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Cocijo God, Lambityeco, Oaxaca
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Lambityeco is a small archaeological site just about 3 kilometers west of the Tlacolula city in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located just off Highway 190 about east from the city of Oaxaca en route to Mitla. The site has been securely dated to the Late Classical Period.
The Lambityeco name has several possible origins: from zapoteco “Yehui” that translates as Guava River. From “Lambi” corrupted zapoteco of the Spanish word “alambique or still” and of zapoteco “Pityec” that would translate as mound, hence the name would mean “the still mound”
Some claim that Lambityeco is a zapoteco word that means “Hollow Hill” This last interpretation seems to be accepted, considering that this site was a salt producer, as much during prehispanic times as in relatively recent times, since records show that as late as 1940 salt was still produced in this zone.
This process was made by running water through the region dirt, obtaining salt water; this water was boiled in pots to obtain salt after evaporating the water. It is confirmed that this city was a salt production center and that it provided up to 90% of the salt consumed in the valley between 600 and 700 AD. The salt was extracted from dirt in the southern part of the site.
Lambityeco is a small part of the larger site known as Yeguih, which according to another version it is the Zapotec word for "small hill". The two main structures at Lambityeco are Mound 190 and Mound 195. Mound 190 is an elite residence with the entrance flanked by two imposing Cocijo masks, the Zapotec rain god.
The site dates to the Late Classic and Early Postclassic.
Lambityeco was part of a zapoteco settlement from the late classic and early Postclassical period in the Oaxaca valley. The extraordinary artistic quality shown in the various urns, engraved bones and mural paintings in tombs as well as by decorated architectonic elements with mosaics in stucco is remarkable.