Archaeologists announced this week that they have found a stone scoreboard at the Mayan Chichen Itza archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which was used in an ancient soccer-like ball game.
The circular piece, measuring just over 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) in diameter and weighing 40 kilos (88 lb), displays hieroglyphic writing surrounding two players standing next to a ball, according to a statement from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
"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 stone believed to be a scoreboard, dates from between A.D. 800 and A.D. 900.
The ball game was a traditional practice of Mesoamerican peoples and is believed to have had ritual undertones.
INAH researchers are now preparing to take high-resolution images of the text and iconography for a detailed study while preparing it for conservation.
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. According to official data, about 2 million people visit the site every year.
