Social complexity requires people to create new ways of interacting with one another to
counteract new social boundaries. Board games provide one avenue by which …

Intermediate elites played pivotal roles in the political dynamics of ancient complex societies
across the world. In the Classic period (CE 250–900/1000) Maya lowlands, intermediate …

The structure of power underlying the hegemonic control Chichen Itza held over the
Northern Maya Lowlands has been debated for decades. In this article, we present the idea …

Pre-hispanic ballgames have an extensive temporal depth and geographical breadth across
Mesoamerica, with over 1,500 ball courts recorded on 1,200 archaeological sites in Mexico …

A prevailing image of the Inca State is of an entity largely concerned with production, with
little or no time for entertainment activities, such as playing games. While anthropological …

Patolli petroglyphs were recently identified at two archaeological sites in northeast
Honduras. Patolli is a Mesoamerican game of chance described in ethnohistoric sources …

Patolli is a “dice game” found in Classic and Postclassic period (CE 250-900/1000, CE
900/1000-1492) contexts throughout Mesoamerica. This paper provides an overview of …

The Prehispanic ballgame was an important ritualized sport and shared cultural tradition
throughout much of Mesoamerica, and has long been linked to local and regional …

Recent excavations at the site of Gallon Jug, a minor center in northwestern Belize, revealed
multiple patolli boards incised into a well-preserved plaster floor in an unvaulted platform. A …