Comparing ancient monuments by size sounds straightforward until we ask what is being measured. A pyramid, the platforms beneath it and a complex of several buildings are not interchangeable. Brazil’s shell mounds introduce another problem: calling them pyramids obscures the kind of sites they are.
Khufu’s pyramid at Giza provides a familiar point of reference. But a claim that another monument is “bigger” needs a stated measure and a clear boundary around what has been counted.
La Danta is a complex
In their archaeological report on La Danta, Edgar Suyuc Ley and Richard Hansen describe an acropolis set on three stepped platforms at El Mirador in Guatemala. Groups of buildings occupy those levels. They call it a pyramidal complex, rather than treating it as one simple pyramid.
Their estimate of about 2.816 million cubic metres concerns fill. It excludes buildings added above the platforms and carries a warning: natural terrain within the complex would affect the calculation. The report also presents labour estimates derived from experiments. Those are models of work required, not a recorded construction timetable.
The boundaries matter. Comparing the entire complex’s fill with the geometric volume of a single pyramid can produce a striking ranking without comparing equivalent things.
Cholula grew through successive buildings
The municipal account of Cholula’s archaeological zone describes a base more than 400 metres across, a height of 66 metres and a volume near 4.5 million cubic metres. It explains that the monument grew as earlier pyramids were covered by new construction.
Those figures describe a long sequence of building. The tunnels explored from 1930 helped archaeologists distinguish its stages. A statement about its scale should identify that accumulated monument, rather than imply that it was built in one operation.
Brazil’s sambaquis are shell mounds
Brazil’s heritage authority, IPHAN, defines sambaquis as artificial elevations built from shells and sediment. They can contain human remains, tools and other traces of activity. Uses included burial, ceremonies, settlement and territorial marking; not every site had the same history.
In Santa Catarina, IPHAN identifies Garopaba do Sul as one of the region’s extensive archaeological sites. The site includes shell mounds alongside stone-tool and ceramic sites. Its archaeological importance extends beyond the dimensions of any one mound.
Further reading on Curiosmos: Pyramids in the Americas; Aerial views of American pyramids.
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