Cuicuilco

Cuicuilco

View of Cuicuilco's main circular pyramid looking south from the Anillo Periférico beltway.
Location within Mesoamerica
Location	Valley of Mexico, Mexico
Region	Valley of Mexico
Coordinates	19°18′06″N 99°10′54″W / 19.30167°N 99.18167°W / 19.30167; -99.18167
History
Founded	Around 1000 BCE
Abandoned	2nd-3rd century CE
Periods	Preclassic to Early Classic

Cuicuilco is an important archaeological site located on the southern shore of the Lake Texcoco in the southeastern Valley of Mexico, in what is today the borough of Tlalpan in Mexico City. The settlement goes back to 1400 BC.

Cuicuilco flourished during the Mesoamerican Middle and Late Formative (c. 700 BCE – 150 CE) periods.

Today, it is a significant archaeological site that was occupied during the Early Formative until its destruction in the Late Formative. Based on its date of occupation, Cuicuilco may be the oldest city in the Valley of Mexico and was roughly contemporary with, and possibly interacting with the Olmec of the Gulf Coast of lowland Veracruz and Tabasco (also known as the Olmec heartland).

Based on known facts, it was the first important civic-religious center of the Mexican Highlands, its population probably including all social strata and cultural traits that would characterize the Altépetl (city-state) of classical Mesoamerica.

Cuicuilco was destroyed and abandoned following the eruption of the volcano Xitle, causing migrations and changes to the population and culminating in the Teotihuacan consolidation as classical period ruler of the Central Highlands.

At the site are eight of the many housing and religious buildings that once existed, and the remains of a hydraulic system that supplied water to the city. One of the pyramids was built in a strategic position, representing early prehispanic attempts to link religious concepts with cosmic events through building construction.

The etymology is unknown.

According to INAH, Zelia Nuttall believes that Cuicuilco means: “Place where songs and dances are made””.

Cuicuilco was originally founded as a farming village, but presents evidence of early religious practices including stone offerings and the use of ceramics as grave goods. The city grew around a large ceremonial center with pyramids and an associated urban area that included plazas and avenues bordering a series of small, shallow pools. These pools were fed by runoff from the nearby hills of Zacayuca and Zacaltepetl. Population at the city's peak is estimated at 20,000 people. Site features include terraces, various buildings, fortifications, and irrigation ditches and canals. The main known structure is a pyramidal basement built about 800–600 BCE.