You might be asking yourself “Are there really pyramids in America?”. To most people, pyramids only exist in Egypt as an imposing show of power, riches, and authority. That isn’t true, because pyramids are found all over the world. If you’re fascinated by ancient structures but can’t visit them all, many travel documentaries explore these remarkable sites, offering virtual tours of pyramids across the Americas.

Pyramids in America were built from as early as 1000 BC to the Spanish invasion in the 16th century, although for different purposes. There are almost 2,000 different pyramids in America, spanning from Peru to the United States.

America is home to more pyramid buildings than the rest of the world combined, despite the popular Egypt’s Great Pyramids at Giza. In case you want to explore, below are the top pyramids in America and everything you need to know about them. 

14 Incredible Pyramids In America You Must See

1. Pyramid of the Sun

Teotihuacan was a powerful society with over 100,000 and 200,000 natives in the fifth and sixth centuries. Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant pyramids of America.

The Sun and Moon Pyramids are the biggest and most important buildings in Teotihuacan because according to the Aztec religion, the sun, moon, and the entire universe originated from here.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza is around the same size as the Pyramid of the Sun, which has five terraced terraces at the pyramid’s base, each measuring 730 feet, and rises to a height of almost 200 feet.

Recently, a passageway was discovered beneath the Sun Pyramid, which led to a four-leaf clover-shaped room. It was evident that the cave had been used as a shrine before the construction of the pyramid, based on the artifacts found within.

2. Pyramid of the Moon 

The Pyramid of the Moon just like many other pyramids in the USA, was built on debris held together by retaining walls. After that, some adobe bricks were applied to the walls, and limestone was placed on top.

Found at the north end of the city’s major axis, the Avenue of the Dead, the Pyramid of the Moon was built on a smaller scale than the Pyramid of the Sun. It was built over an existing building in the year 250 AD.

Before reaching its current size, the pyramid was constructed in seven stages, one pyramid overlaying the other. The pyramid was used to bury sacrificial victims and to perform ceremonial animal and human sacrifices.

3. Temple of the Feathered Serpent

The temple of Kukulcán or the El Castillo, is dedicated to the feathered serpent God Kukulcán. This American pyramid was built by the pre-Columbian Mayan culture between the eighth and the twelfth centuries.

Located in the archeological site of Chichén Itzá, this pyramid was built so that, at sunset, the shadows cast by the setting sun give the impression that a serpent is slithering down the temple’s stairs.

It is a step pyramid about 100 feet tall, with stone stairways on all four sides rising at a 45° angle to a little structure on top. There are about 91 steps on each side, which when added to the number of stairs of the temple platform on top gives a total of 365 steps.  

4. Tikal Temples

Tikal City is one of the greatest archeological sites and is a main attraction in Tikal National Park. Tikal City was a tiny town in the Middle Formative Period that later became an important ceremonial center with pyramids and temples. 

The Tikal Temples include several pyramidal temples. Temple I, also known as the Temple of the Great Jaguar, is 154 feet tall and was constructed during the reign of Ah Cacao, one of Tikal’s most powerful monarchs.

Temple II, the Temple of the Masks, is 124 feet tall and was built by the same ruler as the previous temple in honor of his wife, Lady Kalajuun Une’ Mo’. Temple III, or the Temple of the Jaguar Priest, is 180 feet tall and is likely the final resting place of King Dark Sun.

Temple IV is one of the tallest pyramids in the USA created by the Mayas, standing at 213 feet, while Temple V is Tikal’s second-highest structure, standing at 187 feet. Temple VI, also known as the Temple of the Inscriptions, is known for its 39-foot-high roof comb with hieroglyphics on the sides and rear.  

5. La Danta

La Danta is one of the largest pyramids in the United States and it is located in El Mirador, an old Mayan city with thirty-five triadic constructions. La Danta and El Tigre, which stand 180 feet tall, are the largest of these constructions. 

La Danta is the tallest and measures almost 99 million cubic feet surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is believed that constructing a pyramid of this magnitude required 15 million man-days of effort. 

It’s still amazing how the ancient Mayans built such a gigantic pyramid without pack animals like oxen, horses, or mules, as well as without technologies like the wheel. La Danta, like many other comparable Maya constructions, is thought to have had sacred functions.  

6. Great Pyramid of Cholula

The uniqueness of Aztec pyramids is linked to the Aztec symbol for conquest as a flaming pyramid, with a conqueror demolishing the temple at its summit. Tenochtitlan, housed this magnificent Pyramid, a four-stepped monument that was 60 meters tall. 

The Cholula pyramid complex, named after the Mesoamerican people who built it, was the greatest single structure in pre-Columbian Mexico and was located in the lowlands around the city of Puebla.  

The Spanish army in 1521 burnt the Great Pyramid of Cholula and what remained of the Aztec civilization. And they built a church over the ruins of the enormous pyramid complex, in an attempt to overshadow the New World with the banner of Christianity.

7. Templo Mayor

The Templo Mayor was the major temple at Tenochtitlan, the Aztec empire’s capital. The structure was approximately 90 feet tall and had two stepped pyramids standing side by side on a large platform. 

