The goal of the game was to put the ball through that ring - without using your hands or feet, and the ball cannot touch the ground. Score - and you get sacrificed... [2]ISO 200, 42mm, f/8.0, 1/500s.
It's unclear how bent on human sacrifice the Mayans (and other Mesoamerican peoples) were. Our view on their thirst for blood has been changing with various discoveries, and we used to consider them quite unwarlike about a hundred years ago, but that's supposedly changed now. In the photo, a skull rack (tzompantli), symbolising the skulls of those sacrificed to gods. Quoting wikipedia: "Human sacrifice on a large scale was introduced to the Maya by the Toltecs from the appearances of the tzompantli by the Chichen Itza ball courts." [3]ISO 200, 48mm, f/7.1, 1/320s.
The Spanish called it the Castle, but it was actually a temple of Kukulcan. "During the spring and autumn equinoxes, the late afternoon sun strikes off the northwest corner of the pyramid and casts a series of triangular shadows against the northwest balustrade, creating the illusion of a feathered serpent 'crawling' down the pyramid." [4] You used to be able to climb it, until a woman fell from it to meet hear death, and they closed it for everyone...ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.
It has been suggested that this was an observatory - the observers could view the sky above the vegetation on the Yucatán Peninsula without any obstruction. [6]ISO 200, 56mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s.
A towel (if I remember correctly) featuring the famous Mayan Calendar. Quoting NASA: "The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012." [5]ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/400s.
Our local guide told us how tolerant the Mayans were, how they pursued equality for women, how they "barely had any slaves at all". It turned out to be his partiotism more than factual information, after all. I find it a trend around the world that guides tell you what you want to hear, rather than the harsh truth.ISO 200, 55mm, f/2.8, 1/2000s.
Coming back to the Convento. Perfectly aware of the photographic opportunity, I was chasing the nun with my camera in my hand.ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/500s.
The Mesoamerican peoples (and the Spanish after their arrivals) used to eat these hairless dogs, stewed or roasted. Dogs are associated with death and have the job of leading people into the Underworld. [7]ISO 200, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/160s.
Beautiful gate to the hacienda. What blew my mind was that it is essentially Middle Eastern architecture, brough to Spain with the Moors, and the to Mexico with the Spanish.ISO 200, 44mm, f/6.3, 1/80s.
