<P> Monte Albán, likely originally called Danipaguache (Zapotec for sacred mountain of life), is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043 ° N, 96.767 ° W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the central section of the Valley of Oaxaca where the latter's northern Etla, eastern Tlacolula, and southern Zimatlán & Ocotlán (or Valle Grande) branches meet . The present - day state capital Oaxaca City is located approximately 9 km (6 mi) east of Monte Albán . </P> <P> The partially excavated civic - ceremonial center of the Monte Albán site is situated atop an artificially - leveled ridge, which with an elevation of about 1,940 m (6,400 ft) above mean sea level rises some 400 m (1,300 ft) from the valley floor, in an easily defensible location . In addition to the monumental core, the site is characterized by several hundred artificial terraces, and a dozen clusters of mounded architecture covering the entire ridgeline and surrounding flanks . The archaeological ruins on the nearby Atzompa and El Gallo hills to the north are traditionally considered to be an integral part of the ancient city as well . </P> <P> Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán's importance stems also from its role as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio - political and economic center for close to a thousand years . Founded toward the end of the Middle Formative period at around 500 BC, by the Terminal Formative (ca. 100 BC - AD 200) Monte Albán had become the capital of a large - scale expansionist polity that dominated much of the Oaxacan highlands and interacted with other Mesoamerican regional states such as Teotihuacan to the north (Paddock 1983; Marcus 1983). The city had lost its political pre-eminence by the end of the Late Classic (ca . AD 500 - 750) and soon thereafter was largely abandoned . Small - scale reoccupation, opportunistic reutilization of earlier structures and tombs, and ritual visitations marked the archaeological history of the site into the Colonial period . </P> <P> The etymology of the site's present - day name is unclear, and tentative suggestions regarding its origin range from a presumed corruption of a native Zapotec name to a colonial - era reference to a Spanish soldier by the name Montalbán or to the Alban Hills of Italy . The ancient Zapotec name of the city is not known, as abandonment occurred centuries before the writing of the earliest available ethnohistorical sources . </P>

What role did monte alban play in the development of cities in mesoamerica
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