SUBJECT: HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND TOWN PLANNING

PAVAN. Y

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Pyramid:

...For thousands of years, the largest structures on Earth were

pyramids—first the Red Pyramid in the Dashur Necropolis and
then the Great Pyramid of Khufu, both in Egypt—the latter is
the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still
remaining.
...A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular
and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape
roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a
pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or of any polygon
shape.
1. Monte d’Accoddi – Sardina

Monte d’Accoddi is an ancient megalithic structure in northern Sardinia, Italy

and dates from around c. 4,000-3,650 BCE. The structure was initially built by
the Ozieri culture, a prehistoric pre-Nuragic civilization that constructed more
than 200 related archaeological sites.

The structure was damaged around 3000 BCE with archaeological evidence
suggesting traces of burning as a possible cause. By 2800 BCE, the original
structure was restored with additional platforms and a step pyramid that
reached around 10 metres in height.
2. Pyramids of Argolis – Greece

The Pyramids of Argolis, also referred to as the Greek Pyramids are pyramid-
shaped monuments that are located in the Argolid plains in Greece. The most
famous of these structures is the Pyramid of Hellinikon, described in the time of
the geographer Pausanias as a tomb, but also referred more recently as a small
garrisoned fort.

Archaeologists have struggled to accurately date the structures, as various

methods of dating techniques have resulted in conflicting results. Further
disputed research places the monuments from around 2000–400 BCE.
3. Pyramid of Cestius – Italy

The Pyramid of Cestius is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San
Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient
roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the
approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation
into the city’s fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient
buildings in Rome.

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4. Kushite (Nubian) Pyramids – Sudan

The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient African kingdom located in Nubia, a region
along the Nile Rivers encompassing the areas between what is today central
Sudan and southern Egypt. The region was home to three periods of Kushite
development through antiquity. The first had its capital based at Kerma (2600–
1520 BCE) which was Nubia’s first centralised state with an indigenous form of
architecture and burial customs.

The second was centered on Napata (1000–300 BCE), with the last kingdom
being centered at Meroë (300 BCE–300 CE). Both later Kingdoms saw a close
influence develop from the customs and burial practices of Ancient Egypt. In the
8th century BCE, King Piye invaded Egypt and established the twenty-fifth
dynasty of rule across the Egyptian Empire, uniting both kingdoms in the Nile
valley that stretched from the delta to the city of Napata.

5. La Quemada Votive Pyramid – Mexico

La Quemada is a Mesoamerican complex in Mexico, comprised of numerous

masonry platforms that was possibly the the legendary site of Chicomostoc, a
Caxcan site, a Teotihuacán fortress, a Purépecha centre, a fort against
Chichimeca intruders, a Toltec trading post, or simply the consequence of
independent development and a city of all the native groups settling north of
the Río Grande de Santiago.On the south and southeastern sides of the complex
is a high concentration of ceremonial constructions, some of which are
complexes made up of sunken patio platforms and an altar-pyramid called the
Votive pyramid.
6. Great Pyramid of Cholula – Mexico

The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl (Nahuatl for

“artificial mountain”), is a huge complex located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. It is
the largest archaeological site of a pyramid (temple) in the New World. The
pyramid stands 55 metres (180 ft) above the surrounding plain, and in its final
form it measured 400 by 400 metres (1,310 by 1,310 ft).

The pyramid is a temple that has traditionally been viewed as having been
dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. The architectural style of the building was
closely linked to that of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, although influence
from the Gulf Coast is also evident, especially from El Tajín.

7. Monks Mound, Cahokia – USA

Many pre-Columbian Native American societies of ancient North America built
large pyramidal earth structures known as platform mounds. Among the largest
and best-known of these structures is Monks Mound at the site of Cahokia in
what became Illinois, completed around 1100 CE, which has a base larger than
that of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Its base circumference is larger than the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. As a
platform mound, the earthwork supported a wooden structure on the summit.
Unlike Egyptian pyramids which were built of stone, the platform mound was
constructed almost entirely of layers of basket-transported soil and clay.

8. Sukuh, Java
Sukuh is a 15th-century Javanese-Hindu temple, located on the western slope of
Mount Lawu on the border between Central and East Java provinces.

Sukuh temple has distinctive thematic reliefs where life before birth and sexual
education are its main theme. Its main monument is a simple pyramid structure
with reliefs and statues that includes three tortoises with flattened shells, a
male figure grasping his penis and a 1.82 m tall phallus with four testes that
represents penile incisions.