Xitle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Xitle is a volcano on the outskirts of the Ajusco range near Mexico City. It is an ash cone volcano with a conical form, round base, altitude of approximately 300m, and a slope between 30° and 40°.

Xitle registered its last eruption in 400 A.D. Among the consequences of this eruption were the formation of the Pedregal de San Ángel, to the south of the Mexican Federal District. Cuicuilco, one of the most refined cities of Mesoamerica was destroyed by one of Xitle's eruptions in 50 BC and was covered by lava. The subsequent diaspora of the Cuicuilcans, and the attendant diffusion of their culture across most of central Mexico, influenced important cultural changes in the nearby power center of Teotihuacan.

[edit] References

• This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 11 June 2006.

This article also draws on material from a lecture given by Professor Jason Yaeger at the University of Wisconsin Madison.