MEXICO

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LOOK AND LISTEN:   (Click here for audio)


This image is taken from a mural,  painted in the inner chamber of the Grand Ball Court in Chichen Itza, Mexico sometime around 600 AD.  Games were an important part of the social fabric in the Mayan world, and ball courts were strategically placed in the centers of ancient Mayan cities. The most popular game was called Pitz and because of the large stone rings at Chichén Itza, it was likely the game of choice for Chichén residents. 

The song you hear was recorded by Mayan musicians from the same geographical area of Mexico, more than a thousand years later.

"The music of the indigenous people of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas reflects many varied influences, past and present."  (Richard Anderson)

Image: Maudslay, Alfred Percival. 1889. Biologia Centrali-Americana, or, Contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America. Archaeology Atlas v. 3, London : Published for the editors by R.H. Porter, and Dulau & Co. Courtesy of Smithsonian Libraries. Used by permission.
Sound:  "Tiger Stone Song" by Modern Mayan: The Indian Music of Chiapas, Mexico - Vol. 1, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (p) (c) 1975. Used by permission.

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