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The famous Cuicuilco pyramid is located just west of Mexico city. It is the oldest artificial structure on the continent, and is believed to be between 9000 and 10,000 years old. A Late Pre-Classic ceremonial site, at the southern end of ancient Lake Texcoco near Mexico City, that has the first stone monument (pyramid) on the Mexican plateau. Cuicuilco was one of the largest and most important centers of the period - possibly an early rival of Teotihuacan. Early large-scale construction in the form of adobe and stone-faced platforms took place around 600-200 BC. The pyramid is a truncated cone, with a clay-and-rubble core; the rest is made of sun-dried brick with a stone facing. Rising up in four tiers, the Cuicuilco pyramid is faced with broken lava blocks and the summit was reached by ramps on two sides. The site was covered by volcano lava around 300-400 AD, forcing total abandonment. lava from the volcano covers all of Cuicuilco, including the lower part of the round pyramid.