More than 8,500 years ago, Zapotecs arrived in the three valleys that radiate from Oaxaca. Some 1,600 years ago, they built a temple and administrative complex on a mountain overlooking what is now the city. We don't know what they named their site, but today we call the ruins Monte Albán.

Photo credit: Marne Rizika

Unlike Chichén Itza, this pre-hispanic site is manageable in scope. You can take in the whole archeological zone from a single viewpoint.

A friend suggested we look for Rolando to serve as our guide. Perhaps descended from the builders of Monte Albán, he was born on the next mountain over from the site, where his mother was a practitioner of folk medicine. Self-taught in many fields, he held forth on astronomy, mineralogy, medicine, philosophy and religion as these subjects relate to the Zapotecs and Monte Albán.

While informative, he has the annoying trait of many guides of talking to us instead of showing us stuff. Here he lectures on geographical considerations in temple site selection. This wouldn't have bothered me so much except that often, his facts were just plain wrong.

(Yes, that's Chiapas the parrot sitting on Clint's hat. He likes it there.)

Rolando told us that Monte Albán got its name from large white flowers that grew on a type of tree he identified as a morning glory. Hmmm. Morning glories are not trees. Moreover, the trees in question had only a few blossoms; hardly enough to turn the mountaintop white, although this might be different in another season. However, another type of tree common to the site was covered in white berries (shown on the left, below). Perhaps they were the inspiration for the Spanish name of the place.

As we walked along, viewing the massive stone structures, Rolando would frequently stoop down and pull up some plant or other, telling us its name and medicinal use. I was familiar with some of them; for example, epazote, a plant related to mint, is used in cooking beans in Mexico. What I didn't know is that it's an anti-flatulence herb. Cool. Rosario routinely uses it in our kitchen. You all should.

Pictured on the right, above, is a shrub he identified as copal. Juice from the berries is used to clear up acne.

A large number of steles and other carved stones were found at Monte Albán and set up for viewing. A row of them featuring depictions of human figures is shown here.

Some of the images dealt with human reproduction. On the left, below, is a male figure with an erection.

The figure on the right, according to our guide, is of a woman in the throes of a breech birth. The baby's feet have emerged, its head and torso are shown still in the mother's body.

Then again, Rolando's interpretation seems somewhat fanciful to me. The so-called baby, for example, appears to be wearing a hat.

Several vaguely pyramidal temples occupy the site.

None of them are in the original condition they were found in. Structures are continuously undergoing reconstruction here, as they are in most major archeological zones in Mexico.

So who shows these workers how to restore this temple correctly? Well, archeologists tell them how. They actually number the rocks. Workers read a map to know where to put each one.

Do you buy that? Not me. I bet archeologists have no more idea where each of these rocks go than your grandma. No ancient Zapotec stone mason decided to put stone #412 to the left of stone #411. Stone #414 would have been a much better fit there. Come on.

Note also how thick they slather on the mortar. This is to compensate for the poor fit of the stones in the pattern specified by the archeologists. They're using so much concrete here that they have an abañil dedicated to going back for more.

What did the ancient Zapotecs use to cut the grass? Flint-edged sickles, maybe? Their great-great-great-great... grandson uses a riding mower. He's got the best job on the site. Nothing beats riding around all day on a lawn tractor.

Looks like life has become much easier for these people, when you consider that his ancestors made their livings hauling stones up the mountain using muscle power alone.

Then there's the matter of guys selling genuine pre-columbian artifacts. They assault you in all of the frequently-visited places. They do their jobs in the same zombie-like manner as the straw hat sellers in San Miguel's Jardín. They approach you and make a half-hearted pitch. Then fifteen minutes later they hit you again, with no realization they ever saw you before. Can you imagine the US government allowing souvenir vendors into Williamsburg?

Rolando says the Zapotecs chose this place because of a bunch of complex astronomical, geographical and mystical reasons. I think they picked it because the climate is perfect, and the views are drop-dead gorgeous.

The Zapotecs knew prime real estate when they saw it. Tmpl. w/vw. EZ terms.