Mexico archaeologists have found a carved stone they believe served as a scoreboard for the ancient Maya ball game pelota, according to BBC.

The Chichen Itza circle stone dates back at least 1,200 years, according to experts.

Hieroglyphic text surrounds a central image of two players in extravagant headgear. Professionals are currently studying the text to see what it could represent.

Archaeologist Lizbeth Beatriz Mendicut Pérez discovered the 88-pound, 40-kilogram stone in an architectonic compound called Casa Colorada (Red House), which has been preserved better than any other structures around Chichen Itza's main plaza.

The archway at the entrance to the compound would have been ornamented with this stone in the late 800s or early 900s, according to experts. It is believed that it fell off the arches and landed face down around half a meter below ground.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) deemed the 88-pound, 40-kilogram stone a rare and valuable discovery.

"It is rare to find hieroglyphic writing at this Maya site, and even rarer to find a complete text. This hasn't happened in 11 years," archaeologist Francisco Pérez Ruiz explained.

Iconologists led by Santiago Sobrino Fernández have deduced that the two main figures are pelota players, one wearing a feather headdress and the other a "snake turban."

The man whose head has been encircled by snakes looks to be outfitted in the standard protective gear worn by pelota players.

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Ancient Maya Ball Game Pok-Ta-Pok or Pelota

Many other forms of ballgames were popular in Mesoamerica, including the Maya version known as pok-ta-pok or pitz or pelota, per Maya Archeologist.

Ballcourts were standard features of ceremonial centers, and having one at any significant site was not uncommon. However, the modern Maya do not play this game.

The sun and moon's motion, connected to the agricultural seasons, have been linked to the ball game and the ballcourts.

The game replaced war or celebratory activity when a new monarch was crowned.

A line perpendicular to the length of the court split the court in half, and the two teams faced each other across the centerline. The Maya wore large body pads and belts.

Players could only use their elbows, hips, and knees to hit the ball, a rubber sphere of varying sizes.

If the receiving team could not recover the ball before it bounced twice, or if the ball crossed into the other team's end zone, that team would score a point.

In contrast to popular belief, neither the winners nor the losers were killed in this Maya ball game, except for a game that was played instead of going to war with a city.

Sometimes the losing city's leader would be executed if they did not provide the winning city with a quantity of jade, obsidian, or other unique products, but more often, they were allowed to live.

Mexico's Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is one of the several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico. It is an important Mayan archaeological site in the Yucatan Peninsula, visited by roughly 2 million people annually.

The Maya culture was among the most sophisticated in Mesoamerica, and its cities were first established around 1000 B.C., D.W. noted.

The hieroglyphics on the newly discovered stone may be the final surviving examples of Mayan writing from the late classical period, around 650-900 A.D., said Santos Ramirez.

"Mayan classical literature stops at around 900 AD, during the glory days of Chichen Itza," Ramirez said.

He speculated that the discovery would shed light on Mayan culture before the arrival of Europeans.

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador officially apologized to the indigenous Maya people of Mexico in May 2021 for "abuses" committed by "national and foreign authorities."

In southeastern Mexico, the indigenous Maya population is close to 1.5 million, whereas, in neighboring Guatemala, they number over 7 million and account for just over 40% of the total population.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

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