List of Mesoamerican pyramids

This is a list of Mesoamerican pyramids or ceremonial structures. In most cases they are not true pyramids. There are hundreds of these in many different styles throughout Mexico and Central America. These were made by several pre-Columbian cultures including the Olmecs,^[1] Maya,^[2] Toltecs,^[3] and Aztecs.^[4] In most cases they were made by city states that created many structures in the same style. The style for each city state is usually different. These are usually made out of stone and mortar but some of the earliest may have been made out of clay.

Site	Name of pyramid	Culture	Base length (m)	Height (m)	Incli- nation	Approximate time of construction	Function	Notes	Image
Altun Ha Belize		Maya		16		200 to 900 CE
Cañada de la Virgen Mexico	Pirámide Chichimeca de los 7 Cielos	Otomi		15+		540 to 1040 CE	The Pyramids and surrounding complex were built to house priests, along with serving as a burial ground.	These are the only Otomi pyramids we currently know of.
Caracol Belize	Caana	Maya		43				A triadic pyramid, Caana is the highest man-made structure in Belize
Caracol Belize	Temple of the Wooden Lintel	Maya
Lamanai Belize	High Temple	Maya		33		Pre-Classic Period
Lamanai Belize	Jaguar Temple	Maya		20		Pre-Classic Period
Lamanai Belize	Mask Temple	Maya		17		Early Classic Period
Lubaantun Belize		Maya				730 to 890 CE		Lubaantun's structures are mostly built of large stone blocks with no mortar, using primarily black slate rather than limestone.
Tula Mexico	Pyramid B	Toltec						The pyramid is dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, and topped with Atlantean columns, carved like warriors.
Lubaantun Belize		Maya				730 to 890 CE		Lubaantun includes many small step pyramids in addition to its far larger one.
Nim Li Punit Belize	Building	Maya		12		400 to 800 CE		Nim Li Punit has several small-step pyramids, but none that possessed the sheer mass of other examples.
Xunantunich Belize	El Castillo	Maya		40		600 to 900 CE
San Andrés El Salvador	the Bell of San Andrés	Maya				600 to 900 CE		This is a scale model of structure 5. There are several other smaller structures that may be similar to pyramids on the site.
Tazumal El Salvador		Maya				250 to 900 CE
Aguateca Guatemala		Maya		6		760 to 830 CE		This temple pyramid was left unfinished when the city was abandoned. Its purpose is still unknown.
Dos Pilas Guatemala	LD-49	Maya		20		after 629 CE		This pyramid's main stairway (known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 2) contains at least eighteen hieroglyphic steps. However, some glyphs are undecipherable due to age.
Dos Pilas Guatemala		Maya				after 629 CE		This temple pyramid was built by enlarging and terracing a natural hill some way from the site core, giving the impression of a single massive structure.
Kaminaljuyu Guatemala		Maya				250 CE		Kaminaljuyu contains some 200 platforms and pyramidal mounds, at least half of which were made before 250 CE. Some were used to hold temples.
El Mirador Guatemala	La Danta	Maya		72		300 BCE to 100 CE		La Danta pyramid temple has an estimated volume of 2,800,000 cubic meters, making it one of the largest pyramids in the world.
El Mirador Guatemala	El Tigre	Maya		55		300 BCE to 100 CE
El Puente Honduras	Structure 1	Maya		12		600 BCE- 900 CE		Religious temple
Mixco Viejo Guatemala		Maya				1100 to 1500 CE
Tikal Guatemala		Maya		47
Copán Honduras		Maya						Copán has several overlapping step-pyramids.
Becán Mexico	Structure IX	Maya		42
Bonampak Mexico	The Temple of the Murals	Maya				580 to 800 CE
Calakmul Mexico	Structure I	Maya		40
Calakmul Mexico	The Great Pyramid - Structure II	Maya		55		593 CE
Chacchoben Mexico	Temple 1	Maya		20
Chichen Itza Mexico	El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan)	Maya	55.3	30
Cholula Mexico	The Great Pyramid of Cholula		450 sq.	66		300 BCE - 800 CE		The largest pyramid and the largest manmade monument anywhere in the Americas.
Coba Mexico	The Nohoch Mul Pyramid	Maya		42		500 to 900 CE
Coba Mexico	La Iglesia	Maya		20		500 to 900 CE
Coba Mexico	Crossroads Temple	Maya				500 to 900 CE
Comalcalco Mexico	Temple 1	Maya		20		600 CE to 900 CE		The city's buildings were made from fired-clay bricks with mortar made from oyster shells, unique among Maya sites. Many are decorated with iconography and/or hieroglyphs.
