Editing Zapotec peoples (section)

==History==
{{Main|Zapotec civilization}}
[[File:12-05oaxaca076.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Palace of [[Mitla]], capital of the Zapotec civilization between the 8th and 14th centuries CE.]]
Although several theories of the origin of the Zapotec peoples exist, including some possibly influenced in the post-conquest period, scholars largely agree the Zapotecs inhabited the Central Valley of Oaxaca as early as 500 to 300&nbsp;BCE, during what is considered the Monte Alban&nbsp;I period. During this period, the Zapotecs established a significant system of governance over the population of the region. The Monte Alban periods, of which five have been categorized, lasted from 500&nbsp;BCE to the time of conquest in 1521 CE. Yet archaeological evidence from the site of Monte Alban, "the first city in ancient Mesoamerica"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marcus |first1=Joyce |last2=Flannery |first2=Kent V. |title=Zapotec Civilization: how urban society evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley |year=1996 |place=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05078-3}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2019}}</ref> has revealed settlement of the region as far back as 1150 BCE. Scholars have been able to correlate with the Formative, Classic, and post-Classic periods of civilization in the region within the greater Mesoamerican history through these discoveries. 

The Formative stage, from about 500 BCE to 200 CE of which the periods of Monte Alban&nbsp;I and II are attributed to, is characterized by a shift to sedentary settlements and the practice of agriculture for subsistence. From 200 to 900 CE in the Monte Alban III period, the Classic stage witnessed the rise of social and political structures in the Zapotec civilization. This period also saw a surge in religious activity within the state leadership of the society. Later, during the "Militaristic stage" of Monte Alban&nbsp;IV–V from around 900 to 1521 CE, a rise in military influence common among Mesoamerican societies led states to become mired in warfare and "cults of war".<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Whitecotton |author-first=Joseph |title=The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests, and Peasants |year=1977}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2019}}</ref>