Dos Pilas
Encyclopedia
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 site of the Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

 located in what is now the department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...

 of Petén, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

. It dates to the Late Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

, being founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...

 in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún
Petexbatún
Petexbatún is a small lake formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion river. It is near Sayaxché, located in the southern area of the Guatemalan department of Petén....

 region, particularly the Pasión River
Pasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...

. In AD 648 Dos Pilas broke away from Tikal and became a vassal state of Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...

, although the first two kings of Dos Pilas continued to use the same emblem glyph that Tikal did. It was a predator state from the beginning, conquering Itzan
Itzan
Itzan is a Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of La Libertad in the Petén Department of Guatemala. Various small structures at the site were destroyed in the 1980s during oil exploration activities by Sonpetrol and Basic Resources Ltd, prompting rescue excavations by archaeologists...

, Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala located approximately 2-3 km east/northeast of Dos Pilas and 3 km west of Tamarindito. The site dates to the middle half of the Classic period...

 and Tamarindito
Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but was displaced by the newly founded conquest state of Dos...

. Dos Pilas and a nearby city, Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...

, eventually became the twin capitals of a single ruling dynasty. The kingdom as a whole has been named as the Petexbatun Kingdom, after Lake Petexbatún, a body of water draining into the Pasión River.

Dos Pilas gives an important glimpse into the great rivalries and political strife that characterised the Late Classic. Much of the history of Dos Pilas can now be reconstructed, with a level of detail which is almost unparalleled in the Maya area.

On June 12, 1970, the site was declared a National Monument according to Article 1210 of the Guatemalan Ministry of Education.

Etymology

Dos Pilas is Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 for two wells, and this is generally accepted meaning of the name, however early investigator Pierre Ivanoff has given the origin of the name as meaning two stelae.

Location

Dos Pilas is located in the Petexbatún
Petexbatún
Petexbatún is a small lake formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion river. It is near Sayaxché, located in the southern area of the Guatemalan department of Petén....

 region of the Petén Basin
Petén Basin
The Petén Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, located in the northern portion of the modern-day nation of Guatemala, and essentially contained within the department of El Petén...

, in the southwest of the department of Petén, in northern Guatemala. It lies between the Pasión
Pasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...

 and the Salinas
Salinas River (Guatemala)
The Salinas is a river in Guatemala. The river is called Chixoy River from its sources in the highlands of Huehuetenango and El Quiché until it reaches the Chixoy hydroelectric dam , where the Río Salama and Rio Carchela converge with the Río Negro...

 rivers. The site has an elevation of 160 metres (525 ft) above mean sea level. Dos Pilas falls within the municipality of Sayaxché
Sayaxché
Sayaxché is a municipality in the El Petén department of Guatemala, on the Río La Pasión river. In 2000, it had 47,693 inhabitants.The city was founded in 1874 to provide accommodation for forest workers of Jamet Sastré logging company. It obtain a municipal status in 1929.El Rosario National Park...

, a town on the banks of the Pasión River. Dos Pilas lies 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the southwest of the Maya ruins of Tikal, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Tamarindito
Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but was displaced by the newly founded conquest state of Dos...

. Lake Petexbatún and the Pasión River form a part of the drainage of the Usumacinta River
Usumacinta River
The Usumacinta River is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz and the Salinas River, also known as the Chixoy, or the Negro, which descends from the Sierra Madre de Guatemala...

.

The local landscape consists of heavily forested
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...

 ridges interspersed with low lying wetlands, rivers and lakes. The area is subject to high annual rainfall, averaging 2500 mm (98.4 in).

Known rulers

Name (or nickname)Ruled Alternative Names
B'alaj Chan K'awiil c. 648–695 Ruler 1, Flint Sky, Flint Sky God K, Lightning Sky, Malah Chan K'awil
Itzamnaaj B'alam c. 695 Shield Jaguar
Itzamnaaj K'awiil 24 March 698 – 22 October 726 Ruler 2, Shield God K
Ucha'an K'in B'alam 6 January 727 – 28 May 741 Master of Sun Jaguar, Ruler 3, Scroll-head God K, Spangle-head, Jewelled Head
K'awiil Chan K'inich 23 June 741 – 761 Ruler 4, God K Sky, Mahk'ina


B'alaj Chan K'awiil
B'alaj Chan K'awiil
B'alaj Chan K'awiil was a Maya ruler of Dos Pilas. He is also known as Ruler 1, Flint Sky God K and Malah Chan K'awil.-Biography:...

