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The cemetery
Families light the tombs with candles and marigolds on 31 October
Day of the Dead celebrations begin on 31 October, when those with deceased loved ones gather in the cemetery to light the tombs with candles and decorate them with Mexican marigolds and other flowers. In the morning the municipal authorities arrive with a musical band and offer tea and coffee, and religious brotherhoods come with banners and standards.
The days after
The dead are honored at home, then bread and chocolate say goodbye
On 1 November the dead continue to be honored in the home, with a traditional meal of mole, tamales and beans. The second day of November is called the day of godchildren, co-parents, friends and family, as the dead are often referred to. Bread, hot chocolate and fruit are eaten to say goodbye to the deceased who have been visiting.
The hill
Founded between 650 and 850 on a hill, as a satellite of Monte Alban
The town was founded between 650 and 850 as a satellite city of Monte Alban, on a hill above the fertile Valley of Etla, partly as a bulwark against the neighboring Mixtec. Excavation that began in 2009 led to the discovery of a 45-meter Mesoamerican ball court.
The potters
About 90% of the people in the town make pottery, glazed green
About 90% of the people in the town proper make pottery. The clay is mined four km from the town center and is still carried by burro along paths used by the town's grandfathers. The potter's wheels are operated by foot and date back to the pre-Hispanic era. The glaze that gives the green color and shine came in the 16th century with the cleric Alonso Figueroa.
The cost
Close to the city, the town is very poor, and lead glaze hurt its market
Despite being close to the city of Oaxaca, Atzompa is a very poor community that lives mostly on its green pottery. Concerns about the lead content in the glaze hurt the Mexican pottery market. Lead-free glazes came in the 1990s and a cooperative pottery market in the 2000s, but in the poorest neighborhoods some schools are still shacks with dirt floors.
Day 3, afternoon
It comes after Monte Alban. Then Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Santa María Atzompa and the Wikipedia article Day of the Dead, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.