Cuicuilco
PyramidCentral America
Circular stepped pyramid buried under volcanic lava on the southern edge of Mexico City. Cuicuilco is one of the oldest Mesoamerican pyramids — conventional dating places its main construction phase c. 800-200 BCE, but the Xitle volcano eruption that buried the city is geologically dated c. 245 BCE to as late as 1670 CE depending on which stratigraphic model is applied. The base diameter approaches 135 m. The circular footprint is anomalous in a region where rectangular stepped pyramids dominate, and Hugh Newman has explored alternative timelines that place an original pre-Xitle phase substantially earlier than the orthodox sequence.
Look Closer — this site carries open questions: stones heavier than the period's tools could lift; dating rests on thin stratigraphic evidence.
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Walkthrough videos (1)
Cuicuilco: Is A Mysterious Circular Pyramid in Mexico City 7,000 Years Old?Hugh Newman / Megalithomania