 (Ruler 1) (c. 648–692+) was born on 15 October AD 625. He claimed to be a member of the Tikal royal line. On Dos Pilas Panel 6 he names a king of Tikal as his father. He probably saw himself as the legitimate heir to the Tikal throne and defected from Tikal in AD 648 to found Dos Pilas as a rival kingdom under the overlordship of Calukmul. B'alaj Chan K'awiil is known to have taken two wives, one
Lady of Itzan
-Biography:She was born in Itzan. She married B'alaj Chan K'awiil, the king of Dos Pilas. She was a mother of the kings Itzamnaaj B'alam and Itzamnaaj K'awiil.It is possible that her daughter was Wak Chanil Ajaw. It is also possible that she had one more daughter....

 of them from the nearby Petexbatún kingdom of Itzan. His father was K'inich Muwaan Jol II, who was either the 23rd or 24th ruler in Tikal's dynastic line. A daughter of B'alaj Chan K'awiil, Wak Chanil Ajaw, left Dos Pilas to found a dynasty at Naranjo.

Itzamnaaj B'alam
Itzamnaaj B'alam
-Family:He was the son and successor of B'alaj Chan K'awiil, and brother and predecessor of Itzamnaaj K'awiil. He was also a brother of Wak Chanil Ajaw and uncle of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak.His mother was the Lady of Itzan....

 (c. 697) had a short reign. He was the son of B'alaj Chan K'awiil and his wife from Itzan.

Itzamnaaj K'awiil
Itzamnaaj K'awiil
Itzamnaaj K'awiil was a Mayan king of Dos Pilas. He was the third known ruler of that place. He is also known as the Ruler 2 and Shield God K.-Biography:...

 (Ruler 2) (698–726), another son of B'alaj Chan Kawiil, was born in AD 673, probably in Calukmul during his family's exile after Dos Pilas was defeated by Tikal. His birth abroad seems to have been cause for embarrassment, with discrepancies in the calendar dates recorded on monuments likely to be the result of attempts to show that he was born in Dos Pilas itself. He reigned for 28 years. He died on October 726. A stela erected by his successor records that he was buried four days later, at night and within Dos Pilas. A tomb believed to be that of this king was found under Structure L5-1 in the site core.

Ucha'an K'in B'alam
Ucha'an K'in B'alam
Ucha'an K'in B'alam was the fourth Mayan king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as the Ruler 3, Master of Sun Jaguar, Scroll-head God K, Spangle-head and Jewelled-head. His title was "He of Five Captives"....

 (Ruler 3, "Master of Sun Jaguar") (727–741) seems not to have been a direct heir to the throne but rather a regent providing strong leadership while the heir was still a child. Twenty years before his rise to the throne he was already a prominent figure in Dos Pilas, responsible for the capture of the lord of Tikal in AD 705 and being closely involved in rituals performed by the previous king. Ucha'an K'in B'alam took a wife from Cancuen
Cancuén
Cancuén is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Pasión subregion of the central Maya lowlands in the present-day Guatemalan Department of El Petén. The city is notable for having one of the largest palaces in the Maya world.- Ancient Cancuén :Cancuén was a...

, a city that controlled the upper reaches of the Pasión River. "Master of Sun Jaguar" died in May 741, his death is recorded on Stela 1 at his twin capital of Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...

 where it is believed that he was buried, although his tomb has not yet been found.

K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich was the last Maya king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as the Ruler 4 and God K Sky Mahk'ina.He reigned from June 23, 741. Dates of his birth and death are unknown.-Biography:...

 (Ruler 4) (741–761+) was installed on the throne of Dos Pilas in June of AD 741, 26 days after the death of "Master of Sun Jaguar". It is not known when he died but he was forced to flee Dos Pilas in AD 761 and was never mentioned again after that.

