| Cuicuilco |
| Cuicuilco is an ancient settlement site in central Mexico, now located in southern | Párr. 1 |
| Mexico City. Prominent in the late pre-Classic period, around 500 B.C., it is noted for its |
| large circular temple mound, one of the earliest monumental structures in ancient |
| Mesoamerica and influential on many later pyramid monuments built by the Maya and |
| 5 | Aztecs amongst others. Buried in several metres of lava an abandoned Cuicuilco remains one |
| of the most enigmatic early urban centres in the Americas. |
| Cuicuilco was inhabited just at the period when Mesoamerican villages were | Párr. 2 |
| transforming into larger population centres which would in turn become the great cities of |
| the region in later centuries. At its height the town may have had a population of up to 20,000 |
| 10 | people, its prosperity based on the fertile land in the surrounding lagoon basin of the Mexico |
| Valley. Several small platform structures, houses, and plazas have been excavated at the site, |
| which is estimated to have covered 400 ha (1,000 acres), demonstrating that it was one of the |
| first large settlements in Mesoamerica. |
| The site of Cuicuilco is dominated today by the massive circular temple pyramid or | Párr. 3 |
| 15 | mound. The structure was constructed sometime in the 5th century B.C. (confirmed by radio- |
| carbon dating). The mound is 135 metres (443 feet) in diameter at its base and 23 metres (75 |
| feet) high. Its total volume is 60,000 cubic metres (2 million cubic feet). It has four levels |
| with inwardly sloping sides which decrease in size. The four levels were each faced with |
| volcanic stone rocks and slabs fixed in place using a clay mortar. The construction of the |
| 20 | temple mound was in two separate stages. |
| To the side of the temple mound are burial sites. Their excavation has | Párr. 4 |
| revealed pottery, incense burners, and clay figurines of local manufacture. The figurines are |
| typical of Mesoamerican art of all periods and represent human figures, animals, and birds. |
| Standing females are the most common type, with details such as mouth and oval eyes deeply |
| 25 | with a single line. |
| Cuicuilco was devastated by a lava flow from the nearby Xitli volcano at the end of | Párr. 5 |
| the pre-Classic period, perhaps around the year 200 A.D. Around 150 years later there was |
| another eruption and Cuicuilco was definitively abandoned leaving its neighbor Teotihuacan |
| to dominate the region for the next 500 years. If the later date is accepted for the second |
| 30 | eruption, then it is probable that more powerful Teotihuacan had already taken over |
| Cuicuilco. The flow covered both the temple mound and the site's burial grounds in up to |
| seven metres of lava making excavation impractical in most places. Nevertheless, parts of |
| the site were excavated and its temple mound rediscovered in the 1920s A.D. |
| 35 | Fuente: Cartwright, M. (30 de junio de 2016). Cuicuilco. World History Encyclopedia. | |
| https://www.ancient.eu/Cuicuilco/ | |