Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wednesday Search Challenge (5/7/14): Find a 360 view from the top!

THIS is the "jaguar throne."  It doesn't look like much now, but it's fairly old and important in the story of the region where it can be found.  

It's a seat of power with a long history, set into a historical context of enormous scope, power, and complication.  But our task today is pretty simple.  


1.  Find the place where this jaguar throne was found. What is the name of the building where it was found?  

2.  Find a picture taken from the top of the building where the throne was found.  (Hint: You should be able to look in all directions with this one image.)  

3.  Nearby there is an arena where a very particular ball game was played.  Can you see the arena from the top of the place where the jaguar throne was found?   (For extra credit: What game was played in that arena?)  


Can you figure these challenges out?  

The first one is pretty straightforward; the second requires a bit of thought; and the third needs you to bit of broader research.  

As always, please let us know what the answers to the challenges are and HOW you discovered the answers?  

Search on! 



13 comments:

  1. searched "jaguar throne" and "chichen itza" auto-filled. The throne was found in the "el castillo" or Kukulkan Pyramid.

    since the pyramid has been closed for tourists, there are not a lot of options for a 360 degree photo. the best I could find was a gorgeous aerial 360 photo here: http://www.airpano.ru/files/Chichen-Itza-Mexico/2-2

    poking around that site found the ball court where Ōllamaliztli was played, a mesoamerican ballgame, which can be seen from the top of the pyramid.

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  2. Good day, Dr. Russell, fellow SearchResearchers

    Searched:

    Your image using Right Click search Google for this image. Found Chichen Itza and El Castillo pyramid


    The Jaguar Throne
    Lower Temple of the Jaguar

    In the wikipedia page of Chichen Itza external links have good links

    [chichen itza jaguar throne 360 view]

    [el castillo chichen itza AROUND(4) BALL GAME]


    Chichen Itza Introduction: Maps, multimedia and more.
    Maya 3 D
    Chichén Itzá Great Ball Court
    Great Ball Court: The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day and also night. This is important unitl today.

    [Jaguar Throne site:www.chichenitza.com] Las Monjas

    [Chichen Itza trono jaguar]
    El Castillo o Pirámide de Kukulcán INAH The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, National Institute of Anthropology and History.)


    Juego de Pelota


    Answers

    1. Find the place where this jaguar throne was found. What is the name of the building where it was found?

    El Castillo also known as the Temple of Kukulkan.


    2. Find a picture taken from the top of the building where the throne was found. (Hint: You should be able to look in all directions with this one image.)

    A. For this, searched on Google Maps views to find Photospheres.
    Temple of Jaguar PhotoSphere
    Shadow of Kukulkan Photosphere


    3. Nearby there is an arena where a very particular ball game was played. Can you see the arena from the top of the place where the jaguar throne was found? (For extra credit: What game was played in that arena?)

    A: Yes, and the name of the game is POK a POk. Also called "Juego de Pelota"

    KuKulkan is a very beautiful and important Maya site.

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    Replies
    1. [red jaguar throne chichen itza] [red jaguar throne chichen itza site:news.google.com]

      Jaguar Throne At Chichen Itza Is Carefully Guarded. Newspaper

      Chichén Itzá
      Mayan Archaeological Ruins
      Pictures, photos and more.

      Million Dollar Jaguar Not for sale Newspaper in 1964 says Mexico Government refused to sell Jaguar in 1934 for 1,000,000 USD

      [Kukulkan 360 aerial view]
      Chichén Itzá, Mexico. New wonders Photos

      MYSTIC PLACES: Chichen Itza - El Castillo

      [nombre juego pelota Maya] [Maya ball game name] in Books

      Teotlachco is the name of the place where Pok tak Pok was played

      [Pok ta Pok]
      Pok ta Pok; The Mayan Ball Game. Athletes or Worshipers?

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  3. Hey everyone.

    Began my search with [ "jaguar throne" ] The Jaguar Throne

    1. The place is Chichen-itza, Mexico. The building where it is found is El Castillo.

    Next I open up Google Maps and search [ Chichen-itza ] and take Google suggestion of [ Chichen-itza, YUC ].
    I used street view to go all the way around the base thinking that there might be a path up. No such luck.
    Look at the pictures. Some of them are labeled Photo sphere, 360˚ photos taken and stitched using Android devices.
    2. El Castillo or Pyramid of Kukulcan Photo Sphere It is not the very top and part of it is the building itself.

    Keep looking and wonder if the Google Cultural Institute might have a more immersive experience. I go there and click on World Wonders and pan the map to the Yucatan peninsula and find they only have Campeche.
    Searched [ temple of kukulcan 360 ] in Google Images. Found this nifty 360 site AirPano. Maya Pyramids, Chichen Itza, Mexico • 360° Aerial Panorama. I'm ruling that out since you said "from the top of the building" and not from the air.
    I'll go for the Photo Sphere for now.

    For #3 I go back to Google Maps at El Castillo and search [ stadium near here ] and find Estadio del juego de pelota. I'm curious so [ Estadio del juego de pelota ] to El juego de pelota de Chichén Itzá. Translate it to learn more. Maybe the game was called pok a pok?

    #3 Yes in the photo sphere I can see the stadium.

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  4. Google image search to Wikipedia reveals it’s the jaguar throne located in the Chichen Itza Mayan archeaological site in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Specifically in the El Castillo (“Temple of Kukulkan”).