History

Early history (pre-A.D. 648)

The early history of the Dos Pilas site is unclear, there are traces of an earlier indigenous dynasty predating the arrival of B'alaj Chan K'awiil from Tikal. From the Early Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

 the Petexbatún region had been dominated by a Maya kingdom centred on the sites of Tamarindito
Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but was displaced by the newly founded conquest state of Dos...

 and Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala located approximately 2-3 km east/northeast of Dos Pilas and 3 km west of Tamarindito. The site dates to the middle half of the Classic period...

. B'alaj Chan K'awiil founded Dos Pilas within the territory of this pre-existing kingdom and the new city quickly came to dominate the region.

Founding and consolidation

The interactions between Classic Period Maya city-states is deeply linked to the long-running power struggle between the two Maya "superpowers", Tikal and Calakmul, and the history of Dos Pilas is no exception.

In AD 629, at the age of four, the Tikal king K'inich Muwaan Jol II installed his son Balaj Chan K’awiil as ruler of Dos Pilas. With the establishment of the new kingdom, Dos Pilas advertised its origin by adopting the emblem glyph of Tikal as its own. For the next two decades he fought loyally for his brother and overlord at Tikal. In AD 648, king Yuknoom Che'en II ("Yuknoom the Great") of Calakmul attacked and defeated Dos Pilas, capturing Balaj Chan K’awiil. At about the same time, the king of Tikal was killed. Yuknoom Che'en II then reinstated Balaj Chan K'awiil upon the throne of Dos Pilas as his vassal. In an extraordinary act of treachery for someone claiming to be of the Tikal royal family, he thereafter served as a loyal ally of Calakmul, Tikal's sworn enemy. The exact methods used by Calakmul to induce Balaj Chan K'awiil to switch sides are unknown.

King Nuun Ujol Chaak of Tikal attacked and captured Dos Pilas in AD 672, driving B'alaj Chan K'awiil into a five year exile, probably in Calakmul. This exile was only ended in AD 677, on the same day that Calakmul celebrated a success over Tikal, revealing B'alaj Chan K'awiil's obvious dependency on his foreign overlord.

Tikal and Dos Pilas went to battle again in AD 679 and Tikal suffered a humiliating defeat by its smaller rival. Although Dos Pilas celebrated this as the victorious conclusion of the war, neither side had gained any real advantage over the other. For Dos Pilas, this battle represented the consolidation of its kingdom and the failure of Tikal to crush its splinter state before it gained a foothold. The hieroglyphic texts at Dos Pilas describe the victory in graphic terms, recording "pools of blood" and "piles of heads" as the result of a major battle between the two cities, with Dos Pilas very likely having received military aid from Calakmul. B'alaj Chan K'awiil consolidated his power with marriage alliances. He took at least two wives; his main wife was a noblewoman from Itzan
Itzan
Itzan is a Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of La Libertad in the Petén Department of Guatemala. Various small structures at the site were destroyed in the 1980s during oil exploration activities by Sonpetrol and Basic Resources Ltd, prompting rescue excavations by archaeologists...

, another city in the Pasión drainage. Their marriage produced Balaj Chan K'awiil's heirs, Itzamnaaj Balam and Itzamnaaj K'awiil. Balaj Chan K'awiil had a famous daughter with a second wife, this daughter was Lady Six Sky who was despatched to Naranjo
Naranjo
Naranjo is an ancient city of the Maya civilization in the Petén Basin region of the central Maya lowlands. It is located in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala about 10 km west of the border with Belize. It is located within the area of the Cultural Triangle of Yaxha, Nakum, Naranjo...

 to refound its obliterated dynasty. Balaj Chan K'awiil is known to have made several further visits to Calakmul; in 682 he celebrated a period ending ceremony there under Yuknoom the Great and in 686 he attended the enthroning of his successor, Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak'.

