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Monte Albán - Central Plaza Buildings

by Dorothy and Bill Bell

Monte Alban Central Plaza has four separate buildings. There are three structures clustered together and now are imaginatively known as buildings G, H and I. They were likely built around 200 to 300 BC.

Buildings G, H. I

These buildings may form a complex and possibly considered as one structure.

Building G faces north and towards both Building J and the Northern Platform.

Building H faces East and has a grand staircase suggests that the three building together were once an altar where religious rituals were performed. You can see the remains of 2 room temples facing North on the top. It would have been the focus of the ceremonies.

Building I faces South and when it was excavated they discovered and offering box containing pottery.

Building J

Building J is apart from the other structures in the central plaza. Built around 1 AD,

Building J; photo taken atop the Southern Platform. Note the tip of the ome base shape pointing south west

Building J had three main construction phases, the last ending in 700 AD just before the city was deserted. There are numerous carvings including those thought to be astronomical symbols.

It has a unique shape and that some have described as a “home base” on a baseball field or an arrowhead. Unlike the traditional North/South orientation of the Buildings in Monte Alban, Building J points instead towards the South-East and marks the passage of the bright star Capella. It is considered the first Mesoamerican chronological markers.

Archeologists nickname it "The Observatory.”

The building has a tunnel that cuts a horizontal swath through the center. Like the exterior northern side, some of these walls have relief carvings of upside down humans with closed eyes wearing elaborate costumes and headdresses. These figures are sometimes called “Conquest Slabs.”

The figures on the limestone slabs inside and outside of Building J are believed to be defeated enemy kings. The glyph carvings are thought to be early forms of writing that chronicle the dates and places of battles from the Pacific Coast in the West, the State of Chiapas in the south and the Valley of Tehuacan in the North. Note the Glyph with the stepped form as it indicates a town or settlement.

 
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