Thanks to the archaeological works that are carried out as part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), in charge of the federal Ministry of Culture, A disc with Mayan hieroglyphics was found by researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá, in Yucatán.
The disk with Mayan hieroglyphics of the Pok Ta Pok
It is a limestone disc, 32.5 centimeters in diameter, 9.5 centimeters thick and 40 kilograms in weight, which fortunately fully preserves its hieroglyphics.
In addition, it was discovered that it served as a stone marker for Pok Ta Pok, the ball game that took place on a much smaller court than the great ball game at Chichén Itzá.
Consequently, the disk presents a glyphic text in bas-relief surrounding two characters dressed as ball players.
A relevant discovery
The anthropologist Marco Antonio Santos Ramírez, director of the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá, explained in an interview for the EFE news agency, the importance of the finding:
The limestone circle, which has Mayan hieroglyphs on the edge and Mayan dignitaries in the center playing Pok Ta Pok, the pre-Columbian ball game, may change the history of the site by adding a new element that we were unaware of.”
The foregoing because apparently, the disc contains dates, names or actions that the ancient inhabitants of Chichén Itzá recorded. Also, the researcher pointed out that the disc could belong to the Late Classic or the Early Postclassic, between the year 650 and the beginning of 900 AD.
Stone Perez either the disk with mayan hieroglyphs
The disc, which is currently under investigation, was located in the so-called Morley Structure, in the area known as Casa Colorada, a few meters south of the Chichén Itzá Castle; and it was named Piedra Pérez, in honor of its discoverer, the researcher Francisco Pérez.
Finally, the piece will be exhibited at the Site Museum of the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá, in the municipality of Tinum, 115 kilometers from the city of Mérida.