Calakmul and its allies suffered after the defeat of Calakmul by Tikal in 695, shifting the balance of power in the Maya lowlands. Around this time Balaj Chan K'awiil died and was succeeded by one of his sons, Itzamnaaj Balam, although the exact year is not clear from the hieroglyphic texts. Itzamnaaj Balam did not reign for long and he was replaced by his brother Itzamnaaj K'awiil in 698. The war with Tikal continued under the new king and in AD 705 Tikal was again defeated and its lord captured. This victory was overseen by Itzamnaaj K'aawiil's general Ucha'an K'in B'alam, who would later become king himself. After this victory Dos Pilas benifitted from tribute in the form of labour and wealth, resulting in the rapid expansion of the city. At this time Itzamnaaj K'awiil ordered the building of the El Duende group centred on a sizeable temple on a hilltop east of the Main Group. Victories over unknown, presumably minor, enemies are recorded to have taken place in AD 717 and 721. Itzamnaaj K'awiil raised five stelae in the El Duende group to celebrate his military victories. Itzamnaaj K'awiil's died in 726 and was buried four days later, as recorded on Stela 8. A royal tomb excavated under Structure 5-1 is probably that of this ruler.

Campaigns of aggression

Ucha'an K'in B'alam was enthroned in 727, probably as regent for K'awiil Chan K'inich, Itzamnaaj K'awiil's young son and heir. By the 8th century AD, Dos Pilas was powerful enough to attack the much larger city of Seibal
Seibal
Seibal, known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region....

 on the Pasión River. In AD 735 the Lord of Dos Pilas (Ruler 3, "Master of Sun Jaguar") attacked the city, capturing Yich'aak B'alam
Yich'aak B'alam
-Biography:In AD 735 Ucha'an K'in B'alam - the fourth king of Dos Pilas kingdom - attacked Seibal, capturing Yich'aak B'alam. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal of his more powerful neighbour...

, its king. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal under the lord of Dos Pilas. At about this time, the nearby site at Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...

 became a twin capital of the Dos Pilas kingdom, with victory monuments being erected simultaneously in both cities.

In AD 743 K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich was the last Maya king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as the Ruler 4 and God K Sky Mahk'ina.He reigned from June 23, 741. Dates of his birth and death are unknown.-Biography:...

, went to war against the sites of Ahkul and El Chorro. Two years later, in AD 745, he went to war against the distant cities of Yaxchilán
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta, with Piedras Negras as its major rival...

, on the Usumacinta River
Usumacinta River
The Usumacinta River is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz and the Salinas River, also known as the Chixoy, or the Negro, which descends from the Sierra Madre de Guatemala...

, and Motul de San José
Motul de San José
Motul de San José is an ancient Maya site located just north of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It is located a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén...

 on Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá is a lake in the northern department Petén in Guatemala. It is the second largest lake in Guatemala, the Izabal lake being the largest. It is located around . It has an area of 99 km² some 32 km. long and 5 km wide. Its maximum depth is 160 m...

. The capture of the lords of both cities, and also the lord of El Chorro, is depicted on Hieroglyphic Stairway 3.

Dos Pilas continued to exert control over Seibal even after the death of "Master of Sun Jaguar", with his successor K'awiil Chan Kinich presiding over rituals performed at the vassal site in AD 745–7.

Collapse and abandonment

Ongoing conflict in the Maya region soon destabilised the whole area following the defeat of Dos Pilas' patron Calakmul and in 761 the city was dramatically abandoned after Tamarindito and other Petexbatún centres rebelled against their Dos Pilas overlord. A hieroglyphic stairway at Tamarindito mentions the enforced flight of K'awiil Chan K'inich, who was never mentioned again. The Dos Pilas royal family probably transported itself to the more defensible Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...

