Dos Pilas is a modest sized site, covering about . 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.