“Zapotec: The main territory of the Zapotecs was the valley of Oaxaca (Mexico) with its great center at Monte Alban. It is still uncertain when these people first came to Oaxaca, but by c. AD 300 a distinctively Zapotec culture can be recognized. In c. 1400 the area was infiltrated by Mixtecs who came from the mountains from the north and west and occupied most of the Zapotec sites. Part of the region was never conquered by the Aztecs, and the Zapotecan language has persisted to the present day.”
Excerpted from: Bray, Warwick, and David Trump. The Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology. New York: Penguin, 1984.
