...El Palmillo, and Mitla in the eastern…

...El Palmillo, and Mitla in the eastern Tlacolula arm.

The latter is the focus of an ongoing project by Gary Feinman and Linda Nicholas of Chicago's Field Museum (Feinman and Nicholas 2002).

By the end of the same period (circa 900 to 1000) the ancient capital has been largely abandoned, and the once powerful Monte Albán state has been replaced by dozens of competing smaller polities, a situation that is to last up to the Spanish conquest.

The Mixtecs take control of the area around 1000 CE, although the area remains populated by the Zapotec.

While Monte Albán was most important as the political center, Mitla is the main religious center.

The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which is the place of the dead or underworld.

Its Zapotec name is Lyobaa, which means “place of rest.” The name Mictlán will be Hispanicized to Mitla by the Spanish.

The main distinguishing feature of Mitla is the intricate mosaic fretwork and geometric designs that profusely adorn the walls of both the Church and Columns groups.

The geometric patterns called grecas in Spanish seen on some of the stone walls and door frames are made from thousands of cut, polished stones that are fitted together without mortar.

The pieces are set against a stucco background painted red.

The stones are held in place by the weight of the stones that surround them.

Walls, friezes and tombs are decorated with mosaic fretwork.

In some cases, such as in lintels, these stone “tiles” are embedded directly into the stone beam.

The elaborate mosaics are considered to be a type of “Baroque” design as the designs are elaborate and intricate and in some cases cover entire walls.

None of the fretwork designs are repeated exactly anywhere in the complex.

The fretwork here is unique in all of Mesoamerica.

Some time after 1000, at the time of the first Mixtec invasions from the west, the Zapotec convert the hill to the west of Mitla into a fortress.