Event Host: Archaeological Institute of America - Columbus Society; OSU Marion Prof. Katie Rask
Short Description: The Columbus Society of the Archaeological Institute of America presents a free, online lecture: "Games of Chance and Fate: Patolli Game Boards from the Ancient Maya site of Gallon Jug, Belize," by Dr. Claire Novotny (Kenyon College).
The Columbus Society of the Archaeological Institute of America presents a free, online lecture: "Games of Chance and Fate: Patolli Game Boards from the Ancient Maya site of Gallon Jug, Belize," by Dr. Claire Novotny (Kenyon College).
Graffiti provides a unique and informal perspective on the lived experiences and daily cultural practices of ancient people. In the ancient Maya culture, graffiti of ritual processions, human figures and game boards were incised into plastered walls, benches and floors in buildings that formed civic ceremonial centers. Game boards, called patolli, are particularly fascinating because they seem to combine leisure, gambling and ritual practices. Patolli boards are found throughout Mesoamerica and we can draw on rich ethnohistorical evidence to make our interpretations. Recent research at the ancient Maya site of Gallon Jug, located in northwestern Belize, documented several patolli boards incised into a plaster floor on a platform in Courtyard B-01, an elite residential group. In this talk, Novotny will review our current understanding of patolli game boards and put them into context within the Maya world and Mesoamerica more broadly. She will address questions about how and why the residents of Gallon Jug may have used the patolli boards, and whether they were part of a singular ritual or a recurring strategy for divination employed by a resident ritual specialist.
Register for the event.