Monte Albán - Tomb 104

(Local Name: Tumba 104) A path leads north-west to Tumba 104 (Tomb 104), the most magnificent of those discovered in Monte Albán. It dates from about ad 500. Above the elaborate façade of the entrance is a niche containing a clay urn shaped like a seated person with the headdress of the rain god Cocijo. The door between the tomb and the ante-room consists of a huge stone slab covered with hieroglyphs. All three sides of the burial chamber are decorated with coloured frescos. On the right-hand side can be recognised the figure of Titao Cazobi, the Zapotecs' corn god, who is wearing a large headdress composed of a serpent and feathers. The central picture above a niche on the back wall depicts the head of an unknown red deity with an arched headdress, the "5 turquoise" glyph and the opening of heaven. On the left-hand wall can be seen a figure with features of an old man holding a copal sack and decorated on the waist, neck and head. This is probably meant to be the god Xipe Tótec, who for the Zapotecs, Mixtecs and Aztecs was the god of renewal, of jewellers and of the maltreated. In the burial chamber were found the remains of an adult male with a large urn depicting the same deity as that portrayed on the back wall; four smaller urns were found next to this. Tomb 172 lies beneath the mound of Tomb 104. The skeleton and the objects buried in this tomb can be seen here in the condition in which they were found.

Tomb 172 lies beneath the mound of Tomb 104. The skeleton and the objects buried in this tomb can be seen here in the condition in which they were found.

Tomb 172 lies beneath the mound of Tomb 104. The skeleton and the objects buried in this tomb can be seen here in the condition in which they were found.

Tomb 172 lies beneath the mound of Tomb 104. The skeleton and the objects buried in this tomb can be seen here in the condition in which they were found.