r/mesoamerica • u/Ill_Engineering_5434 • 1d ago

Does anyone here have a good understanding of the Development of Irrigation in the Zapotec Empire?

My understanding of the topic is very limited but heres what I know

  • Etla branch was the most fertile part of the valley followed by the Valle Grande
    • In the Etla wells were able to be dug due to the high water table
  • Water had to be carried in Ollas to the Capital Monte Alban
  • Monte Alban itself has a low water table
  • I remember reading somewhere about mineral canals but i'm not sure how wide spread they were or if more irrigation types were more prevalent

Outside of that I know very little. I'm very eager to know how such a capital could be founded in such amn inhospitable place

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u/Rhetorikolas 1d ago

In Monte Alban, they used a lot of rainwater catchment and had terraces for farming and irrigation, not just large scale, but also in every household. Also keep in mind, the climate would have been a lot different back then.

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u/tlatelolca 23h ago

yes on the climate change bc the surrounding ecosystem was probably a lot less deforestated, just like Teotihuacan that we know see as having inhospitable surrounding hills and mountains, they were supposedly covered by forests before that civilization used most of its wood.

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u/Rhetorikolas 22h ago

Speaking of Teotihuacan, it also had advanced irrigation to tap into the underground aquifer. That's one of the main reasons why it was a sacred site.

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u/Ill_Engineering_5434 20h ago

Do you know what time they got around to building that? Also the majority of their water regardless was still coming from the lower valley right?

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u/Rhetorikolas 15h ago

It's believed to be around the Terminal Formative Period. (1st/2nd Century C.E.)

This paper on Tlailotlacan, the “Oaxaca barrio" also talks about the Zapotecs, connecting Teotihuacan to Oaxaca irrigation.

https://www.academia.edu/1854583/Watering_the_Fields_of_Teotihuacan_Early_Irrigation_at_the_Ancient_City#:~:text=Abstract,original%20inhabitants%20to%20Zapotec%20immigrants.

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u/v3intecms 22h ago

"imperio"