During the years 2000 and 2001, a project was carried out to
determine the paleoclimate in the Valley of Guatemala. There
were two main objectives: (1) to compare and contrast the Highland
data with that already obtained from the Maya Lowlands and the
Caribbean region; and (2) to understand the relationship between
climate and the disappearance of lakes and irrigated agriculture
at the archaeological site of Kaminaljuyu in the Valley of
Guatemala. Sediment cores have been recovered from Lake Amatitlan
and the extinct Lake Miraflores associated with Kaminaljuyu.
The samples have been transported to the United States for
radiocarbon dating and for analysis of microfossils and pollen
content. The paper summarizes the work and the results of the
analysis obtained to the present.