MEXICO CITY - Mexican archaeologists say they have determined
that the ancient Mayas built watchtower-style structures atop
the ceremonial ball court at the temples of Chichen Itza to
observe the equinoxes and solstices, and they said Friday that
the discovery adds to understanding of the many layers of ritual
significance that the ball game had for the culture. The
structures sit atop the low walls of the court, where the Mayas
played a game that consisted, as far as experts can tell, of
knocking a heavy, latex ball with their elbows, knees or hips,
through a stone ring set in the walls. The bases of the
structures - essentially, lookout boxes set atop the walls, each
one with a small slit running through it - had been detected
before, but archaeologists hadn't been sure what they were used
for. Since the ball court was built around 864 A.D., the boxes
and the stairs leading to them had crumbled. The government's
National Institute of Anthropology and History announced
Thursday that the boxes had been 90 per