Early to Late Classic population mobility in the Maya site of La Joyanca and hinterlands, Northwestern Petén, Guatemala

The abandonment of most Maya Lowland cities during the Terminal Classic period is a well-known phenomenon whereas their previous growth in population during the Classic period has not received the same attention. This increase may have been at least partly due to a rapid immigration from the hinterland, which would have eventually favored an inverse movement under deteriorating circumstances. At La Joyanca, Guatemala, a medium-sized center with a 160-hectare residential zone, a burst of monumental construction occurred in both the public plaza and neighborhoods by 600-700 CE. Paleoenvironmental studies of a core from an adjacent lake indicate a local and abrupt decrease in land use activities at the onset of the Late Classic period. Based on the assumption that this decrease was due to a population movement from the hinterland into the city that contributed to construction, in 2012 a systematic test pit program was applied to the La Joyanca residential neighborhoods, allowing us to analyze the dynamics over Classic times. Results point to a significant, possibly rapid mobility into the city by early Late Classic times, a more gradual settlement contraction, and three final movements of desertion by the end of the Terminal Classic phase.