La Amelia

La Amelia was a Pre-Columbian Maya city near Itzan in Guatemala's Petén Department, situated along the lower Pasión River [1]. It operated as an independent polity during the Late Classic period, playing a strategic role in the fierce rivalry between the major Maya powers Tikal and Calakmul [1]. In 650 AD, La Amelia was conquered by the powerful city of Dos Pilas, initiating two centuries of intermittent warfare [1]. By approximately 830 AD, severe population decline marked the beginning of widespread abandonment of Classic Maya sites throughout the Petén lowlands [1].