MEXICO

This view is looking north into the Gran Plaza from the elevated South Platform, and back towards the ballcourt and the entrance to the site. The plaza is surrounded by platforms and terraces lined with steps, and axial temple compounds and palace structures on the east and west sides of the space. There is also a row of structures, known as Buildings G, H, I, and J, running north to south down the center of the space. The southern-most of these, Building J, at the south end of the Gran Plaza, appears to have been an astronomical observatory.

The large, sunken ballcourt is located near the entrance on the north-east side of the site. It's sloping sides are almost entirely made of stone steps, about half a meter high, except for small, raised platforms near the bottom. The north and south ends of the ballcourt have raised platforms and stairways that go down into the flared ends of the playing surface, and there is a round stone ring in the middle of the field, that figured in the playing of the ballgame in some manner.

The North Platform is a huge stepped pyramid mound, about 300 meters square, at the northern end of the Gran Plaza. It is accessed by a broad staircase on the south side, which ascends from the plaza to a collonaded hall at the top, of which only some columns remain. Further to the north, in the center of the North Platform, is a large sunken patio, with a stone altar in the middle. West of the sunken patio, are the remains of Building B, a later, probably Mixtec addition.
This view is looking south across the Gran Plaza from the North Platform. On the right side lies the sunken patio, and on the left is the eastern temple mound of the North Platform. In the foreground there is a standing stone stele, one of the intricately carved and decorated monuments, with figures of rulers, in acts of ascendancy or transfiguration.

The Observatory, or Building J, is one of the most interesting and unusual structures at the site. Dating from Monte Alban II, or around 200 BC-200 AD, it is an arrowhead-shaped building, with the north and east sides chamfered and notched, to create a diagonal side that faces north-east at a 45 degree angle, while the south and west sides of the structure align with the plaza and the rest of the buildings. There are a number of gaps, holes and tunnels, maybe sighting slots, built into the structure, a hole in the staircase on the north-east side aligns with a sighting slot on the central pyramid on the east side of the plaza, it appears to have been aligned with the star system of Capella.

These stone statues date from the earliest period at the site, they are found at the base of the mounds of Building N, just north of Building M in the south-west corner of the Gran Plaza. They have been called 'Danzantes', or dancers by the local tourguides, but on closer examination of the statues this seems unlikely. They were more likely either captives who have been ritually mutilated and sacrificed, or possibly medical patients or invalids, who seem to exhibit various kinds of diseases and physical ailments.

This view is looking north-west and up at the east, or back side of the eastern temple mound of the North Platform, a stepped pyramidal mound, that once supported a temple up on top, which was constructed of less permanent and more perishable materials.
The articulation of the buildings at Monte Alban is stately and monumental, with sloping 'taluds' made of large stone construction, supporting flat, horizontal 'tableros', encased with smoother, more finished masonry. The building fronts have broad stone stairways and terraces, framed by simple stone balustrades.