The carved stone rings, removed from Uxmal to protect them from the elements, contain hieroglyphic markings indicating that the ballcourt was built around 905 AD by the ruler Chan Chan K'ak'nai Ajaw, also known as Lord Chac. The Mesoamerican ritual sport of Pok Ta' Pok has been played since at least 1650 BC by pre-Columbian peoples. Its role in ancient Mayan society appears to have been mostly ceremonial, it is also believed that, on occasion, the ceremony was used as a form of proxy war. Although the rules likely varied across time and region, it is generally believed that the game was played with teams of two to four, with players aiming to keep strike a rubber ball, weighing up to 4kg, through a vertical hoop using only their hops. Some versions allowed the use of forearms, rackets, or bats. Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Mayan World Museum of Mérida) opened in 2021. The contemporary building, designed by by Grupo 4A Arquitectos, is in the form a ceiba, a sacred tree believed by the Maya to connect the living with the underworld and heavens above. The museum's permanent galleries house a collection of more than 1100 remarkably well-preserved ancient Mayan artifacts.
