Ancient Stone Carvings Capture Maya Ballplayers in Action
By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | September 29, 2017 10:09am ET
The long-lost Maya ruins of Tipan Chen Uitz in Belize are only beginning to give up their secrets, with the latest discovery being something of a home run: Archaeologists found two table-size stone panels, depicting elite ballplayers, that likely would have greeted subjects walking by the palace, according to a new study.
The discovery of these two panels reinforces the idea that the Maya people would have placed a lot of importance on the ballgame, and suggests that it helped the Maya connect with different communities in their vast network, the researchers said.
"[These monuments] speak to the extent to which Tipan was embedded in these very complex political relationships between ruling elites across the Maya area," said study senior researcher Christopher Andres, an adjunct research associate at Michigan State University who specializes in Maya archaeology. [Photos: See the Maya Ballplayers Carved into the Stone Panels]
Andres and his colleagues learned about the Tipan site while working on another archaeological project in Belize, in 2009. Some locals said they knew about an undocumented Maya site in the jungle and agreed to take them there.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/60552-maya-ballplayer-stone-panels-discovered.html
Tipan Chen Uitz Mayan ball court
Another Mayan ball court:
More images:
http://imgarcade.com/ancient-mayan-ball-court.html
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