MIXTECS AND ZAPOTECS WARRIORS

Information on the military of the Zapotecs is currently obtained mainly from archaeological excavations. Honestly, however, it must be added that many information about them is unclear and uncertain. It can be taken for granted that they settled in today's southern Mexico around 1400 BC, and probably around 900 BC, their civilization development accelerated, leading to the creation of the first Zapotec city today called Monte Alban around 600 BC. With time, other cities also began to emerge, and it can be assumed that the period from about 500 BC to 500 AD is the time of intensive development of the Zapotec civilization. From around 500 AD, the role of Monte Alban decreases, and shortly thereafter the Zapotec civilization begins to experience a crisis. Nevertheless, it survived in a much less impressive form until the 15th-16th centuries! There are many indications that the Zapotec army was composed primarily of peasants called up for arms during the war campaign, but this is not entirely certain. Like other Mesoamerican armies, the Zapotec armies were made up entirely of infantry. Their strength, size is only an estimate, but it is assumed that they did not exceed 10-15 thousand people. Zapotec warriors had relatively light defensive weapons, mainly consisting of a shield and a helmet. It is worth adding that armor made of cotton materials are often used. The offensive weapons used were spears, javelins, but most of all various types of hand-to-hand combat weapons with obsidian blades.