It’s well-known that the ancient Maya had their own version of ball games, which were played with a rubber ball on stone courts. Such games served not just as athletic events but also religious ones ...

Archaeologists discovered, through environmental DNA technology, that ceremonial rituals of the ancient Mayan civilization at the Yaxnohcah ruins (Yucatán Peninsula) were conducted with hallucinogens.

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Archaeologists have uncovered an intriguing ritual deposit below an ...

A baseball player may tap his helmet three times before stepping up to the plate, and an Argentina supporter may burn incense in front of a portrait of Diego Maradona as the Albiceleste kick off. Now, ...

Somewhere beneath the scrubby limestone terrain of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a team of archaeologists has uncovered what appears to be the oldest Maya ball court on record. Radiocarbon estimates ...

Archaeologists studying the ruins of an Ancient Mayan city of Yaxnohcah, on the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, found evidence of at least four psychedelic or medicinal plants that were used ...

The structures sit atop the low walls of the court, where the Mayas played a game that consisted, as far as experts can tell, of knocking a heavy, latex ball with their elbows, knees or hips, through ...

In ancient Mayan lore, the world of the living was directly connected to the underworld: Xibalba. This belief was central to many facets of Mayan life - including a unique sport with fatal ...