Dzibanche Mexico	Temple of the Owl	Maya
El Cerrito Mexico	Pyramid of El Cerrito	Chichimec		30
El Tajín Mexico	Pyramid of the Niches	Classic Veracruz		18
Guachimontones Mexico	Circle 2 (La Iguana)	Teuchitlán		10				Characterized by the unusual circular pyramid structure, a unique architectural form in Mesoamerica.
Ichkabal Mexico	Structure E4	Maya		46
Izamal Mexico	Kinich Kakmó Pyramid	Maya		34		400 to 600 CE
La Venta Mexico	The Great Pyramid	Olmec		33		394 ± 30 BCE		This is one of the earliest pyramids known in Mesoamerica. It was made out of an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of earth fill.
Mayapan Mexico		Maya		15
Moral-Reforma Mexico	Conjunto 14	Maya		37
Palenque Mexico	Temple of the Cross	Maya
Palenque Mexico	Temple of the Inscriptions	Maya		22.8		>675		Bore the Classic Maya name B'olon Yej Te' Naah "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears".
Palenque Mexico	Temple of the Sun	Maya		19
Santa Cecilia Acatitlan Mexico		Aztec	17 by 27	8				In 1962, the architect and archaeologist Eduardo Pareyon Moreno reconstructed the pyramid's basement and the temple that crowns it.
Tenayuca Mexico		Aztec	62 by 50					This is the earliest example yet found of the typical Aztec double pyramid, which consists of joined pyramidal bases supporting two temples.
Tenochtitlan Mexico	Templo Mayor	Aztec	100 by 80			1390 to 1500 CE		Tenochtitlan was destroyed by the Spanish. Recreations of this and other pyramids are based on historical text and archaeological ruins.
Tenochtitlan Mexico		Aztec				1325 to 1521 CE		Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city, was completely razed by the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés. Recreations the city are based on historical text and archaeological ruins. This site once included at least half a dozen pyramids.
Teotihuacan Mexico	Pyramid of the Sun	Teotihuacano	223.5	71.2	32.5	100 BCE		There are also dozens of platforms 4 stories high lining the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan. Each step in each story creates a stairway to the top in front of the platforms.
Teotihuacan Mexico	Pyramid of the Moon	Teotihuacano		43		100 BCE
Teotihuacan Mexico	Temple of the Feathered Serpent	Teotihuacano
El Tepozteco Mexico		Aztec				1502 CE
Tula Mexico		Toltec
Uxmal Mexico	Pyramid of the Magician	Maya		40
Uxmal Mexico	La Gran Piramide	Maya		30
Xochicalco Mexico	Temple of the Feather Serpent					200 BCE to 900 CE
Xochicalco Mexico						200 BCE to 900 CE		This is one of several other step-pyramid temples in addition to the Temple of the Feather Serpent
Xochitecatl Mexico	The Pyramid of Flowers		100 by 140			the Preclassic Period
Xochitecatl Mexico	The Spiral Building					700 BCE		This is a circular stepped pyramid. The interior consists of volcanic ash. The building has no stairway to the top, it was climbed by following the spiral form of the building itself.
Yaxchilan Mexico		Maya				600 to 900 CE		This is one of the pyramids on the upper terrace of Yaxchilan
Yarumela Honduras	Estructure 101	Lenca		20		1000 BCE to 250 CE		Religious temple used for different ceremonies
Tikal Guatemala	Tikal Temple IV	Maya	88 by 65	64.6		741 AD	The pyramid was built to mark the reign of the 27th king of the Tikal dynasty	Temple IV at the Classic Period Maya ruins of Tikal, 8th century AD, Peten Department, Guatemala.
Toniná Mexico	Great Pyramid of Toniná	Maya		75		200 to 900 CE		The Great Pyramid of Toniná is the tallest Maya and Mesoamerican pyramid and also the tallest Pre Columbian building in the Americas.
Tzintzuntzan Mexico	5 yácata pyramids	Purépecha				Late post-classic period		The pyramids are rounded and have a distinguishable T-like shape.

References

1. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. EBSCO: Columbia University Press. 2020. ISBN 978-0-7876-5015-5. OCLC 1149280662.
2. Williams, Victoria (2020). Indigenous peoples : an encyclopedia of culture, history, and threats to survival. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 722. ISBN 9781440861185.
3. Coe, Michael, D (2013). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson. pp. 170–176. ISBN 978-0-500-29076-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. "The Aztecs / Mexicas". indians.org. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

External links