The Mitla Landslide, an Event That Changed the Fate of a Mixteco/Zapoteco Civilization in Mesoamerica

Before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Mitla was the second most important city in the valleys of Oaxaca, México. However, the ruins that are visible today do not seem to match the size of a city of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Geological and geophysical studies suggest that part of the city...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational Journal of Geophysics Vol. 2019; no. 2019; pp. 1 - 14
Main Authors Hernández-Madrigal, V. M., Gómez-Cortés, J., Ruiz-Figueroa, A., Magaña-García, N., Figueroa-Soto, A., Garduño-Monroy, V. H., Jiménez-Haro, A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01.01.2019
Hindawi
Hindawi Limited
Wiley
Subjects
Archaeology
Earthquakes
Geophysical exploration
Geophysical methods
Geophysical studies
Geophysics
Landslides
Landslides & mudslides
Mexico
Seismic activity
Spain
Tomography
Tsunamis
Valleys
Mexico
Spain
Mesoamerica
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Summary:Before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Mitla was the second most important city in the valleys of Oaxaca, México. However, the ruins that are visible today do not seem to match the size of a city of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Geological and geophysical studies suggest that part of the city was covered by the deposits of a dry landslide likely to have been caused by an earthquake with a magnitude that could vary between 6 and 7. This landslide is monolithological, which is why two geophysical methods were used in order to evaluate its geometrical characteristics and to suggest the possible existence of archeological remains under the landslide.
ISSN:1687-885X
1687-8868
DOI:10.1155/2019/5438381