Monte Alban Temple Ruin

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Tourists walk along the top of Monte Alban, ruins of the ancient Zapotec capital overlooking the city of Oaxaca. First occupied around 500 BC by Zapotecs, there are cultural connections with the Olmecs.  Development began with the building of temples and palaces and the population reached  10,000.  At it's peak around 300-700 AD, the surrounding hills were terraced for dwellings and population was 25,000. It was a highly organized, priest-dominated society. The agriculture included chili, avocado, beans, the people also ate deer, rabbit and dog. It was abandoned around 700-950 AD as population dispersed. It was then used as burial grounds.
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