Photos from Oaxaca & Zaachila (adjacent neighborhood)

So here are a few photos from one of our day trips during our first week in the Oaxaca area. We were invited to join Rocio and her teenage kids Andrea and Israel to visit a town called Zaachila, a little pueblo just outside Oaxaca. Each day, a nearby community holds a really big market where just about everything you can think of gets brought to market by small, individual vendors, and people flock to it for food, textiles, etc. This particular market in Zaachila was known especially for livestock - chickens, pigs, horses, sheep, turkeys - as well lots of the usual staples - fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, tortillas, and so on. It is clearly a big sale day, and a big social event. Thousands of vendors and many more people milling the market and buying things, chatting, bartering, eating....


Immediately below are a few shots of the meat market: one huge building used once a week for selling every kind of meat product that you can imagine, and some that you can't. Our kids were intrigued but more than a little grossed out.

 


After the market, and the sampling various kinds of sweets - baked goods, ice cream, slices of sugar cane, we visited an archeological site right in the middle of town and next to the market. It was not marked in special way, and looked pretty dilapidated from the outside, but inside we met this amazing guide (photo below) - super proud of his heritage, very knowledgeable of this site and many others in the area.


Just in the Oaxaca valley, there are literally hundreds of tombs and ancient sites that have never been excavated, due, I think, to lack of resources and challenging politics. This one was relatively recently explored - in the last 40 years. It was not discovered and plundered by the spaniards when they invaded over 500 years ago. This particular pyramid was built on a high spot, with a commanding view of the valley in 270 degrees. When archeologists excavated it several decades ago, they discovered two tombs with several bodies - three were royalty, and the additional dozen were presumed to be servants that were sacrificed and buried at the same time.


 
 
These are photos from inside one of the tombs. The walls were decorated with magical images. At left is a flying shaman with a turtle shell. There were also, for example, owls (messengers from the next world). The walls of the 1000-year old tomb were totally intact, which is interesting given the amount of seismic activity in this area.

Well, these tombs were full of preserved bodies, pottery, and lots of jewelry made with gold, silver, and precious stones. We only saw photos of these things, because the federal government intervened, took possession of it all, shipped it back to Mexico City, where apparently it is now stored away where nobody can see it.

This is where the politics comes in. The residents of Zaachila took up arms, literally. They viewed these treasures as their own local resources. Authorities brought in the national guard in order to calm everybody down. Apparently the archeologists barely escaped with their lives, and no additional excavations have been attempted. The local community won't allow it, unless they are granted considerable more control over whatever might be discovered.

The reason why this particular tomb doesn't have a full 360 degree view is due to another tomb, immediately adjacent and considerably higher, built later, and probably commanded many more resources to accomplish. This pyramid/tomb could contain similar treasures, and clues to the lives of people before the arrival of the europeans. And, of course, this is just one site, in one community in the very expansive Oaxaca Valley.

Pretty cool. Lots left to learn.