Ancient site · City
Cuicuilco
Possibly the oldest town in the Valley of Mexico, on the southern shore of the old Lake Texcoco in what is now Mexico City. Its best-known building is a large round, stepped pyramid begun a few centuries BCE.
The settlement was destroyed when the nearby Xitle volcano erupted, some time between 245 and 315 CE, covering the area in lava. It was roughly contemporary with the Olmecs and may have had contact with them.
- Dates
- c. 1000 BCE – c. 300 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 19.30° N, 99.18° W
How we know
No writing existed here; the town is dated by radiocarbon and by the lava of the Xitle volcano that buried it.
Nearby sites
- Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE – 550 CE (centre burned); declined to c. 650 CE
- San José Mogote c. 1500–500 BCE
- Monte Albán c. 500 BCE – 850 CE
- Guilá Naquitz Cave used c. 8800–6900 BCE and again c. 650–1450 CE
- San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Olmec centre c. 1400–900 BCE
- La Venta c. 1200–400 BCE (main centre c. 900–400 BCE)