Monte Albán

Feel the wind first. Up here it comes in steady, dry gusts across a wide plain of cut grass and pale stone. Below you, on every side, the land falls away into three green valleys. The air is thin and bright, and the sun lands hard on the steps. You are standing on a mountain that people flattened by hand, more than two thousand years ago, to build a city in the sky.

This is Monte Albán, the great capital of the Zapotec people. The Zapotecs are an Indigenous civilization of southern Mexico, and their descendants still live in the valleys around Oaxaca today. Archaeologists generally date the founding of the city to around 500 BCE. That makes it one of the earliest true cities in all of Mesoamerica, the cultural region that stretches across much of Mexico and Central America.

The location is no accident. This ridge sits where the three arms of the Valley of Oaxaca meet. From the summit, the city's rulers could watch over farmland, villages and trade routes in every direction. Many scholars think the founders chose a neutral high point, away from the older valley towns, as a deliberate political statement. A new kind of power needed a new kind of place.

And consider the effort involved. The top of the mountain was not naturally level. Workers cut away rock, filled hollows and built huge terraces to create the open space around you. There were no draft animals and no wheeled carts for this work. Stone, earth and water were carried up by people. Water was a constant problem, because there is no river on the summit.

Now look along the length of the Great Plaza. It runs roughly north to south, framed by two massive platforms at either end. Temples, palaces and stairways line its edges. In the middle of the plaza stands a row of buildings. At its height, this was the ceremonial and political heart of a state that controlled much of the region.

Here is the first detail many visitors miss. Find the building near the southern end of the plaza that looks slightly wrong. It is shaped a little like an arrowhead, and it sits at an angle to everything else. Archaeologists call it Building J. Its odd orientation has led many researchers to suggest an astronomical purpose, perhaps tracking the movement of a bright star. Nobody can say for certain, but the angle is clearly intentional.

Building J also carries carved stone slabs set into its walls. Many show a place sign, often read as a hill, and a head turned upside down beneath it. A common interpretation is that these record towns conquered by Monte Albán. If that reading is right, this building was a stone list of victories, displayed in public for everyone to see.

Now walk toward the western side of the plaza and look for the gallery of carved figures. These are the famous Danzantes, which means the Dancers in Spanish. The name came from early observers, who saw the twisted, loose-limbed poses as movement. Look closer. The figures are naked, their eyes are often closed, and some show signs of mutilation. Most archaeologists now read them as captives or slain enemies, not dancers at all. It is a powerful second surprise.

The Danzantes are among the oldest carvings on the site. Some include early glyphs, the signs of a writing system. Zapotec writing is one of the earliest in the Americas, and it has still not been fully deciphered. So these stones are both a record of violence and a record of the first steps of written language on this continent.

On the eastern side of the plaza, look for the ball court. It is shaped like a capital letter I, with sloping walls on either side of a narrow playing alley. The ballgame was played across Mesoamerica with a heavy rubber ball. It was sport, but also ritual, and sometimes politics. The court here has no stone rings on its walls, unlike some famous courts elsewhere in Mexico.

The city did not last forever. Over several centuries, its population grew to many thousands, then slowly declined. By around the eighth or ninth century, Monte Albán had largely lost its role as a capital. Later, the Mixtec people, neighbours of the Zapotecs, reused some of the old tombs. In 1932, the archaeologist Alfonso Caso opened one of them, now called Tomb 7. Inside was a treasure of gold, jade, carved bone and rock crystal. That collection is now displayed in the cultural museum at Santo Domingo, in Oaxaca city.

Today, the ancient city and the historic centre of Oaxaca share a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list. If you have time, climb the stairs of the North Platform or the South Platform. Take them slowly. The steps are tall and steep, and the altitude makes your heart work harder. From the top, the whole plaza opens out like a map, and you can see how carefully it was planned.

As you look out now, notice the edges of the valley below. The modern city of Oaxaca spreads across the floor, with its churches and rooftops. The mountains rise in soft blue layers beyond. The people who built this place looked at the same horizon. Before you leave, stand still for a moment in the middle of the plaza. Listen to the wind moving across the stone... and then walk on, slowly, back down the mountain.