Cuicuilco

Cuicuilco is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in present-day southern Mexico City, with earliest occupation dating to around 1200 BC. Its circular temple pyramid, measuring 135 metres in diameter and 23 metres high, is one of the earliest monumental structures in ancient Mesoamerica. At its peak around 500 BC, the city covered roughly 400 hectares and supported about 20,000 inhabitants. The settlement was destroyed by eruptions of the Xitle volcano, which buried the site under up to seven metres of lava, leading to its abandonment and the rise of Teotihuacan as the region's dominant centre.