Archaeologists found 30 of these carvings in southern Mexico.

Archaeologists in southern Mexico have discovered 30 carvings depicting capital I-shaped ballcourts cut into rocks. These carvings may have been used in ceremonies involving water and "ritual bloodletting," new research finds. 

The carvings, in the ancient settlement of Quiechapa, are badly weathered, but small features in a few cases can be made out, such as one carving that appears to show a bench in the ballcourt. 

"Ballgames were of great significance to people throughout ancient Mesoamerica," study researcher Alex Elvis Badillo, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Systems at Indiana State University, wrote in an article published Jan. 11 in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica(opens in new tab). . . .

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