Definition: Cuicuilco is the name of a Late Formative period site (300-1 BC) located in the Basin of Mexico, in the Distrito Federale of Mexico City. The site was founded about 1100 BC, and had a quite sophisticated irrigation system and a population of around 20,000. By 300 BC Cuicuilco dominated the basin of Mexico, although it was losing the battle to Teotihuacan in 50 BC, when the Xitle volcano erupted, burying Cuicuilco in lava flows up to 10 meters deep.
The site contains a large circular stepped pyramid, 20 meters high and 110 meters wide, which was completely lost under the lava until the 1920s, when archaeologists Manuel Gamio and Byron Cummings recognized it as a cultural feature. Other archaeologists associated with the site include Robert F. Heizer.
Recent volcanological investigations at Cuicuilco have redated the Xitle eruption to ca 1670 years ago (AD 245-315), based on charcoal samples taken from just below the lava flow. This suggests that Cuicuilco's abandonment and downfall did not result from the Xitle eruption, but from other reasons, including ash fall from an eruption of Popocatepetl about 2000 years ago, and Xitle's eruption simply forced its complete abandonment.
The site contains a large circular stepped pyramid, 20 meters high and 110 meters wide, which was completely lost under the lava until the 1920s, when archaeologists Manuel Gamio and Byron Cummings recognized it as a cultural feature. Other archaeologists associated with the site include Robert F. Heizer.
Recent volcanological investigations at Cuicuilco have redated the Xitle eruption to ca 1670 years ago (AD 245-315), based on charcoal samples taken from just below the lava flow. This suggests that Cuicuilco's abandonment and downfall did not result from the Xitle eruption, but from other reasons, including ash fall from an eruption of Popocatepetl about 2000 years ago, and Xitle's eruption simply forced its complete abandonment.
Sources
Cordova, Carlos, Ana Lillian Martin del Pozzo and Javier López Camacho 1994 Paleo landforms and volcanic impact on the environment of prehistoric Cuicuilco, southern Mexico City. Journal of Archaeological Science 21:585-596.
Siebe, C. 2000. Age and archaeological implications of Xitle volcano, southwestern Basin of Mexico-City. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 104:45-64.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
