Reconsidering Tomb 7 at Monte Albán: Style, Ethnicity and Migration

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Bringing the Past to Life, Part 1: Papers in Honor of John M. D. Pohl" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Monte Albán’s Tomb 7 is the most famous prehispanic find in Oaxaca owing to its exquisite mortuary offering. Since 1932 when Dr. Alfonso Caso and his colleagues discovered the treasure, archaeologists have routinely ascribed the deposit to Mixtec migrants since the tomb’s objects were rendered in the Mixteca-Puebla style. This ethnic ascription is the product of an essentialist perspective on style where the geographical extension of an ethnic group is believed to coincide with that of its style. When objects of a foreign style are found, they are explained by exchange or migration. On the contrary, the relationship between ethnicity, style, and territory is much more fluid. During the Postclassic period, the Mixteca-Puebla style was disseminated and adopted by different ethnic/linguistic groups throughout the Central and Southern highlands. One of the mechanisms responsible for its diffusion may have been the exchange of marital partners and sumptuary goods among the royal houses of the region in order to establish political alliances. In light of these considerations, I address several fundamental issues regarding Tomb 7. Who was buried in the tomb? What was their ethnicity? And why were they buried at Monte Albán 700 years after its abandonment?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bringing the Past to Life, Part 1: Papers in Honor of John M. D. Pohl   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38079.0