'Galeria De Los Danzantes (500-100 a.C), Mont Alban, Mexico, Part-I' - by K J S Chatrath

I was lucky to have visited this amazing site in Mexico in 2012. It was a hurried trip and I wish I could have spent more time in Mexico and seen its remarkable archeological treasures. I am sharing this post hoping that more tourists from India would choose Mexico for a visit.

Here we find numerous carved stones with distinct human figures in dynamic positions. They have several characteristics in common. They are nude males, the majority obese with a wide nose and thick lips. These features suggest an Olmec influence.

The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands on the Gulf of Mexico in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The name Olmec is a Nahuatl—the Aztec language—word; it means the rubber people.

The Olmecs were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures. It is estimated that they lived around 1,500 - 400 BCE.

Recent interpretations on the bas-reliefs found here view the figures as rulers or leaders from neighbouring towns around Mount Alban were captured and offered as sacrifices. There is marked symbolism of the castration of the figures and the collection of blood, perhaps to offer to the gods or perhaps for use in fertility rituals.

The wall adorned with these vertical sculptures (dancers) and also with horizontal sculptures (swimmers) may be a kind of sequential text to be read by visitors to the building.

Presence of symbols and numerals on different stone indicate historical events that occurred in that era. Several centuries later, the Zapotecs dismantled the wall and dfferent bas-reliefs were scattered throughout the site, to be used as future buildings. The roofed portion of the wall is all that has been conserved without subsequent alterations.

As a conservation strategy, copies were made of the detached sculptures and the originals were moved to the Monte Alban On-site Museum.

(Text sourced from on sight information displayed on a board and internet)