El Cerrito

El Cerrito is an archaeological site in Queretaro, Mexico, featuring the largest pyramid in north-central Mexico at 30 meters high. Established as a farming settlement in the early first millennium AD, it became allied to Teotihuacan between 400 and 650 AD, controlling obsidian trade. Its most intense occupation occurred during the Toltec period (900-1200 CE), when it served as a Tollan -- a seat of power for lords and warriors. Venerated successively by Chupicuaro, Teotihuacanos, Toltecs, Chichimeca, Otomi, and Purepecha peoples as late as 1632, the Spanish mistook the overgrown pyramid for a natural hill.