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Contemporary Settlements in Archaeological Zones

Monte Alban: The areas which surround the monumental structures, and even sometimes spaces within them, as within the Main Plaza, were used from the colonial period, if not before, for agricultural purposes. Communities such as santa Maria Atzompa, Hacienda Montoya, San Martin Mexicapam, Santa Maria Xoxocotlan, Arrazola, San Pedro Ixtlahuaca, Los Audelo y Tiracoz, and even the city of Oaxaca, took pieces for use at different moments. Collectively this generated intensive use of the archaeological areas for agricultural activities and grazing, with at least the possibility of invasion for reasons of urban growth.

In 1931, when Alfonso Caso initiated his explorations, he proceeded to arrange the expropriation of the monumental zone we know today as the Main Plaza, at that time considered ejidal lands of Xoxocotlan and San Martin Mexicapam, which used them for cultivation. This boundary and expropriation today we recognize as very limited, representing less than 10 percent of the area covered by the ancient city. But at the time it probably unimaginable that urban growth would someday create problems for the site. Photographs from the 1940s show the slopes of Monte Alban dedicated to cultivation, the access road opened by Caso, and no signs of human habitation (Figure 10). An unpublished map by the Institute of Geography prepared in 1948 (Figure 11) shows how the urban development of the city of Oaxaca was still some distance from the natural boundary of the Rio Atoyac, which also defined the lowest limits of the terraced area of Monte Alban.

Figure 10.—Photo of the urban growth of the city of Oaxaca in 1943, showing the area on the northeast side of Monte Alban.+ Photo Rivas collection.

Figure 11.—Monte Alban and Oaxaca, preliminary map. Redrawn from the National Institute of Geography, 1948.

At the beginning of the 1970s the urban invasion of the east slopes of Monte Alban began, a result of the growth of the city of Oaxaca and the multiplication of migration movements which characterize recent years (Rees 199l). At first settlements in the area were of very poor quality construction, without papers of any kind, characteristic of squatter settlements and lost cities (Butterworth 1973). Stopping this type of construction was a constant concern for INAH's Oaxaca office, which constantly sent archaeologists to stop construction, prepare assessments, and present complaints for destruction of cultural heritage to federal judicial authorities. During his survey in 1971 Blanton commented on the difficulty his team had to define the boundaries of the site in areas where the impact of urban growth fell on the archaeological area, as with new settlements such as "May 3rd" in Xoxocotlan (Blanton 1978:19).

Figure 12.—The growth of the city of Oaxaca towards Monte Alban in 1974, the Atoyac river at the center. Collection of Jack Corbett.

Although in 1974 there were still significant parcels of cultivated land on the banks of the Rio Atoyac as well as on the lower slopes of the hills of Atzompa and Monte Alban (Figure 12), these were under increasing pressure. By 1982 urban spawl had begun to envelop parts of Monte Alban, as indicated in a map prepared by INEGI (Figure 13). By 1995 the settlements around Monte Alban had multiplied and formalized (Figure 14). On the slopes one finds squatter settlements, new neighborhoods without urban services, formal government subdivisions, with a wide range of types of housing construction for middle class families grouped in more established neighborhoods. The settlements have now moved beyond the protective boundary line established by presidential decree as an Archaeological Monuments Zone on the basis of the study carried out by INAH in 1992 (SEDESOL 1996: 4).

Figure 13.—Monte Alban. Urban expansion on the east side, 1982. Based on INEGI, 1987.

Figure 14.—Monte Alban. Urban expansion on the east side, 1995. Based on SEDESOL 1996.

Those settlements now on the fringes of the archaeological zone include 3 neighborhoods and 2 subdivisions on communal lands on San Martin Mexicapam; 5 neighborhoods on communal lands in San Juan Chapulterpec; 6 neighborhoods on communal lands of Xoxocotlan; 1 neighborhood on the ejido of Arrazola; 1 agencia municipal of Atzompa; 6 neighborhoods on the ejido and communal lands of Atzompa; and 1 neighborhood on communal lands of San Pedro Ixtlahuaca (SEDESOL 1996: 4). In addition there are 3 open air trash dumps, one of which is just south of the archaeological zone boundary and the other two in nearby neighborhoods. Looting and intentional destruction of archaeological remains have been identified in Xoxocotlan, the hill at Atzompa, and other sites at dispersed locations (SEDESOL 1996). Overgrazing and overcutting affect 60 percent of the land within the official boundary, particularly on the lands of Xoxocotlan, Atzompa, and the hill of el Gallo.

It is clear the areas surrounding Monte Alban are heavily used by local residents for a range of purposes, and for recent arrivals may be their only alternative to have the security of their own roof. The official boundary-setting of INAH carried out in 1992 took into account those settlements which were found to be "formalized" as of that date, for which reason on the east slope the boundary line was adjusted in many cases, byond the walls of existing houses or along streets which marked the limits of urban growth (Paredes 1992).

Mitla: In 1984 Marcelo Magadan conducted exhaustive research on the urban evolution of Mitla beginning in 1930, the year of the first urban survey of the community (Magadan 1984: 199-209). Between 1930 and 1964 the pattern for growth was, in descending order; south, northwest, east, and northeast (Magadan 1984: 199) (Figures 15 and 16). In 1974 (Figure 17) growth was relatively balanced in all directions with a slightly higher tendency toward the south and southeast owing to the presence of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Magadan 1984: 200). By 1980 (Figure 18) the tendency was to the east, west, and north, while in 1983 (Figure 19) the growth was primarily to the west and north (Magadan 1984: 200). From the 1930s to the early 1970s it appears growth moved toward the main road from the city of Oaxaca to the Mixe region, but for the past generation it has focused on the archaeological zone.

Figure 15.—Mitla. Urban map in 1930. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

Figure 16.—Mitla. Urban map in 1964. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

Figure 17.—Mitla. Urban map in 1974. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

Figure 18.—Mitla. Urban map in 1980. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

Figure 19.—Mitla. Urban map in 1983. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

After the early 1980s the pattern for growth in Mitla has been to fill empty space and to grow to the north, where it has materially "choked" the pre-Columbian and colonial monuments (Figure 20). In 1993 the official boundary-setting had to be laid out following the perimeters of city lots and streets, leaving within the protective zone a substantial built environment, and much construction underway. Today the growth toward the north appears to be an uncontrollable fact (Figure 21) , as is the subdivision of original house tracts for distribution at the family level. The first phenomenon distorts the landscape and original setting of the pre-Columbian and colonial structures, while the second principally damages the architectural integrity of houses from different periods. Adding the two together creates a dynamic of irreversible degeneration of cultural resources in Mitla.

Figure 20.—Mitla. Urban map between 1930-1983. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993.

Figure 21.—Mitla. Urban map in 1994. Based on Magadan 1984, SRPMZA-INAH 1993, INEGI 1994)

As in the case of Monte Alban, the urban growth pattern of Mitla responds primarily to the stimulus of economic resources, as the majority of the population lives from the tourism generated by the archaeological zone.