Unveiling Mayan Secrets: Hallucinogens In Ancient Ball Game Rituals

By Lucía Tedesco via El Planteo

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

The team of researchers identified traces of hallucinogenic plants on the ball game fields, which they presume were used in rituals to bless the site. The discovery was made in the Helena complex, an archaeological site dating back to the Late Preclassic period.

Which Hallucinogens Did The Mayans Use On Their Ball Fields?

The plants found included Ipomoea corymbosa (xtabentun in Mayan), Capsicum sp. (chile or ic in Mayan), Hampea trilobata (jool) and Oxandra lanceolata (chilcahuite), all known for their medicinal and, in some cases, hallucinogenic properties.

It turns out that the ball game, known as pitz, was not just a sport: it was a ritual loaded with religious and social significance. The courts were considered sacred spaces where players represented a cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil. Offerings and rituals accompanying the construction and use of these courts were crucial to ensuring the protection and blessing of the gods.

David Lentz, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE, explained the importance of these practices. He told Wired: “When a new building was constructed, the benevolence of the gods was sought to protect its inhabitants. Some consider it an animation ritual, intended to obtain a blessing and appease the gods.” Lentz and his team conducted genetic and pollen analyses of wild and cultivated plants, revealing sustainable agricultural and forestry practices that spanned millennia.

The research explains how the Mayans integrated their botanical knowledge into their religious and daily practices. In this case, scientists found the location of a deposit beneath the playing field and recorded over 100,000 gene sequences, confirming the importance this civilization placed on foundational and blessing rituals for the space.

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