Mitla is an archaeological site associated with the Zapotec culture, located in the Oaxaca Valley in the present-day state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
The Zapotec was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilisation emerging in the late 6th century BC, that originated in the Central Valleys of the Etla in the west, Ocotlán in the south and Mitla in the east. The Zapotec civilisation was centred on Oaxaca, San José Mogote, and Mitla, with the site of Monte Albán emerging as the civic-ceremonial centre.
At its peak, the Zapotec had a population of more than 500,000 inhabitants, having developed sophisticated construction techniques, a writing system, two calendar systems, and complex agricultural cultivation.