[1/2] Mexican archaeologists found a circular-shaped Mayan scoreboard used for a ball game at Chichen Itza's archaeological site, Mexican Anthropology and History Institute (INAH), in this handout picture released on April 10, 2023. INAH/Handout via REUTERSMEXICO CITY, April 11 (Reuters) - A stone scoreboard used in an ancient soccer-like ball game has been discovered at the famed Mayan Chichen Itza archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, archaeologists said this week. "In this Mayan site, it is rare to find hieroglyphic writing, let alone a complete text," said Francisco Perez, one of the archaeologists coordinating the investigations in the Chichanchob complex, also called Casa Colorada. The ball game was a traditional practice of Mesoamerican peoples and is believed to have had ritual undertones. The Chichen Itza complex, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is one of the main archaeological centers of the Mayan civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula.

---