    Google Street View provides a 360 viewpoint atop the pyramid El Castillo. While in “streetview” the small map (left corner) I noticed the “Gran Juego de Pelato” & studying Spanish I know “juego” translates to “game” so that was a nice clue. This Great Ball Court as its referred to in Wiki is 200 meters northwest of El Castillo based on measurements used in Google Maps. So Google Search [gran juego de pelato] and we have a game of basketball, soccer & American football if you ignore the brutality sometimes involved.

    Here’s an interesting [gran juego de pelato] description of how the “game” was played 500 years ago. The game has gotten many names over the years such as; juego de pelota in Spanish; pitz in classical Mayan; and ullamaliztli in Nahuatl.

    Para Ramón. ¿has estado a este sitio? ¿Estoy curioso por qué el nombre El Castillo que sé que también se conoce como el Templo de Kululkan? Su país rico en historia muy antigua. Canadá es joven y no puedo pensar en nada en comparación. Cuando hice mi búsqueda he intentado en hacerlo usando sitios web de México en el español pero mi habilidad con el idioma necesita mejoras. Me encanta la lengua. Disculpe mis errores pero me gusta enforzarme escribir y esto parece como una buena oportunidad. Gracias.

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    Replies
    1. Hi RoseMary.

      I have not gone yet to Kukulcan. In one trip, we went to Tulum. My mother went to Palenque. At the moment just my brother has seen it in the family beacuse he lives in the zone so he knows most Archaeological Zones

      They call it The Castle, for what I read, because the Spaniards. They call it that way searching for similar architecture in Europe.

      Some interesting sites in English:

      El Castillo, the Pyramid of Kukulkan Ctrl-F Castillo.
      Chichen Itza: Maya Temples in the Yucatan
      Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza UNESCO

      Glad you searched in English, RoseMary. Don't worry for normal mistakes. I am pretty sure that I still make many in English. It is like Dr. Russell says: Practice, practice, practice. One trick that I use to write better is in Google Chrome I have Spell-checker options in both Spanish and English. Therefore, it is less possible that some big mistake can happen.

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    2. "We Offer, For Your Consideration,…"

      Ramón and Rosemary - a counterpoint offering - not a comparison, rather a balance: a severe, minimalist, extreme environment contra-posed
      with a fertile, fecund, consuming habitat - both capable of harboring life and ceasing it on a whim… if the word had gotten out to the Spaniards
      that the Inuit had large deposits of gold and diamonds, things may have gone other ways…eh?
      both are dominated by nature and preoccupied by time… albeit in different ways and degrees.
      video is worth watching
      a more poetic vision - ᖃᐅᓱᐃᑦᑐᖅ

      Resolute
      Mantle site

      stone hoops
      who knew they YTubed it…and had a Nike✔ deal?
      diamonds & pearls by Prince Kukulkan

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  5. Just a side note regarding the satellite imagery from Google Maps. Dr. Dan I hadn't noticed previously that the satellite images are provided by Digital Globes as indicated at the bottom of the satellite images. This company is responsible for running crowdsourced projects at the Tomnod site that searched for the MH 370 missing plane. They were basically an unheard of company working in the background providing satellite images. They are a team of eight people who came up with the idea to use their technology and combine it with crowdsourcing. They were overwhelmed by the participation (and so was their website) & it's now a new way for searching large areas in disaster situations. http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/

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  6. Hello.
    My comment is not about the challenge of the day. I want to know if you do presentations for professional researchers, such as law librarians. Cannot locate your contact information.

    Love the creativity of the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1. Find the place where this jaguar throne was found. What is the name of the building where it was found?

    This is the jaguar throne in the inner chamber of El Castillo at Chichen Itza. http://www.americanegypt.com/ via IMAGE

    2. Find a picture taken from the top of the building where the throne was found. (Hint: You should be able to look in all directions with this one image.)

    http://www.panoramio.com/photo/24220680 360 via IMAGE

    http://youtu.be/Fe4e3F7VlkY This is a continuous walk-around the temple on the top level

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/54864075@N00/119088508/ This is the one you want. "taken from the top of the pyramid at CI" I think though it is 350 degrees not 360.

    I note that access to the top is prohibited now.

    http://www.360cities.net/search/chichen-itza none from the top but there are 35 360 views shot right in CI

    3. Nearby there is an arena where a very particular ball game was played. Can you see the arena from the top of the place where the jaguar throne was found? (For extra credit: What game was played in that arena?)

    Yes.

    Wikipedia says " It is known in Spanish as juego de pelota ("ballgame"), in Classic Maya as pitz, and in modern Nahuatl as ollamaliztli."

    Wikianswers says there was a game called tiachtili; another called Pok-A-Tok. Silly site !

    Chichenitzaruins.org: The Maya version of the ball game, named Pitz...Over 1300 ball courts of varying sizes have been found in Mesoamerica, all with this same shape. The rules of the ballgame, regardless of the version, are not precisely known.

    Good fun sussing this CHallenge

    jon

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    Replies
    1. "I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells." Dr. Seuss

      jtU, well sussed sir - a couple items gleaned from the links you provided…

      nice, but short, glimpse of the Jaguar Throne in-situ/low light -
      @~27 & 42 seconds in

      surrounding grounds up & down
      not quite the Half Dome Cables, but evocative - Yosemite

      and a few quasi-relevent disturbing notes…
      Chichén Itzá sold
      1,000 acre resort
      Yanni invades - virgin sacrifices still up in the air
      rumors of Juan Gabriel death greatly exaggerated -
      headed to Peru
      Así Fue - 21,174,739 views…wha
      had to balance with music from The Great White North (CA)…
      Red Rider

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    2. jon - I really liked the Youtube video as an answer to #2. That never crossed my mind but fits perfectly.

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