, which lies only 10 km to the southeast. The violent end of Dos Pilas is evident from the smashed remains of a royal throne recovered from the Bat Palace. The entire Petexbatún region was engulfed by warfare
Maya warfare
Although the Maya were once thought to have been peaceful , current theories emphasize the role of inter-polity warfare as a factor in the development and perpetuation of Maya society. The goals and motives of warfare in Maya culture are not thoroughly understood, but there are several kinds of...

 in the late eight century AD until almost all the settlements of the former Dos Pilas kingdom were abandoned. The monuments of Ixlú
Ixlu
Ixlu is a small Maya archaeological site that dates to the Classic and Postclassic Periods. It is located on the isthmus between the Petén Itzá and Salpetén lakes, in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. The site was an important port with access to Lake Petén Itzá via the Ixlu River...

 in the central Petén lakes region bear some hieroglyphic texts that closely resemble texts from Dos Pilas, suggesting that the lords of Ixlú may have been refugees from the collapse
Classic Maya collapse
The Classic Maya Collapse refers to the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries. This should not be confused with the collapse of the Preclassic Maya in the 2nd century AD...

 of the Petexbatún region.

A small group of refugees occupied Dos Pilas after its abandonment, throwing up hastily built defensive walls constructed from stone stripped from the deserted temples and palaces. These palisaded walls formed concentric patterns with no regard for the pre-existing architecture at the site. This village was overrun and itself abandoned in the early years of the ninth century AD, at which point the history of Dos Pilas as a settlement ends.

The collapse of the Dos Pilas state seems to have benefited other sites in the region, such as Itzan, Cancuen and Machaquila
Machaquila
Machaquilá refers to a ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala. There is also a small Guatemalan village several kilometers from the site that bears the name Machaquilá.-History:...

, which all demonstrate renewed strength coincident with the fall of the city.

Rediscovery and exploration

The ruins of Dos Pilas were first reported in 1953–4 by two brothers from Sayaxché, José and Lisandro Flores, but local residents probably already knew of their existence. Pierre Ivanoff lead an expedition to the site in 1960. He described the ruins, which he called Dos Pozos (two wells in Spanish) in his 1973 book Monuments of a Civilization: Maya, in which he claimed to have discovered the ruins.

Archaeologist Arthur Demarest
Arthur Demarest
Arthur Andrew Demarest is an American anthropologist and archaeologist, known for his studies of the Maya civilization.-Career:Demarest, a Louisiana Cajun, studied Mesoamerican anthropology and archaeology at Tulane University, where he graduated. In 1981 Demarest was granted his doctorate by...

 of Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 and Juan Antonio Valdés of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala started excavations at Dos Pilas in 1989. Hieroglyphic Stairway 4 was discovered in 1990 and a year later the tomb of Itzamnaaj K'awiil was excavated. The project continued through to 1994, supported by the National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...

, the Instituto de Antropología e Historia
Instituto de Antropología e Historia
The Instituto de Antropología e Historia is the national institute in Guatemala responsible for the protection and maintenance of Guatemala's historical and archaeological sites, monuments, artefacts, and other aspects of the nation's cultural heritage.IDAEH was established by governmental decree...

 (IDAEH - Institute of Anthropology and History), Vanderbilt University and several other organisations.

The site

Dos Pilas is a modest sized site, covering about 1 square kilometre (0.386102158592535 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
Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala located approximately 2-3 km east/northeast of Dos Pilas and 3 km west of Tamarindito. The site dates to the middle half of the Classic period...

. 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
Classic Maya language
The Classic Maya language is the oldest historically attested member of the Mayan language family. It is the main language documented in the pre-Columbian inscriptions of the Classic Era Maya civilization.- Relationships :...

.

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
El Mirador
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala.-Discovery:El Mirador was first discovered in 1926, and was photographed from the air in 1930, but the remote site deep in the jungle had little more attention paid to it until...

 and Nakbe
Nakbe
Nakbe is one of the largest early Maya archaeological sites, rivaled by El Mirador. Nakbe is located in the The Mirador Basin, in El Petén region of Guatemala, approximately 13 kilometers south of the Largest Maya city of El Mirador...

 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.

Main Group

The Main Group was laid out around a central plaza by B'alaj Chan K'awiil. Stelae
Maya stelae
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,...

