The Site
La Amelia is a small site covering an area of approximately 0.74 square kilometres (0.29 sq mi). The site is divided into four groups, two of which have monumental architecture, and a further 13 smaller residential groups. The 1997 mapping project recorded a total of 71 structures at the site. The central plaza area appears to have been focused around the "Group of the Three Pyramids" in the southern portion of the site. That group included three pyramids of between 3 and 8 metres (9.8 and 26 ft) in height, all of which have been severely damaged by looter trenches.
The "Group of the Hieroglyphic Stairway" is situated 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi)north of the main plaza, in the northwest quadrant of the site, and was constructed principally by terracing and flattening the summit of a natural hill. This group exhibits three frontal terraces, and an interior courtyard on the summit which is surrounded by six narrow range structures. Access to the lowest terrace is achieved via a 5-step monolithic stairway featuring limestone blocks carved with glyphs and scenes. Two carved panels (called alternately Stela 1 and Panel 2) originally decorated the front of the structure to either side of the stairway.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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