This gallery features artifacts created by the first nomadic hunter-gatherer groups, as well as objects from the earliest sedentary villages that emerged in the Oaxaca Valley and the Mixteca region. Highlights include findings from the archaeological site of San José Mogote in Villa de Etla.

This gallery displays objects made during the height of Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. It explores their religious beliefs, calendrical systems, and writing practices. Featured items include ceramic urns depicting deities and stone sculptures, most of which come from the Oaxaca Valley.

This impressive Mixtec collection showcases ornamental objects made of gold, silver, turquoise, obsidian, greenstone, rock crystal, and other precious materials. These pieces were uncovered in Tomb 7 at Monte Albán by Dr. Alfonso Caso on January 9, 1932. The collection demonstrates the remarkable craftsmanship of the time and reveals trade networks among Mesoamerican cultures. Highlights include a turquoise mosaic skull, rock crystal goblets, and necklaces made of jade, turquoise, gold, amber, shell, pearls, and coral.

This period in Oaxaca marks the decline of Zapotec civilization at Monte Albán, which continued developing until around 1300. It also ushers in the Postclassic period, characterized by a new territorial reorganization. Important sites from this era include Yagul, Mitla, Lambityeco, and Zaachila. Artifacts from these locations are displayed here.

The conquest of Oaxaca began in 1519 from the north (Tuxtepec) and extended to the coast (Tututepec). Some communities allied with the Spaniards, while others were subdued by force. The Spanish were especially interested in seizing gold objects to send back to Europe.

This room focuses on the spiritual conquest led by friars. Most of the pieces are religious artworks, including wooden sculptures and mural paintings. The gallery also features colonial codices and land-mapping scrolls used to record indigenous boundaries and dynasties. Although Indigenous communities adopted Catholicism, they preserved many of their ancestral beliefs and rituals.

This section showcases objects created by Indigenous communities during the 18th century. Native peoples of New Spain adapted new trades and technologies to suit their needs, including livestock care, the cultivation of wheat and barley, the use of plows, and blacksmithing.

This gallery highlights items used in religious festivities and patron saint celebrations, including image processions with musical accompaniment. It also presents tools and devices introduced in colonial times to ease labor, such as agricultural tools and the treadle loom.

This room features objects from the end of the colonial era, the start of the Independence movement in 1810, and the formation of the Mexican nation. Weapons and coins are closely linked to the struggle for Independence. Among the featured objects is the desk and chair used by Benito Juárez while serving as governor of Oaxaca—an emblematic figure of the Reform era. During his tenure, the government resisted French intervention.

During the Porfirian era, Mexico experienced economic growth and improved transportation links between the country’s center and its main ports. This gallery includes portraits of Porfirio Díaz as governor of Oaxaca, president of Mexico, and during his exile in France.

This gallery presents objects that reflect 20th-century technological advances, especially in mass communication, such as radio, film, and photography.

Oaxaca is the most culturally diverse state in Mexico. Fifteen of the country’s 56 ethnolinguistic groups coexist here. While they share common traits, each group speaks its own native language and maintains distinct cultural traditions.