 1 and 2 are located in the centre of the plaza. Stela 1 depicts an elaborately attired Itzamnaaj K'awiil and dates to AD 706. It records the defeat of a Tikal lord and contains the last known reference to that city so far recovered from inscriptions at Dos Pilas. Stela 2 is badly damaged and depicts the defeat of Yich'aak B'alam of Seibal by "Master of Sun Jaguar". The plaza is enclosed on all four sides by structures; at least two of the surrounding structures were accessed via hieroglyphic stairways. South of the main plaza are a series of smaller elevated plazas with more restricted access, nordered by multi-roomed buildings. A further two hieroglyphic stairways have been found in this area.
  • L4-35 is a structure located on the west side of the plaza. At its base is Hieroglyphic Stairway 1, which records events during the life of Itzamnaaj K'awiil.

  • LD-49 (also referred to as L5-49) is a large pyramid to the south of the plaza and is topped by three temple sanctuaries. The pyramid is the largest structure in the site core and rises about 20 meters over the plaza. This pyramid's main stairway (known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 2) contains at least eighteen hieroglyphic steps, describing the arrival and life of B'alaj Chan K'awiil. The discovery of eight new hieroglyphic steps in 2001–2002 and their interpretation lead to a complete reevaluation of the early history of the site, throwing light upon the wider Maya politics involved with the break from Tikal, formerly seen as an internal affair. The steps currently in situ are replicas put in place after looters stole a section of Step 6 containing four glyphs in January 2003. The original steps were removed to a secure location. Flanking the stairway at the east and west ends are Panel 6 and Panel 7, both bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions. The well-preserved Panel 10 is located part of the way up the east side of the pyramid. Panel 10 was originally a stela at Arroyo de Piedra, it was moved and re-erected here after Dos Pilas conquered its neighbour.

  • LD-25 is a temple pyramid built by K'awiil Chan K'inich. Hieroglyphic Stairway 3 is located 120 meters south of the southeast corner of the plaza, it is a part of this structure and describes some of this king's victories in AD 743 and 745.

  • Structure L5-1 is a ruined building on the east side of the plaza containing a vaulted crypt 9 meters beneath its summit. Inside were found the remains of an individual wearing a heavy jade collar and wristlets accompanied by offerings of fine painted ceramics and almost 400 pieces of shell mosaic that once formed a headdress. Due to the nearby Stela 8, positioned in front of this structure and containing a text relating the life, death and burial of king Itzamnaaj K'awiil, the tomb is presumed to be that of this king.

  • The palace of B'alaj Chan K’awiil was torn down by the last inhabitants of Dos Pilas in order to build defensive walls immediately prior to the abandonment of the city. It lies about 100 meters south of the plaza, behind Structure LD-49. Hieroglyphic Stairway 4 is located on the east side of the destroyed palace and was discovered when the defensive wall that crosses it was being excavated. Hieroglyphic Stairway 4 details the history of B'alaj Chan K’awiil and the founding of the Dos Pilas dynasty.

  • A ball court
    Mesoamerican ballcourt
    A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. Over 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone...

    lies at the northeast corner of the plaza. The structures forming its sides are designated as L4-16 and L4-17. These structures bear the heavily eroded Panel 11 and Panel 12, both of which show a standing lord wielding a spear.

El Duende group

The El Duende group lies about 1 km to the east of the site core. This group was built by Itzamnaaj K'awiil after his victory over Tikal in 705. El Duende is the largest pyramid in the city, built by enlarging and terracing natural hill some way from the site core, giving the impression of a single massive structure. The terraces supported five stelae and altar pairs, commisioned by Itzamnaaj K'awiil in the early 8th century AD. During excavations in 1991, a sinkhole near the western limit of the El Duende complex discovered a 1.5 km long cave that passes directly under the temple, which was named Cueva de Río El Duende (River Cave of El Duende) by achaeologists. Within the cave were found abundant artifacts and human bones. Smaller buildings flank the main platform.

