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Mesoamerican pyramids form a prominent part of ancientMesoamerican architecture. Although similar in some ways toEgyptian pyramids, theseNew World structures have flat tops (many with temples on the top) and stairs ascending their faces, more similar to ancientMesopotamianZiggurats.[1][2] Most pyramids had square bases, but there were also pyramids of other shapes, including rounded ones.[3] The largest pyramid in the world by volume is theGreat Pyramid of Cholula, in the east-centralMexican state ofPuebla. The builders of certain classic Mesoamerican pyramids have decorated them copiously with stories about theHero Twins, the feathered serpentQuetzalcoatl,Mesoamerican creation myths, ritualistic sacrifice, etc. written in the form ofMaya script on the rises of the steps of the pyramids, on the walls, and on the sculptures contained within.[4]
TheAztecs dominated central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.[5] Their capital wasTenochtitlan on the shore ofLake Texcoco – the site of modern-dayMexico City. They were related to the preceding cultures in the basin of Mexico such as the culture ofTeotihuacan whose building style they adopted and adapted.[6] Sites involving Aztec pyramids include:
TheMaya are a people of southernMexico and northernCentral America (Guatemala,Belize, westernHonduras, andEl Salvador).[7]Archaeological evidence shows that by thePreclassic Maya (1000 B.C., approximately 3,000 years ago) they were building pyramidal-plaza ceremonial architecture.[8] The earliest monuments consisted of simpleburial mounds, the precursors to the spectacular stepped pyramids from theTerminal Pre-classic period and beyond.[9]
Mayan temples have a pyramid-like structure.These pyramids relied on intricate carved stone in order to create a stair-stepped design.[10] Many of these structures featured a top platform upon which a smaller dedicatory building was constructed, associated with a particularMaya deity. Maya pyramid-like structures were also erected to serve as a place of interment for powerful rulers. Maya pyramidal structures occur in a great variety of forms and functions, bounded by regional and periodical differences.[11]
TheOlmecs were an ancient group of indigenous peoples that occupied territory in Mesoamerica stretching fromVeracruz toTabasco around 1300-400 BCE.[12]
The Olmec Great Pyramid of La Venta is argued to be one of the earliest and most complex settlement and ceremonial sites that can be found amongst Mesoamerican civilizations.[12]
TheTarascan state was a pre-columbian culture located in the modern day Mexican state ofMichoacán. The region is currently inhabited by the modern descendants of thePurépecha. Purépechan architecture is noted for T-shapedstep pyramids known asyácatas.[13]
TheTeotihuacan civilization, which flourished from around 300 BCE to 500 CE, at its greatest extent included most of Mesoamerica.[14] Teotihuacano culture collapsed around 550 and was followed by several large city-states such as Xochicalco (whose inhabitants were probably ofMatlatzinca ethnicity), Cholula (whose inhabitants were probablyOto-Manguean), and later theceremonial site of Tula (which has traditionally been claimed to have been built byToltecs but which now is thought to have been founded by theHuastec culture).[15]
The site calledTula, theToltec capital, in the state of Mexico is one of the best preserved five-tier pyramids in Mesoamerican civilization. The ground plan of the site has two pyramids, Pyramid B and Pyramid C.[16]
The Toltec empire lasted from around 700 to 1100.[17] Although the origin of the Toltec Empire is a mystery, they are said to have migrated Mexico's northern plateau until they set up their empire's capital in central Mexico, called Tula, which is 70 km/40 mi northwest of modern day Mexico City. When the city of Tula was in its prime it had around 40,000 people living in it and the city flourished from 900 to 1100.[18] The city of Tula had a main plaza surrounded by 2 pyramids and a ritual ball court.[18] The most popular pyramid on this site (pyramid b) is the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl which is a five-tiered pyramid with four giant carved pillars on top. The pyramid of Quetzalcoatl was named after a story of a legendary priest, also named Quetzalcoatl who was exiled from Tula around the year 1000. He is said to have ended warfare between Mayan city states and after that the Toltecs started worshiping Quetzalcoatl.[17]
The best knownClassic Veracruz pyramid, the Pyramid of Niches inEl Tajín, is smaller than those of their neighbors and successors but more intricate.[19]
TheZapotecs were one of the earliest Mesoamerican cultures and held sway over theValley of Oaxaca region from the early first millennium BCE to about the 14th century.[20]
Historians divide theLenca chronology into two, the Preclassic Proto-Lencas and the later Lencas as we known today.[21]
The following site is from the modern-day state ofZacatecas, built by cultures whose ethnic affiliations are unknown:
A great quantity of buildings were constructed on artificial terraces upon the slopes of aLa Quemada. The materials used here include stone slab and clay. The most important structures are: The Hall of Columns, The Ball Court, The Votive Pyramid, and The Palace and the Barracks. On the most elevated part of the hill is The Fortress. This is composed of a small pyramid and a platform, encircled by a wall that is more than 800m long and up to six feet high. La Quemada was occupied from 800 to 1200. Their founders and occupants have not been identified with certainty but probably belonged to either theChalchihuites culture or that of the neighboring Malpaso culture.[22]
Modern archaeological scholarly thinking has been revising the concept of the Olmecs as diffusing the majority ofcultural influence in regards to architectural similarities between various Mesoamerican pyramids.
The origin of the termmother culture, in regards toMesoamerica, entered into the Mesoamerican historiographical lexicon in 1942 from archaeologistAlfonso Caso denoting that theOImecs were the "cultura madre".[23] The mother culture model argues that there was one defining culture, the Olmecs, from where therein coexisting Mesoamerican societies derived a significant portion of fundamental societal and cultural facets. The sister culture model argues that the Olmecs were not the sole undeviating source of cultural diffusion for otherMesoamerican civilizations, but rather a segment in ongoing cultural diffusion in Mesoamerica. Further progression of the debate has evolved intocostly signaling theory which argues that Mesoamerican cultures were influenced by prestigious displays which manifested, amongst other things, in their architecture.[24] Another key facet of the debate questioned the application of the term "Mother culture" and argues that contemporary Mesoamerican civilizations were functional without Olmec influence and describing the Olmecs as the "mother culture" robs the Olmecs and the other civilizations of their agency.[25]
In 2013, archaeological research done on the ancientMayan city of Ceibal have hypothesized that the Olmecs had significantly lesser prominence in regards to shared architectural characteristics.[26] This is supported by evidence, in the form ofradiocarbon dating, that was found at Ceibal pointing to a flux between a plethora of Mesoamerican cultures, somewhere between 1150 BCE and 850 BCE, in which a continued diffusion of culture occurred.[27] This evidence suggests multidirectional influence in regards to the dissemination of pyramid architecture amongst Mesoamerican civilizations.
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