I've lost nearly all the photos of Yagul (Yegüih), in the Valle de Tlacolula, the camera opened when it fell from such a height. Photos of the largest ball court in the Oaxaca Valley, fretted stone mosaics—gone. Also many of the photos of Monte Albán, one of the earliest cities of MesoAmerica (500 BC), gone. But I will never forget los danzantes. Like Matisse's dancers, carved in stone.
We
climbed out of the precipice, even there, pre-Columbian pottery
embedded in the walls. They must've broken many pots and deliberately
put them between the stones and adobe. I imagine the pot breaking
ceremonies we used to have in Thano Johnson's ceramics class. We hold
pottery that is 500 to 800 years old.
Yagul is half-way between Oaxaca and Mitla. Yagul, from the Zapotec, ya (tree) and gul (old), or old tree. Yagul, aka Pueblo Viejo (Old Village), was considered a late site, on par with that of Mitla, and was first settled ca. 500-100 BC, but most of what survived is from 1250-1521 AD.
The name Oaxaca is from the Nahuatl, Huaxyacac, from huāxcuahuitl, (Huaxim in Mayan) referring to the guaje trees, aka mimosa, wattle, or acacia (scourge of California), the leaves and pods are a staple food, and forage legume (another name is horse tamarind.)
Yagul is half-way between Oaxaca and Mitla. Yagul, from the Zapotec, ya (tree) and gul (old), or old tree. Yagul, aka Pueblo Viejo (Old Village), was considered a late site, on par with that of Mitla, and was first settled ca. 500-100 BC, but most of what survived is from 1250-1521 AD.
The name Oaxaca is from the Nahuatl, Huaxyacac, from huāxcuahuitl, (Huaxim in Mayan) referring to the guaje trees, aka mimosa, wattle, or acacia (scourge of California), the leaves and pods are a staple food, and forage legume (another name is horse tamarind.)
We hiked down the spine, there are acres of corn 500 feet below us, like verdant lakes, reminding us that Mitla is the homeland of domesticated maize. The guide takes us back into the labyrinth, to the throne. We step on the displaced round stone stairs that leads to a ball court. John describes the game in lurid detail. A high-stakes game where you don't want to lose your head. Literally.
The labyrinth of the six courtyards still has its original stucco. Each room has its own tomb.
A jaguar and morteros, holes filled with slimy green water on the bluffs where the constant breeze took the chaff away. An abandoned metate, and mortars near the path as if someone had just stepped out for a smoke.
This is the first place I felt the presence of the gods, or at least what it was like to live there. Mitla's palaces are less imaginable to live in. Amazing, the stonework, where we had lunch in the museum, I want to paint and paint.
Not sure of the date but I have a postcard dated 13 Aug. so I'll go with that.
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