Editing Pyramid (section)

=== Americas ===
[[File:PyramidOfTheMoonTeotihuacan.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pyramid of the Moon]], [[Teotihuacan]], built between 100 and 450 AD]]

==== Peru ====
[[Andean civilizations|Andean]] cultures used pyramids in various architectural structures such as the ones in [[Caral]], [[Túcume]] and [[Chavín de Huantar]], constructed around the same time as early Egyptian pyramids.

==== Mesoamerica ====
{{Main article|Mesoamerican pyramids}}
[[File:Chichen Itza 3.jpg|thumb|[[El Castillo, Chichen Itza|El Castillo]] at [[Chichen Itza]]]]
Several [[Mesoamerica]]n cultures built pyramid-shaped structures. [[Mesoamerican pyramids]] were usually stepped, with temples on top, more similar to the Mesopotamian ziggurat than the Egyptian pyramid.

The largest by volume is the [[Great Pyramid of Cholula]], in the Mexican state of [[Puebla]]. Constructed from the 3rd century BC to the 9th century AD, this pyramid is the world's largest monument, and is still not fully excavated. The third largest pyramid in the world, the [[Pyramid of the Sun]], at [[Teotihuacan]], is also located in [[Mexico]]. An unusual pyramid with a circular plan survives at the site of [[Cuicuilco]], now inside [[Mexico City]] and mostly covered with lava from an eruption of the [[Xitle]] Volcano in the 1st century BC. Several circular stepped pyramids called [[Guachimontones]] survive in Teuchitlán, [[Jalisco]].

Pyramids in Mexico were often used for [[human sacrifice]]. [[Michael Harner|Harner]] stated that for the dedication of the [[Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan]] in 1487, "one source states 20,000, another 72,344, and several give 80,400" as the number of humans sacrificed.<ref>"[http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/sacrifice.htm The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519211635/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/sacrifice.htm |date=2017-05-19 }}". ''Natural History'', April 1977. Vol. 86, No. 4, pages 46–51.</ref>

==== United States ====
[[File:Mississippian culture mound components HRoe 2011.jpg|thumb|A diagram showing the various components of Eastern North American platform mounds]]
[[File:Monk Mound - Flickr - GregTheBusker.jpg|thumb|[[Monks Mound]], [[Cahokia]]]]
Many pre-Columbian [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] societies of ancient North America built large pyramidal [[earth structure]]s known as [[platform mound]]s. Among the largest and best-known of these structures is [[Monks Mound]] at the site of [[Cahokia]] in what became [[Illinois]], completed around 1100 AD. It has a base larger than that of the Great Pyramid. Many mounds underwent repeated episodes of expansion. They are believed to have played a central role in the mound-building peoples' religious life. Documented uses include semi-public [[Tribal chief|chief]]'s house platforms, public [[temple]] platforms, [[mortuary]] platforms, [[charnel house]] platforms, [[earth lodge]]/town house platforms, residence platforms, square ground and rotunda platforms, and dance platforms.<ref name="PLATFORM">{{cite journal |last1=Lindauer |first1=Owen |last2=Blitz |first2=John H. |year=1997 |title=Higher Ground: The Archaeology of North American Platform Mounds |url=http://anthropology.ua.edu/reprints/18.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |volume=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415101152/http://anthropology.ua.edu/reprints/18.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-15 |access-date=2011-11-02 |number=2 |pages=169–207 |doi=10.1007/BF02229110 }}</ref><ref name="HANDBOOK">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JH-TPFjLk4C&q=construction+of+platform+mounds&pg=PA741|title=Handbook of North American Indians : Southeast|author=Raymond Fogelson|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=20 September 2004|isbn=978-0-16-072300-1|page=741|access-date=19 November 2020|archive-date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520152545/https://books.google.com/books?id=3JH-TPFjLk4C&q=construction+of+platform+mounds&pg=PA741|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="FLORIDAANTHRO">{{cite journal|journal=Florida Anthropologist|title=The Etowah Site, Mound C :Barlow County, Georgia|author1=Henry van der Schalie|author2=Paul W. Parmalee|volume=8|date=September 1960|pages=37–39|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00135/1j|access-date=2011-11-02|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418080526/https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00135/1j|url-status=live}}</ref> Cultures that built substructure mounds include the [[Troyville culture]], [[Coles Creek culture]], [[Plaquemine culture]] and [[Mississippian culture]]s.