Monte Alban and the Cerro de Atzompa

In the summer of 2007, Dr. Ramona Perez and SDSU graduate student Ryan Anderson were given a tour of Monte Alban by INAH archaeologists Dr. Nelly Robles Garcia and Agustin Andrade. The 2,500 year old archaeological site is home to one of the earliest state level societies in Mesoamerica. A related site, the Cerro de Atzompa, is located on the ejidal lands of Santa Maria Atzompa, the community where Dr. Perez has been working for the past 15 years. The site at the Cerro is unique in that it contains four ball courts, which leads some INAH archaeologists to view it as a possible locus of religious and political activity. In Fall 2007, INAH began excavations at the Cerro, whicha has not been investigated since archaeologist Alfonso Caso worked there in the 1930s. Agustin Andrade and Dr. Robles Garcia are leading those excavations.