The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca: A UNESCO World Heritage Site
Introduction
Cultural landscapes represent the, “combined works of nature and humankind…. Express[ing] a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their natural environment” (UNESCO). The concept was introduced at the World Heritage Convention in 1992 and three main categories of cultural landscapes were created for the World Heritage List. The first category is landscapes designed and created intentionally by man (UNESCO). Examples of this category are gardens, rice terraces, parks, and notably the Nazca Lines. In this category, the cultural landscape may have been created for aesthetic or religious meanings. The second category is organically evolved landscapes created from, “an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed its present form by association with and in response to its natural environment” (UNESCO). Organically evolved landscapes represent the process of evolution in their resources.
Within the second category, there are two sub-categories: a relict (or fossil) landscape and a continuing landscape. A relict landscape reflects a landscape where, “an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past, either abruptly or over a period. Its significant distinguishing features are, however, still visible in the material form” (UNESCO). Contrasting, the continuing landscape subcategory is, “one which retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress…it exhibits significant material evidence of its evolution over time” (UNESCO).
The third and final category is associative cultural landscapes. Defined as a landscape, “justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent” (UNESCO). Examples of this category include the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests in Kenya and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria.
The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico will be the cultural landscape focused on in this blog. Inscribed in 2010 under criteria (iii), The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca (PYMO) are located in the Tlacolula Valley in Oaxaca. The site sits inside the Mixe Mountain Range, a subtropic environment. The site includes a series of caves that present prehistoric agricultural evidence. There is an abundance of evidence that this site was one of the earliest domestication of maize, prehistoric bottle gourds, beans, and squash at PYMO. Mitla has the earliest evidence of occupation and due to agriculture people were later able to move to the hills of Yagul. Mitla and Yagul are two separate geographic sites, both within the Oaxaca Central Valley, connected through the migration of people due to agriculture. Both Yagul and Mitla are under the same World Heritage nomination (PYMO).
Natural Heritage
The valley of Tlacolula was formed during a volcanic episode, the area contains minerals of quartz, feldspar, and flint (UNESCO, 2010). Therefore, the topsoil appears black due to volcanic lava and ash and contains organic materials. There are rivers and streams throughout the valley. The vegetation in the valley trees such as fig, mesquite, and copal as well as various types of cacti. Candelabra, organ, wild prickly pear, and el pithayo cacti are present in the valley (UNESCO, 2010). Blue agave, orchids, yucca, and species endemic to Mexico comprise the botany of the valley. Reptiles, lizards, snakes, hawks, eagles, hummingbirds, and other small vertebrates live in the valley. Larger mammals such as foxes, skunks, rabbits, opossums, and more also occupy the area (UNESCO, 2010).
The Valley’s copious amounts of land and water resources made it a perfect settlement for prehistoric Mesoamerican societies. The comfortable climate and available water resources allowed people to settle in nearby caves and transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
There are both prehistoric caves/rock shelters and prehispanic architecture at the site (UNESCO, 2010). The caves and rock shelters are located near Mitla and each of the caves/ rock shelters was used for different purposes. One of the many caves, Guilá Naquitz was used for sleeping and large quantities of maize and other foods were found left inside the cave (UNESCO, 2010). The Cueva Blanca contained the most Paleo-Indian human evidence of the site, animal bones and tools were found inside (UNESCO, 2010). Cueva de los Machines contains red pictographs. Caballito Blanco contains pictographs and petroglyphs, some in Zapotec writing that have not been successfully translated yet (UNESCO, 2010). Six other caves and rock shelters are within the site but were not described above.
Cultural Heritage
The Mitla site is widely thought to have been inhabited by the Mixtec people. The presence of Mixtec architecture, art, stone mosaics, and other evidence was found there during its ‘discovery’ (UNESCO, 2010). However, today the area is occupied by the Zapotec people and there is discourse over whether the site is Mixtec or Zapotec. The prehispanic settlements of PYMO are focused in the zone of Yagul, while the caves and rock shelters of Mitla were used more during the archaic periods. The Palace of Six Patios also known as the labyrinth is positioned on the highest points of Yagul, efficient for looking over the entire lower portion of the valley (UNESCO, 2010). Yagul also contains a ballgame court, a council room, a fortress, and numerous patios. Yagul and Mitla have both experienced habitation by humans during the Paleo-Indian period, the Archaic period, and the Monte Alban phase I and II.
Interaction between Natural and Cultural Heritage
The Naquitz phase (8900–6400 a.C.) presented the first evidence in the caves of Mitla for the domestication of local plants (UNESCO, 2010). This interaction between humans and the land began the first agriculture in the area and allowed a transition from hunting and gathering. Gourds, squash, beans, and maize were the essential foods that were domesticated and helped spawn Mesoamerican civilization (UNESCO, 2010). Throughout the archaic period the Mitla and Yagul demonstrate that as agriculture became a primary food source, people began to stay in their permanent settlements longer and did not migrate as much as in the past. Kent V. Flannery who excavated and studied PYMO theorizes that agriculture developed in the Central Valley of Oaxaca because “agricultural activities emerged as a way to alleviate the inevitable fluctuations between dry and humid years and to assure a stock of indispensable foods. During more humid years there would be the experimentation of new plants and in the drier years there would be conservation efforts of seeds” (UNESCO, 2010). Thousands of years later, the dry climate of the Central Valley of Oaxaca helped preserve artifacts and plant specimens which led to the discovery of the great interaction between people and the landscape in Oaxaca.
Conclusion
The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca represent outstanding universal value due to the interaction between early humans and their landscapes. The domestication of corn and other local plants allowed for a transition out of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle seen at the caves of Mitla into more permanent settlements. Which in turn led to the development of larger cities in Mesoamerica like Yagul. Although whether this site contains the earliest specimens ever found of domesticated corn is contested, it is still one of the earliest findings. The evidence of the domestication of gourds, squash, and beans is the earliest recovered to date (UNESCO, 2010). The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla are a wonderful representation of a cultural landscape, demonstrating how humans changed and interacted with their environment to survive. The environment, in turn, influences human ways of life, behaviors, ideas, and culture.
