Glyphs Put Spotlight on Mayan 'Handspan'
This is an oldie but a goodie ... back in 2004 Mark Zender, of Harvard's Peabody Museum, prepared a white paper on "Handspan", which is also known as "Strike." Part ritual, part recreation, and almost wholly mysterious, the ancient Maya ballgame has long been regarded as an enigmatic entity. Literally dozens of ballcourts are known; untold hundreds of pieces of ballgame paraphernalia are housed in Museums; and yet we know frustratingly little for certain about the rules of the ancient game, its purpose or its origins. Part ritual, part recreation, and almost wholly mysterious, the ancient Maya ballgame has long been regarded as an enigmatic entity. Literally dozens of ballcourts are known; untold hundreds of pieces of ballgame paraphernalia are housed in Museums; and yet we know frustratingly little for certain about the rules of the ancient game, its purpose or its origins.If you'd like to reacquaint yourself with the study you can download it here: