The Mesoamerican Ball Game: A Deadly Sport Rylie Cawthon, Department of Anthropology, [email protected] Background Discussion Mesoamerican Ball Game is a game •It is a common misconception that the that derives from the ancient Maya game includes a sacrifice. culture. The courts would have had rings that hung from the sides of the •The primary purpose of the game is to sloping walls. These rings were express a public display of power. significant because in order to win the game an individual had to get the •The game was essential in maintaining heavy rubber ball through the rings relationships between other without using your hands or feet. The Mesoamerican cultures. game is closely tied to religious beliefs with the Maya because it is viewed as •The Hero Twins are a set of Iximche Ball Court one of the entrances to the Tikal Ball Court rambunctious brothers who often anger underworld. Ball Game offered a place Compared to all of the elaborate structures that occupy the The characteristic of a sunken ball court is symbolic of the site of Tikal the court is fairly small. underworld. The capital “I” shape is from the post-classic. the Lords of the Underworld. The Lord’s where reality and the supernatural put the Hero Twins through a series of could meet. Many aspects of the game challenges but the Hero Twins are able remain a mystery to historians and to pass each of their tests and end up archeologists. defying the Lords of the Underworld. However, the information that does exist comes from the Popol Vuh. The •A common misconception is that a yoke Popol Vuh is a written document that was used to hold down sacrificial helps understand the history of the victims when in fact it was actually used Maya before the Spanish conquest. to provide more weight to the player so Research Questions that the individual could hit with a greater force. •Ball courts differ structurally across Mesoamerica, does this affect how the Further Reading game is played? Stone Yoke Lamanai Ball Court Due to the heavy rubber balls that were used in the game Placed directly in the middle of the court is the world’s largest •Do the players use any type of players wore protective equipment such as a yoke. ball court marker. Boone, Elizabeth Hill. