List of Mesoamerican pyramids

This is a list of Mesoamerican pyramids or ceremonial structures. In most cases they are not true pyramids. There are hundreds of these done in many different styles throughout Mexico and Central America. These were made by several pre-Columbian cultures including the Olmecs, Maya, Toltecs, and Aztecs. In most cases they were made by city states that created many structures in the same style. The style for each city state is usually different. These are usually made out of stone and mortar but some of the earliest may have been made out of clay.

Site Name of pyramid Culture Base length (m) Height (m) Inclination Approximate time of construction Function Notes Image
Altun Ha Belize Maya 16 200 to 900 CE
Caracol Belize Caana Maya 43 A triadic pyramid, Caana is the highest man-made structure in Belize
Caracol Belize Temple of the Wooden Lintel Maya
Lamanai Belize High Temple Maya 33 Pre-Classic Period
Lamanai Belize Jaguar Temple Maya 20 Pre-Classic Period
Lamanai Belize Mask Temple Maya 17 Early Classic Period
Lubaantun Belize Maya 730 to 890 CE Lubaantun's structures are mostly built of large stone blocks laid with no mortar, using primarily black slate rather than the limestone typical of the region.
Lubaantun Belize Maya 730 to 890 CE Lubaantun includes many small step pyramids in addition to its far larger one.
Nim Li Punit Belize Maya tallest 12.2 400 to 800 CE Nim Li Punit has several small-step pyramids, but none that possessed the sheer mass of other examples.
Xunantunich Belize El Castillo Maya 40 600 to 900 CE
San Andrés, El Salvador the Bell of San Andrés Maya 600 to 900 CE This is a scale model of structure 5. There are several other smaller structures that may be similar to pyramids on the site, but pending further investigation it remains unclear.
Tazumal El Salvador Maya 250 to 900 CE
Aguateca Guatemala Maya 6 760 to 830 CE This temple pyramid was left unfinished when the city was abandoned. The purpose it may have served is still unknown.
Dos Pilas Guatemala LD-49 Maya 20 after 629 CE This pyramid's main stairway (known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 2) contains at least eighteen hieroglyphic steps. However, some of these glyphs are undecipherable due to the age of the site.
Dos Pilas Guatemala El Duende Maya after 629 CE This temple pyramid was built by enlarging and terracing a natural hill some way from the site core, giving the impression of a single massive structure.
Kaminaljuyu Guatemala Maya 250 CE Kaminaljuyu contains some 200 platforms and pyramidal mounds, at least half of which were made before 250 CE. Some of these were used to hold temples on top.
El Mirador Guatemala La Danta Maya 72 300 BCE to 100 CE La Danta pyramid temple has an estimated volume of 2,800,000 cubic meters, making it one of the largest pyramids in the world.
El Mirador Guatemala El Tigre Maya 55 300 BCE to 100 CE
Mixco Viejo Guatemala Maya 1100 to 1500 CE
Tikal Guatemala Maya 47
Copán Honduras Maya Copán has several overlapping step-pyramids.
Bonampak Mexico The Temple of the Murals Maya 580 to 800 CE
Calakmul Mexico The Great Pyramid Maya 55
Chichen Itza Mexico El Castillo Maya 55.3 30
Cholula Mexico The Great Pyramid of Cholula Xelhua 450 sq. 66 300 BCE - 800 CE The largest pyramid and the largest manmade monument anywhere in the New world.
Coba Mexico The Nohoch Mul pyramid Maya 42 500 to 900 CE
Coba Mexico La Iglesia Maya 20 500 to 900 CE
Coba Mexico Crossroads Temple Maya 500 to 900 CE
Comalcalco Mexico Temple 1 Maya 20 600 BCE to 900 CE The city's buildings were made from fired-clay bricks held together with mortar made from oyster shells. The use of bricks at Comalcalco was unique among Maya sites, and many of them are decorated with iconography and/or hieroglyphs.
El Tajín Mexico Pyramid of the Niches Classic Veracruz 18
La Venta Mexico The Great Pyramid Olmec 33 This is one of the earliest pyramids known in Mesoamerica. It was made out of an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of earth fill.
Mayapan Mexico Maya 15
Moral-Reforma Mexico Conjunto 14 Maya 37
Palenque Mexico Temple of the Cross Maya
Palenque Mexico Temple of the Inscriptions Maya Bore the Classic Maya name B'olon Yej Te' Naah "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears".
Santa Cecilia Acatitlan Mexico Aztec In 1962, the architect and archaeologist Eduardo Pareyon Moreno reconstructed and reinforced the pyramid's basement and rebuilt the temple that crowns it.
Tenayuca Mexico Aztec 62 by 50 This is the earliest example yet found of the typical Aztec double pyramid, which consists of joined pyramidal bases supporting two temples.
Tenochtitlan Mexico Templo Mayor Aztec 100 by 80 1390 to 1500 CE Tenochtitlan was destroyed by the Spanish. Recreations of this and other pyramids are based on historical text and archaeological ruins.
Tenochtitlan Mexico Aztec 1325 to 1521 CE Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city, was completely razed by the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés. Recreations the city are based on historical text and archaeological ruins. This site once included at least half a dozen pyramids.
Teotihuacan Mexico Pyramid of the Sun Teotihuacano 223.5 71.2 32.494 100 BCE There are also dozens of platforms 4 stories high lining the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan. Each step in each story creates a stairway to the top in front of the platforms.
Teotihuacan Mexico Pyramid of the Moon Teotihuacano 43 100 BCE
El Tepozteco Mexico Aztec 1502 CE
Tula, Hidalgo Mexico Toltec
Uxmal Mexico Pyramid of the Magician Maya 40
Uxmal Mexico La Gran Piramide Maya
Xochicalco Mexico Temple of the Feather Serpent 200 BCE to 900 CE
Xochicalco Mexico 200 BCE to 900 CE This is one of several other step-pyramid temples in addition to the Temple of the Feather Serpent
Xochitecatl Mexico The Pyramid of Flowers 100 by 140 the Preclassic Period
Xochitecatl Mexico The Spiral Building 700 BCE This is a circular stepped pyramid. The interior of the structure consists of volcanic ash. The building has no stairway giving access to the top, it was climbed by following the spiral form of the building itself.
Yaxchilan Mexico Maya 600 to 900 CE This is one of the pyramids on the upper terrace of Yaxchilan
Tikal Guatemala Tikal Temple IV Maya 88 by 65 70 741 AD The pyramid was built to mark the reign of the 27th king of the Tikal dynasty Temple IV at the Classic Period Maya ruins of Tikal, 8th century AD, Peten Department, Guatemala.
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