Cuicuilco Pyramidal Platform (Circular Basement)
Cuicuilco Pyramid · Circular Pyramid of Cuicuilco · Cuicuilco main pyramid
Preclassic / Late Formative (Central Mexican Preclassic)·Cuicuilco (Basin of Mexico Preclassic)·🇲🇽 Mexico City, Cuicuilco (Tlalpan) — south Basin of Mexico at lava border, Mexico
About
About Cuicuilco Pyramidal Platform (Circular Basement)
Earliest monumental pyramidal platform in the Basin of Mexico at Cuicuilco — huge circular stepped pyramid (diam 135 m, 20 m high, oval platform 135×120 m base) of 700–150 BCE (Late Preclassic) with four tiers, conical altars atop, built by lava rubble and clay over earlier cemetery. Destroyed/buried by Xitle volcano lava eruption ~245 CE which covered lower terraces with 10 m basalt, preserving the truncated mound. Excavated by Byron Cummings 1922, Manuel Gamio 1928, and Heizer 1965. Demonstrates circular pyramid tradition contemporary to Teotihuacan's ancestor before Moon Pyramid.
Why it mattersEarliest Basin of Mexico monumental pyramid; circular pyramid type rare in Mesoamerica; eruption provides tephra chronology anchor for Basin sequence.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01True height before lava burial
- 02Relation to Teotihuacan Moon Pyramid circular predecessor
Theories
- 01Xitle eruption forced exodus from Cuicuilco to Teotihuacan 150 CE peak
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 700–150 BCE (Late Preclassic / Late Formative)
- Period
- Preclassic / Late Formative (Central Mexican Preclassic)
- Culture
- Cuicuilco (Basin of Mexico Preclassic)
- Builders
- Cuicuilco chiefs
- Purpose
- Temple-platform for water-mountain ritual under Xitle volcano zone
- Abandoned
- c. 150–245 CE (after Xitle eruption, population moved to Teotihuacan)
- Rediscovered
- 1922 (Byron Cummings, University of Arizona)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 700–150 BCE (Late Preclassic / Late Formative)
Initial construction
c. 1435 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
19.3022° N · 99.1789° W · 2300 m · 3 mapped features
Circular pyramid (135 m)
pyramid4-tier circular stepped mound 20 m high
19.3022° N · 99.1789° WXitle lava flow border
lava10 m basalt lava burying lower terrace
19.3018° N · 99.1785° WOffering altar summit
altarFour conical altars on summit platform
19.3023° N · 99.1788° W
Gallery