Studies of grease markings in the walls of a centuries-old tomb show the bodies of high officials were cremated and their ashes used to harden the balls. The game—known as Pitz or Pok-a-Tok—was like an early form of squash with players hitting the ball with their elbows, knees or hips. Anthropology expert Juan Yadeun Angulo, an investigator at the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, discovered the tomb in 2020 in the Temple of the Sun, a pyramidal structure at the archeological site of Tonina in Chiapas state, Mexico....

This process of desquamation includes new skin cells being produced and sloughing away dead skin cells. Sometimes, however, dead skin cells don’t shed off normally. When this happens, they can build up and appear as dull, flaky skin. Understanding the causes behind this can help you find out how to resolve this issue. Dead Skin Symptoms Dead skin cells make up the first 18 to 23 layers of your skin....

In a clip shared on October 25, PeeWee and his foster sister Faith—who is also hearing-impaired—are staring at owner Nikki (@deafdogofmn) expectedly. Nikki then signs the words for “treat,” “dad” and “go,” before pointing up the stairs. Understanding the three-word combo, PeeWee immediately dashes up to the second floor, with Faith following close behind him. TikTokers couldn’t get enough of the pair’s love of treats, with the video receiving over 536,000 likes and 5....

Observers point to several key moves. In one, Dean aides blocked a likely major endorsement of rival Dick Gephardt by convincing the Service Employees International Union that it should wait until the end of the month to act–at which point Dean can impress them with a massive lead in fund-raising. In another, Dean last week locked up the endorsement of the majority of the city council in Washington, D.C., where a nonbinding but early primary takes place in January....

NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport said Hopkins was already back in uniform at the team facility as of midafternoon Sunday. Hopkins announced his decision to end his holdout in a statement via ESPN. MORE: Ranking NFL’s top 10 WRs | Hopkins worth the asking price “I too am disappointed that the Texans organization has elected not to enter into contract negotiation to secure my future as a Texan,” the statement read....

Most were from Mavericks and Clippers players showing they were prepared to meet with Jordan, who was waffling between Dallas and LA. After the clock struck 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday and Jordan could officially re-sign with the Clippers, Paul Pierce fired off a tweet only he could get away with — not of an emoji, but of an attached picture of an emoji. MORE: 12 affordable free agents who can really help | NBA free agency tracker | Internet has field day with Jordan flip-flop...

Kane averaged 15.1 points and seven assists for Marshall last season, and he’s eligible to play in 2013-14 as a graduate transfer. Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg knows exactly what he has in Kane, who figures to be one of the nation's top impact transfers this season along with Arizona PG T.J. McConnell, Duke SF Rodney Hood, Kansas PF Tarik Black and NC State SG Ralston Turner. “It’s so important in our offense to have multiple playmakers,” Hoiberg told the Ames Tribune, “and he fits that as well as probably any player in the country, just in the multiple ways you can use him....

I have been a fan for a long time. I watched you make your way from college to the NBA. And from the broadcast booth into management and coaching. Always, you were prepared. Always, you were professional. Always, you were truthful. Which is why I was so disheartened by your recent tragic equivocation about the totalitarian nature of the Chinese government. And your absurd moral arguments that included comparing our own government to that of China....

The shooters escaped unidentified. And the list of suspects is large–Qadir wasn’t short of enemies. A famed mujahedin commander from the war against the Soviet Union, he controlled Nangarhar province and its capital, Jalalabad, as he would his own fiefdom. And the prolific opium trade in the province has long bred nasty characters and similarly nasty politics; just three months ago, Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim narrowly escaped a bomb attack in Jalalabad....

Now, new evidence has surfaced that might help corroborate her story: previously overlooked fingerprints of one of her murdered sons. The prints, says a former New York Police Department examiner hired by Routier’s attorneys, don’t match a much-debated bloody fingerprint found on a coffee table at the murder scene. The jury had dismissed the bloody smear at trial partly on the assumption that it likely came from one of the murdered boys....

