The Guatemala Forensic Anthropology Team, was established by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1992. Working under the authority of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), the team begin gathering evidence in December 1997 about a remote massgrave site in Acul, Guatemala. Acul was established in 1983 by the government as the first model" village in the country after the original town was destroyed by the Guatemalan army. Acul is located in the mountainous highland region of Guatemala known as the Ixil Triangle, where some of the worst human rights abuses in Central American history took place.

Working with Amnesty International USA and an award-winning photojournalist, at the end of each day, the team emailed digital photographs of the project to Amnesty International USA on a daily basis. These photos were then posted on Amnesty’s Web site at the end of each day.