It's well-known that the ancient Maya had their own version of ball games, which were played with a rubber ball on stone courts. Such games served not just as athletic events but also religious ones that often involved ritual sacrifices. Archaeologists have now found evidence that the Maya may have blessed newly constructed ball courts in rituals involving plants with hallucinogenic properties, according to a new paper published in the journal PLoS ONE.

“When they erected a new building, they asked the goodwill of the gods to protect the people inhabiting it,” said co-author David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati. “Some people call it an ensouling ritual, to get a blessing from and appease the gods.” Lentz and his team previously used genetic and pollen analyses of the wild and cultivated plants found in the ancient Maya city Yaxnohcah in what is now Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, revealing evidence of sustainable agriculture and forestry spanning a millennia.

As we've reported previously, there is ample evidence that humans in many cultures throughout history used various hallucinogenic substances in religious ceremonies or shamanic rituals. That includes not just ancient Egypt but also ancient Greek, Vedic, Maya, Inca, and Aztec cultures. The Urarina people who live in the Peruvian Amazon Basin still use a psychoactive brew called ayahuasca in their rituals, and Westerners seeking their own brand of enlightenment have also been known to participate.

Last year, archaeologists found that an ancient Egyptian vase in the shape of the deity Bes showed traces of chemical plant compounds known to produce hallucinations. Specifically, they identified Syrian rue (Peganum harmala), whose seeds are known to have hallucinogenic properties that can induce dream-like visions, per the authors, thanks to its production of the alkaloids harmine and harmaline. There were also traces of blue water-lily (Nymphaea cerulea), which contains a psychoactive alkaloid that acts as a sedative; it's one of several candidate plants that scholars believe might be the fruit of the lotus tree described in Homer's Odyssey. Members of the cult of Bes may have consumed a special cocktail containing the compounds to induce altered states of consciousness.

And in 2022, archaeologists uncovered evidence that an ancient Peruvian people laced the beer served at their feasts with hallucinogens. Excavations at a remote Wari outpost called Quilcapampa unearthed seeds from the vilca tree that can be used to produce a potent hallucinogenic drug. The seeds, bark, and other parts of the tree all contain DMT, a well-known psychedelic substance that is also found in the ayahuasca brews of Amazonian tribes. However, the primary active ingredient is bufotenine. There is also evidence from historical accounts that a juice or tea derived from vilca seeds was sometimes added to chicha, a fermented beverage made from maize or the fruits of the molle tree native to Peru.

The people of the neighboring state of Tiwanaku were known to mix such hallucinogens with alcohol, specifically maize beer. However, the Wari likely used these substances to help forge political alliances and expand their empire. It's possible the Wari held one big final blowout before the site was abandoned. The Wari empire lasted from around 500 CE to 1100 CE in the central highlands of Peru.

This latest study stems from soil samples taken during excavations from 2016 to 2022 at Yaxnocah, nine or so miles north of the Guatemalan border—specifically from a stone and earthen ball court platform linked by a causeway to a nearby ceremonial complex. Some 300 such ball courts have been found in the highlands of Guatemala and Chiapas, most dating to the post-classic period.