OAXACA, MEXICO—According to a statement released by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, researchers are interpreting the iconography on a limestone and stucco frieze in a monumental complex known as Casa del Sur at the site of Atzompa, which is located in southern Mexico’s Valley of Oaxaca. About 50 feet of the 100-foot-long frieze, dated to between A.D. 650 and 850, have survived. The frieze would have been seen by everyone walking between the city’s main ballcourt and Ceremonial Plaza A, explained team leader Nelly Robles García. The text features glyphs from Zapotec and Mixtec iconography, numbers, and an image of a quetzal, and alludes to power in the city, supernatural protection, and to a time without time, Robles García added. Figurines of monkeys, jaguars, and the quincunx, a geometric design symbolizing the four directions and the center of the universe, also adorned the structure. The researchers are continuing to investigate the building. To read more about Zapotec iconography from Atzompa, go to "Deconstructing a Zapotec Figurine."