The Bat Palace

The Bat Palace (also known as the Murciélagos Group, from murciélago, Spanish for "bat") lies half way between the site core and the El Duende group, being 0.5 km to the east of the main plaza and 0.5 km to the west of the El Duende pyramid. The Bat Palace was the political centre of Dos Pilas from AD 725 until the city was abandoned in AD 761. Excavations of the Bat Palace revealed that it was an exclusive, closed elite compound with ritual significance, with a cave entrance emerging within the palace and being marked by a shrine with offerings over the buried entrance. The Bat Palace is believed to have been the most important elite area of Dos Pilas during the reigns of the last two rulers of the city. The entrance to the palace complex was flanked by two small temples built of masonry, leading to two courtyards. The courtyards were enclosed by masonry buildings with perishable roofs. A smashed royal throne was found in the Bat Palace, evidence of the violent conquest of the city in the Late Classic.

Monuments

Stela 8 was raised in front of Structure L5-1. Its text describes the principal events of king Itzamnaaj K'awiil's life, and mentions his death and burial in AD 726.

Caves

During excavations, a total of 22 caves were located in the immediate vicinity of the Dos Pilas, totaling over 11 km in length. There are five major caves; Cueva de El Duende, Cueva de Río El Duende, Cueva de Río Murciélagos, Cueva de Sangre and Cueva de Kaxon Pec. Only these major caves were excavated and the offerings recovered from these caves included a sizeable amount of Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

pottery. The strong Preclassic traces found in the caves would imply that the caves were important long before the warlike Dos Pilas state was founded in the Late Classic. All the major architecture at Dos Pilas dates from the Late Classic and is aligned with important cave systems, showing that the builders of the city incorporated a thousand-year old sacred landscape into the design of their city.

On the hill forming the base of the El Duende group were erected several stelae containing toponym glyphs. One of these glyphs refers to water and the cave contains an underground lake directly underneath the hill, making it likely that the toponym is referring to this particular body of water. The fact that the El Duende group were originally named after this subterranean water source demonstrates how important this cave was to the ancient inhabitants of Dos Pilas.

The entrance to the Cave of Bats (Cueva de Río Murciélagos) lies 75 meters to the northwest of the Bat Palace. Although relatively dry in the dry season, after rainfall water can pour out through the cave mouth at a rate of 8m³/second, creating enough noise to be heard in the main plaza 500 meters away. Although the seasonal flow of water has washed away almost all archaeological remains from the cave, archaeologists consider that the Cave of Bats was of ceremonial importance to the inhabitants of Dos Pilas due to the dramatic torrent that flows through it in the wet season.

Investigation of the various caves at Dos Pilas revealed that all of the larger caves were part of a single drainage system and that the Cave of Bats is the drainage outlet for the system, this cave therefore being connected to the Cueva de Río El Duende. A continuation of the Cave of Bats was found to emerge inside the Bat Palace, where it was marked by a shrine.

A plaza group directly overlies the principal chamber of the Cueva de El Duende (not to be confused with the similarly named Cueva de Río El Duende), which lies just southwest of the El Duende pyramid. A 2 meter deep midden was discovered in this cave showing heavy use during the Preclassic and Classic periods. A ceramic vessel bearing the earliest dynastic text yet recovered from Dos Pilas was found in this midden. A thick cap of sterile yellow clay covers much of the floor of the main chamber, it appears to have been deliberately deposited in order to cover the entrance to the cave's longest tunnel, which passes underneath the El Duende pyramid and connects with the Cueva de Río El Duende. In the entrance of the cave were found large quantities of rubble, much of it consisting of finely finished stone that had been stripped from nearby buildings and used to block the cave entrance. James E. Brady believes that the blocking of this sacred cave was a part of a termination ritual carried out by the conquerors of Dos Pilas, who also blocked the entrances of the Cueva de Sangre (Cave of Blood) and possibly the western entrance of the Cueva de Río El Duende, suggesting that the caves were enormously important.

The Cueva de Sangre (Cave of Blood) is located about 2 km east of the El Duende group, it has more than 3 km of tunnel running underneath a small hill. The cave has four entrances, two of which had been blocked with rubble as at Cueva de El Duende. The west entrance appears to have been the principal entrance used by the ancient inhabitants of Dos Pilas. A small building was built above this entrance, the function of this building must have been linked to the use of the cave itself. A stone wall enclosed both the cave entrance and the building itself. Preclassic ceramic fragments were found inside the Cueva de Sangre.

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