.” (Hunter 1977: 189) The coastal artifacts that were buried with these rulers are further evidence of the vast trading system and the ideological system which was concentrated at Monte Alban. Monte Alban proves to be the administrative head of a vast economic, ideological and militaristic empire. “Marcus and Flannery argue that Monte Alban came to dominate interregional interaction in Oaxaca through political power and military force, including control over an empire stretching from the Cuicatlan Canada in the north to the lower Rio Verde region in the south” (Joyce, Neff, Thieme, Winter, Elam, Workinger 2006: 580) All Empires cave in at some point. An unstable political system and unforeseen foreign invasion pushed Monte Alban, when it was at its precipice, to an inevitable collapse. In its time Monte Alban was the administrative head of a geographically expansive socio-political system. There is evidence of sacrificing conquered leaders. There is evidence of religious propaganda. There is evidence of interaction spheres which stimulated exotic goods to be traded in and out of Monte Alban. Therefore, Monte Alban can be classified as an Empire. Kathyrn Brown and Travis Stanton 2003. Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare. Rowman Altamira. Hunter, Bruce 1977. A Guide to Ancient Mexican Ruins. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman. Joyce Marcus and Kent Flannery 1983. The Cloud People Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. Academic Press. Arthur Joyce and Hector Neff and Mary Thieme and Marcus Winter and Micahel Elam and Andrew Workinger 2006. Latin American Antiquity 17(4) pp 579-594: Ceramic Production and Exchange in Late/Terminal Formative Period Oaxaca. Michael E. Smith and Lisa Montiel 2001. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, vol 20(3) pgs 245 – 284: The Archaeological Study of Empires and Imperialism in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. Workinger, Andrew 2002. Coastal/Highland Interaction In Prehispanic Oaxaca, Mexico: The Perspective From San Francisco De Arriba, Dissertation.