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. (source éditeur)