248 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



In the country of the Mixtecs the cave of Chalcatongo, situated 

 on a high mountain, serAed as a burial ph\ce for their kings and 

 great men, and Father Burgoa rehites Avith indignation how, even 

 in hiter Christian times, a cacique, esteemed by the priests for his 

 godly life, accepted the last sacraments of tlie Christian Church and 

 yet left behind him the behest that his earthly remains should be 

 buried in that cave." The extensive caves in the limestone moun- 

 tains (whence came its names of Yoopaa and Mictlan) imparted to 

 this place its sacred character and caused the Zapotecs to choose it for 

 the burial place of their kings and priests. There were also smaller 

 caves in the place, called Zeetoba, "second burial place ", or Queui- 

 quije-zaa, " the palace on the rock "; in Mexican, Teticpac. It served 

 as a burial place of the second (subordinate) rank. 



The peculiar notion connected with caves in specially favored 

 situations, namely, that they indicated the ])laces where the ancestors 

 of the race had come forth from the earth, was, without doubt, 

 the reason why Yoopaa, or Mictlan, was not only a burial place, 

 l)ut^ also the most important sanctuary of the country and the resi- 

 dence of the high priest. He was called Uija-tao, " great prophet ", 

 and was treated by the Zapotec kings, as Father Burgoa relates, 

 with such submissive veneration and regarded as being so closely 

 connected with the gods, being the direct distributor of their gracious 

 gifts, as well as of their punishments, that the kings turned to him in 

 all matters and in every need, and carried out his connnauds with the 

 strictest obedience, even at the cost of their blood and their lives.'' 



It was in keeping with the twofold significance of the place that 

 here in Yoopaa, or Mictlan, the most important and magnificent 

 edifices were erected, and that here every form of art was employed 

 which the ancient inhabitants of this country could command. Mic- 

 tlan was doubtless not the only place in the Zapotec country where 

 magnificent buildings were to be found. A beautifully sculptured 

 tomb has l)een discovered in Xoxo, not far from Oaxaca.'' Moreover 

 on the mountain citadel of Tlacolula and in Teotitlan del Valle we 

 have found fragments of wall facings of stone mosaic very similar to 

 the famous mosaics of Mitla which represent geometric designs. 

 There are undoubtedly similar buildings to be found in other parts of 

 this country, which as yet has been little explored. The buildings 

 of Mitla, however, have always been distinguished for their size, 

 number, and magnificence, and we find in the very earliest reports 

 enthusiastic and admiring descriptions of them. 



"P. Burgoa, Segunda Parte de la Historia de la Provincia de Predkadores de Guaxaca, 

 Vlexico, 1674, chap. 29. 



' Burgoa, work cited, chap. 53. 



<• See the description in Compte rendu du Congres international des Amoricanistes, T""" 

 session, Berlin, 188S, p. 126 et seq. There I have also given a small sketch of the tomh. 



