Evening star., 1924-08-03
ORGIES OF CHANCE
OF ANCIENT ORIGIN
Gambling on Continent Long
Antedates Coming of the
White Man.
ny HAROLD X. PHILIPS.

Centuries before the earliest ex-
plorers sighted the dim outlines OF
Americas coasts the Maya, an aborig-
inal civilization that had established
an amazing culture in Yucatan and
Guatemala at least 80 years before
the birth of Christ, indulged in ver-
liable orgies of chance over a game
they called "tlachtli-"
Tlachtli, not altogether unlike the
modern game of basket ball, was
played in beautifully laid-out and
decorated courts, and one OF the most
important discoveries just made by
the staff of archeologfstS that is
unearthing Chichen liza. the once
brilliant capital OF the maya, instii unuGi
tuition of Washington, was that OF
such a court.
known in Maya World.
Heretofore only two such courts
were known to have existed IN the
Maya world and the excavation or
another, close to the royal palaces
and pyramids that once made Chichen
liza a city of wondrous spendor,
lends added support to the belle1
that the game became as popular 10
those American aborigines toward
the end of their existence as civil
ern American.
Discovery of the new court. to-
sether with a description of how the
game was played and how the ancient
chiefs waSered vast fortunes on the
single toss of a ball, has just been re-
ceived here by the Carnegie lnstitu-
tion from it's associate director IN the
department of middle American
archaeology, DR.. Sylvanus G. Morley
who, together with DIR. Earl H. Nor
iS aD0apa6 the institution =
program for the excavation OF the an
cient Maya metropolis, one OF the
many that dotted that part of 1u-
catan.
Originally n Toltee Game.
Tlachtle was originally a Toltec
game and was first introduced IN
Chichen liza by the members of that
nation, who, with the aid of the Maya
forces of Mayapan, another fucatan
city. conquered Chichen liza and gov
erned it during the centuries of its
decay from a city of the highest ab-
original intellectual attachments to
it's present state of great piles of
long deserted, buried ruins.
The tlachtle court was composed OF
two high parallel walls, from so to
100 feet apart. Near the top of each
was fastened a stone ring, with its
hole perpendicular to the face of the
wall and the floor. To score a point
the contending warriors were Obliged
TO put rubber ball through the ring
not by throwing it with their hands,
but by bouncing the sphere from
either wrist, elbow or hip.
This winning shot" DR.. Morley
wrote, was so difficult and so rarely
made that, according to another rule
of the game, the lucky player max
ing it had forfeited to him reward
for his unusual skill all the clothing
of the spectators. 1t was at game
OF tlachtli at the court of Montezuma,
A-rz Nro1rA q n
fards firsts saw RUNNER, the elastic
properties of which amazed them
greatly"
It was so great a gambling game
that, driven to desperation, the an
cient gamblers would sometimes even
wager their liberty, becoming slaves
if they lost. Others threw vast
estates into the scales of chance, and
in an afternoon a man might find
himself either suddenly rich or poor,
according to the whim of the gods
of fate. More common bets, how
ever, were quills filled with gold dust
or trinkets of more or less Intrinsic
value.
Scarcely less important from both
a historic and romantic standpoint
was the discovery in the last month
of what probably was the throne of
the emperorS and priests of Ch1ch en-
liza. Chichen liza was not only the
civil capital, but also the religious
center of the Itza-their mecca-and
archeologists have long suspected
that careful excavations such as the
Carnegie Institution is undertaking 6
would bring to light once more the
council places.
Throne Found Between Columns.
The throne was found between four
back columns of the northeast colon
made of the Court of the Thousand
Columns, the excavation of which is
now nearing completion. The throne
is Is feet wide. Z feet deep and feet
sculptured In reporting the un-
ea-thing of the dais, DR.. Morley wrote:
wrote:
Its sloping sides are carved with
procession of gorgeously costumed
warriors, weaving in and out, among
whom are long, sinuous rattlesnakes
sacred to kukulcan, the principal
deity of the liza. This panel is top
ped with a cornice composed of other
ertwinng rattlesnakes. The throne
was painted in deep red. warm yell
low, brilliant blue and vivid green
and when approached from the front,
between the outer pair of sculptured
columns, which are similarly painted
1t must have presented striking
picture of barbaric splendor.
The walls and plain columns were
painted with frescoes in the same
entirely destroyed by the passing
centuries. The floors were of hard
lime plaster, painted a rich red, and
around the back and side walls runs
back, where priests sat in solemn
deliberation, and, with the Itzan
rulers seated upon the rattlesnake e
throne, settled the affairs of state
Views of ArcheoIogists.
DR.. Morley and his staff of archeolo-
Sists found abundant evidence that this
council chamber had begun to fall TO
pieces before il WAS finally abandoned
it being apparent that the roof timbers
began to show signs of giving away, and
secondary walls were constructed be-
tween the columns to keep the. roof
beams from coliapsing.
I'VE now believe" DR.. Morley con-
tinued. that after the general aban-
donment of Chichen liza in the middle
of the fifteenth century, and after the
majority of the ItZa had returned
southwark out of Yucatan to Guate-
a few stragglers fingered on in the
city, making use in q casual way of it's
empty palaces and temples. 1t is be-
lieved that these hastily and poorly con-
structed walls were built by these strag.
giers, and that they were the ones who
laid impious hands upon the throne"
Toward the middle of July the ex-
cavators came upon a small temple
vegetation of centuries. 1t was
located just southwest of the throne
room colonnade.
sEne rainy season having set in, the
Carnegie Institution staff had re-
turned from Yucatan until the late
fall, when it was to go back to the
site of Americas most intellectual
aboriginal civilization and once more
try to solve the riddle of the lost
Maya race-try to answer the ques-
tions of mystery that arise around it's
glorious but tragic history, leaving
to poSterity one of the most entranc-