Largest Maya pyramid

The largest pyramid constructed by the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica is La Danta (meaning “The Tapir”) located at El Mirador site in the Petén region of northern Guatemala, near the border with Mexico. The stepped structure, built between 300 BCE and 150 CE, stands up to 72 m (236 ft) tall, rising above the canopy of its surrounding jungle, and is estimated to have a volume of 2.8 million m3 (99 million cu ft).

The Preclassic pyramid of La Danta has a footprint of approximately 500 x 300 m (1,640 x 985 ft). In terms of volume, among global ancient pyramids it is second only to the Great Pyramid of Cholula (aka Tlachihualtepetl – “man-made mountain”) in Puebla, Mexico, with a volume of c. 4.45 million m3 (157.1 million cu ft). The roots of this pyramid, which is now mainly concealed within a hill, date back to a similar period as La Danta (300 BCE), though work continued on it till much later (c. 800 CE), adapted and expanded by several cultures over the centuries, including the Olmec and Toltec peoples. La Danta is more than double the size of the better-known Pyramid of the Sun at the ancient city of Teotihuacan in Mexico, which has an approximate volume of 1.25 million m3 (44.1 million cu ft).

The world’s tallest pyramid, by comparison, is the Pyramid of Khufu (aka Cheops) in Giza, Egypt, at approximately 137.5 m (451 ft 1 in) high today; when first built some 4,500 years ago, it stood up to 146.6 m (481 ft) but this has declined over time owing to erosion and vandalism. The Pyramid of Khufu has a much smaller volume of around 2.4 million m3 (84,755,200 cu ft).

La Danta is the largest monument among the jungle-cloaked city ruins of El Mirador, but there are many more structures across the site that covers some 25 km2 (10 sq mi). Other notable buildings are El Tigre (“The Tiger”) pyramid, reaching about 55 m (180 ft) tall, and Los Monos (“The Monkeys”) complex, standing 160 m (525 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) tall. El Mirador is thought to have been a sacred city to the Maya as a focal point for a range of religious and cultural practices as well as a hub for trade and commerce; at its peak, the jungle metropolis may have been home to some 80,000 people. Its abandonment was likely the result of environmental degradation and severe drought, leading to a collapse in food production, which meant supporting such a large population became unsustainable.

La Danta dwarfs other, more well-known examples of Maya pyramids such as El Castillo – the largest structure at Chichén Itzá on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula – with a height of around 30 m (100 ft). Closer to El Mirador, the tallest pyramid at the Tikal archaeological site in Guatemala is Temple IV, reaching a similarly impressive height of c. 70 m (230 ft) but not as large in its other dimensions.

However, laser-mapping technology (LIDAR) has recently led to the discovery of an even larger overall Maya structure: in 2020, archaeologists led by Professor Takeshi Inomata of the University of Arizona reported on a ceremonial platform in Tabasco, Mexico, that spans 1.4 km (0.87 mi) long, 400 m (1,310 ft) wide and 10–15 m (33-49 ft) high, dated to between 1000 and 800 BCE. Whereas La Danta is estimated to have required some 2.8 million m3 (98.9 million cu ft) of material to build, this large platform, which has been dubbed Aguada Fénix, likely required in the region of 3.2 million to 4.3 million m3 (113–151.9 million cu ft) of material to construct.