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Funerary Urn with Seated Figure

Mexico; Monte Alban

4-5th Century
Ceramic

Photo by Brass Ivy Design, object housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Monte Alban archeological site, found in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, was one of the first cities in Mesoamerica, and functioned as the center of Zapotec culture for over a thousand years. Founded around the year 500 BC, it reached its zenith by the 3rd century AD before eventually collapsing by the 8th century AD. Despite being found in a prominent spot in the south of Mexico and being well known and explored by local population and by the earliest Spanish conquistadors in the area, the site did not become the object of significant archeological study until the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Clay funerary urns, like the one above, are some of the most distinctive exemplars of Zapotec ceramics, and were found buried in tombs under Monte Alban’s North Platform.