These pyramids represented two sacred mountains. The one on the left represented Tonacatepetl, the Hill of Sustenance and the one on the right symbolized the Hill of Coatepec and Huitzilopochtli. 

Each of these pyramids featured a shrine at the top dedicated to these significant deities, with separate staircases leading to them. Though, the center spire was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the god of the wind.  

8. Tenayuca

Tenayuca is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archeological site and is the first capital city of the Chichimec, a nomadic tribe that moved and settled in the Valley of Mexico. The pyramid was most likely created by Hñañu and Otomí, a negative Nahuatl epithet. 

Tenayuca is one of the Aztec twin pyramids in America, and, like many others, Tenayuca was erected with constructions built one atop the other. The serpent sculptures on the site are associated with sun and fire deities.

Some remnants show that this location was occupied as early as the Classic Period, although its population increased in the early Post-classic period and continued to grow until Tula’s collapse. 

9. Monks Mound 

There are several pyramids in North America, many of which were ceremonial mounds of religious importance. The tallest in North America is Monk Mound and it’s located at the Cahokia site near Collinsville, Illinois. 

Cahokia was a thriving settlement a thousand years before Europeans arrived on the American continent. The Cahokia Mounds Museum Society recently launched an augmented reality project to depict how Cahokia would have appeared at its peak.

Then, mounds were built to honor the dead and was part of a more sophisticated funerary rites. The pyramidal platform mounds were erected by Native American societies in North America to support a building. 

Monk’s Mound, a pyramidal mound, was once terraced, with a rectangular structure at the summit. It was built between 900 and 1200 CE. This pyramid was built with layers of sculpted, compressed dirt. 

10. Scowlitz Mounds

Pyramids in North America may not resemble those in the rest of the Americas, but they are pyramids nonetheless. One of which, although not as well-known as the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the Scowlitz Mounds. 

The Scowlitz Mounds or the Fraser Valley Pyramids are a group of pyramids on Harrison Hill in British Columbia. The Scowlitz Mounds contain 198 known pyramids or ancestral mounds and date back to around 950 CE. North America has numerous ancient sites beyond pyramids, including interesting geological formations like Wolf Rock Cave that also hold historical significance for indigenous peoples.

They were built by the Sq’éwlets, a Coastal Salish tribe, and recent excavations revealed that the deceased were buried with copper decorations, abalone shells, and blankets. According to Sq’éwlets, a clay floor was poured before burial, and a stone wall would be built.  

11. Huaca Pucllana

The migratory tribes that arrived in the Americas during the last Ice Age are the ancestors of Peru. The discovery of a pyramid in the United States that dates to the early centuries AD marked the beginning of those tribes’ history.

The Huaca Pucllana pyramid, which was built around 500 CE, is located in the city’s center. The locals constructed this pyramid by stacking adobe bricks vertically with spaces between them when they were at the height of their dominance over the area.

The pyramid was able to absorb and endure the seismic activity of Lima and the earthquake waves thanks to this construction technique. Additionally, the walls of the pyramid are trapezoidal, like those at Machu Picchu, which strengthens them as they go up from the base to the top, a further factor that provides structural stability. 

12. The Pyramids of Caral

You can find Caral and its pyramids located along the central Peruvian coast and 75 miles north of Lima. Caral is regarded as one of the oldest cities in the world and the oldest in the Americas.

The main feature of the settlement was Caral’s pyramids, which were built about 5000 years ago on the terrace of the Supe Valley and encircled by desert. They were already built before the pyramids of the Incas and Egypt.

Constructed from stone, the pyramids were probably used for public events and festivities. The biggest of the six pyramids, Piramide Mayor, is around 450 feet by 500 feet and stands 60 feet tall. 

13. The Pyramids of Cahuachi

Cahuachi is quite popular in Nazca history because of its ceremonial center, with temples, and plazas fashioned from desert sand. In 2008, several pyramids spanning 97,000 square feet were discovered beneath Cahuachi’s dunes. 

The recent finding showed some of the Pyramids of Cahuachi measured 300 by 328 feet at its base, which is asymmetrical and rests atop four damaged terraces. These pyramids were concluded to have been used for ceremonies and sacrifices because of the twenty severed skulls found inside. 

14. The Akapana Pyramid

Bolivia is also home to several ancient ruins and pyramids that remain shrouded in mystery. While some have been discovered and investigated, many remain hidden deep below beneath the dense woods of the Amazon. 

The Akapana pyramid in Tiahuanaco, which houses some of the world’s largest megalithic constructions, is a 59-foot-high step pyramid with a soil core. It is adorned with enormous, megalithic stones and resembles a large natural hill rather than a pyramid. 

Although modern research has revealed that this pyramid was never completed in ancient times, its amorphous appearance is the consequence of ages of looting and using its stones for building colonial churches and a railway.

Conclusion

Pyramids in America are created for various reasons and hold a special significance for the cultures and civilizations that built them. Given the talent of those who created pyramids, these ancient structures will last for thousands of years. 

The largest and most well-known pyramids in America are the Monks Mound Pyramid in North America, the spectacular La Danta in Central America, and the Akapana Pyramid in South America, 

These majestic monuments tell stories about ancient periods and the people who lived there. Although not all of them are still in use and most of them are now plains, it is up to us to conserve them.