11.3 Cerro de las Minas
Cerro de las Minas
We have begun ranging farther and farther in our quest to visit every archeological site in Oaxaca. We had the day off and so we decided to visit Cerro de las Minas (?The Hill of the Mines?) which is way out northwest, almost on the border of Puebla. We took the cuota (toll highway) which costs us Mex$55 to go one way, but since even with that it is a 2.5 hour drive, it is worth it. We also use about half a tank of gas, which costs us about US$10 or so, which with the tolls equals about US$25. But worth it.
Cerro de las Minas is near the city of Huajuapan de Leon, in the Mixtec Baja, or Low Mixtec territory. The Mixtec are one of the two largest tribes of Oaxaca (the Zapotec, in the valley area, are the largest). Their territory is the Mixtec Baja (low mountains, the territory also extends into neighboring state of Guerrero), the Mixtec Alta (if you are among pine trees, you are here, in the High Mixtec area), and the Mixtec de la Costa (a hot and arid, hill region in the south and west of the state.)
Cerro de las Minas is one of the larger Mixtec communities from the Urban Period (A.D. 300-800). It stands on a high hill with a stunning view of the surrounding countryside. It is important, and promised to be interesting.
As I said, it took us a couple of hours to get there, so we drove through the city and first we stopped into a restaurant for lunch. As usual, we looked or a place with people in it and we were not disappointed in the quality of the food. Also, it was amazingly inexpensive, as usual. Maybe US10 for a full lunch for us both
We had about 45 minutes until the museum closed, so we went there. It was a couple of blocks from the restaurant. As usual, it cost us Mex$10 to go in. This is cheap. About US$1 each. The museum is housed in a very nice, new building which has classrooms on the second floor. One room has photos from various periods of history, the next has the archeological displays, then one for the community itself and finally, one for the historical period, especially the Independence and the Revolution. It surrounds a pleasant, sunny courtyard which has many of the larger carved stones in it.
Here is a cool incense brazier. Copal and a hot coal go in the cup part, and the handle is hollow. At CEVIAREM I have seen them blow through the handle to blow the sweet smelling smoke onto something. Here is a sculpture that looks like Tlaloc, the Mexican Valley god of rain. The Mixtecs have their own ran god, whose statues look like Cosijo, but of course he has another name. But this definitely looks like Tlaloc with those goggle eyes. Many pieces of the pottery were decorated with very pretty flower designs. Here is one pot, or jug maybe, shaped like a breast. I really liked this one, too, shaped like a snake. They had several of these interesting three-legged dishes, which also had three-legged lids. But my favorite was this one, the Old God of Fire brazier. I saw a copy of this for sale here in Oaxaca and wanted to buy it, but didn?t. The next time I went, this time to get it, it was gone.
The museum had some really beautiful murals. Here is one behind the scene of the community council sitting. They also had copies of various pieces of art for things like the sanitarios. It was really one of the most attractive museums we have seen, in large part because it was so new. I cold have included another ten photos of cool stuff.
We drove just outside the town to the ruins. We went up a bad dirt road and parked next to a house, then walked up overgrown hillside to the ruins themselves. The site has no signs, and no forbidden areas either. It does have many trash cans, though.
The first sight is a largely excavated area with many foundations. We were perplexed to figure exactly what these were, but have decided they were probably residences. Nearby, just above this area, are a couple of tombs in which the cool sculptures and pottery of the museum were found. Because of the shape of the hill top, or maybe because it is Mixtec instead of Zapotec, this site does not have the typical three pyramids around a plaza. Its three prominent pyramids (only partially excavated) are more in a line along the hilltop. Here is the front of one of the pyramids.
I rested on a convenient boulder atop mound 3, the northernmost pyramid, admiring the view and watching the hordes of butterflies chase each other around and around amidst the trees growing there. They gave it a vibrant, vital feeling of life. And the view was magnificent.
At the south end was a little space, who knows what was there. Here is Suzanne, though, inside it to show the small size. It has a ball court down slope from the top, but it is hardly excavated and is entirely overgrown.
We walked all over the whole hilltop. It took maybe an hour and a half. Then we descended, drank water, and drove the 2.5 hours back home.
It is a very nice site, unusual and excavated enough to be really interesting and intriguing.