The Site
Dos Pilas is a modest sized site, covering about 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi). It was founded in an area with little previous occupation at a distance of only 4 km from the pre-existing settlement at Arroyo de Piedra. The general preservation of the site is poor due to the desperate stripping of stone from the principal buildings in order to build defensive walls immediately prior to the complete abandonment of the site. Hieroglyphic inscriptions at the site have been identified as belonging to the Ch'olan Maya language.
The site is laid out around three monumental complexes aligned upon an east-west axis, in a form that is reminiscent of the Preclassic layouts at El Mirador and Nakbe in the far north of Petén. The Main Group is the westernmost of the monumental complexes, while the El Duende group is the easternmost.
A series of concentric rubble walls were built immediately before the city's abandonment, surrounding the Main Group and the El Duende Group. These hastily-built fortifications were topped with a wooden palisade.
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