The Maya played a game called "Pelote", probably by using their legs and arms.

The game was mainly religious, and the engravings around the playing field show the heads of players being axed off. It is still not clear if the looser was punished for loosing or the winner was allowed to enter heaven.

A still unanswered question concerns the stone rings, which are supposed to have served as goals.

detail of a mayan calendar

The Maya invented a complex writing system, based on hieroglyphics, which represented both words and syllables.

They stored information about their lifestyle, their religion and their sciences in thousands of documents.

 

The Mayan staple was corn.

The reason why the Maya optimized their knowledge of Astronomy and Mathematics was to reach the perfect timing for sowing and better determine the rain- and dry - seasons.

This resulted in an astonishingly exact a calendar.