The Power of Monuments in Ruin in Ancient Oaxaca

Abstract This article examines two ruined monumental architectural complexes in ancient Oaxaca: the Main Plaza of Monte Albán and the acropolis of Río Viejo. I consider how the material vibrancy of these ruins differed in ways that both brought together and destabilized communities. After its abandonment, the ruins of the Main Plaza, as well as the mountain on which it was built, continued to assemble substances important to human well-being, including rain, clouds, sky, mountains, ancestors, and deities. People periodically journeyed to the plaza to make offerings and bury their revered dead, thereby constituting a broader identity and community. In contrast, the earthen architecture of the acropolis, located in the center of Río Viejo, rapidly decayed in the tropical lowland climate. The reemergence of hierarchy at Río Viejo in the Late Classic period activated material memories of rupture held in the ruins that threatened and resisted new forms of community and political authority.