The man took to popular forum Mumsnet to gain insight on his dilemma, after making changes to his will following a divorce. His first and eldest child, he explained, is his child with his first, late wife. His two other children are with his recent ex, whom he recently divorced. After revisiting his will, his former wife noticed one thing that hadn’t been changed: that his eldest son gets the house....

Slow down! Remember: this new generation of plastic can be confusing. For starters, they’re not credit cards. They’re more like checks. And while they have their charms, they can trash your bank account if you’re unaware of their finer points. Keep them in your wallet until you read this. IF YOU’RE CONFUSED BY THE new debit world, it’s not because you’re dumb. Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C., reportedly had to send out four successive letters re-explaining its Visa Check Card to customers....

Since the Soviet archives yielded up vast numbers of newly declassified documents in the 1990s, scholars have been sifting through them to find previously unknown stories or new details that cast well-known events in a new light. “Lenin’s Brain and Other Tales From the Soviet Archives” by Paul R. Gregory draws on the author’s experiences presiding over a team of scholars who have mined the Hoover Institution’s extensive collection of documents from Soviet state and party archives....

PICKING CHESS software depends on how you want your humiliation served. If it’s dungeons and dragons you like, muck about in Sierra’s Power Chess ($89.95), where the sexy queen analyzes moves after the shadowy king has had your lunch. But hark: the two discs are as unwieldy as a broadsword. Extreme Chess, from Davidson ($54), comes with a built-in kibbitzer. Based on the pricier, state-of-the-art Fritz, Extreme’s charts and chat boxes coach you out of disaster, allowing you to develop a game free of dumb blunders....

Why? Because IBM’s stock is so cheap. Cheap, that is, compared with smaller high-techies like Microsoft, Oracle or Cisco Systems. These guys trade at roughly $0 to 40 times their per-share earnings. IBM sells for less than a third as much, even after doubling over the past three years to $128. That frustrates IBM’s investors. (Not to mention top managers, who are optioned to the eyeballs.) So much so that chairman Louis Gerstner felt compelled to take up the issue at a recent stock-analysts meeting in Toronto....

Photos of the covers that have been available for about a month have circulated on Twitter, and those covers feature a numerical listing of the projected top 10. MORE: SN preseason All-Americans | Coach K’s 10 best players So, yes, it’s Kansas at No. 1, followed by Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and – It was no particular surprise to have a complaint about ranking Duke so high. The top four scorers from last season completed their careers with the NCAA Championship game win over Wisconsin....

The 49ers had been struggling to find a new identity during their 1-2 start. They were a first-half team that couldn’t close in the second half. Their defense made some big plays, and gave up few, too. They were trying to be more of a passing team, and became more tentative as a running team. They were a team with a new home trying to re-establish home-field advantage. MORE: Scoreboard | Stats | Week 4 in photos | Bridgewater impressive in first start...

Everything about Barca in 2014-15 had seemed impressive. The attitude, the organization, the desire and the commitment was all there. Wins over Elche, Villarreal, Athletic Club, Levante, Granada and APOEL, plus a goalless draw at Malaga, showed early promise - but ultimately proved little. Paris Saint-Germain, on the other hand, has already conceded ground in its own title race and even though the club’s owners assured Blanc’s job was safe, six draws from 10 competitive fixtures this term had led to intense speculation over the coach’s position at the Parc des Princes....

Arsene Wenger’s side face a daunting task against Pep Guardiola’s team who are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table and have won their last 14 games across all competitions. However, the Nigeria international while acknowledging the strength of the opposition believes his team has ammunition in attack to harm the Citizens but stressed the need for a near-perfect performance on the defensive end. “The attacking players we have will always create chances and should be able to get a couple of goals but we need to tighten up in defense especially against a team like Man City,” Iwobi told club website....

Wilson was the star attraction at Texas Rangers camp on Monday, suiting up and taking ground balls with the team that selected him from the Colorado Rockies in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December. Wilson, who was Colorado's fourth-round pick out of N.C. State in 2010 and hit .228 in 193 at-bats as a second baseman for Single-A Asheville in 2011, has not given up his major league dream, but it's the gridiron that is his present and his foreseeable future....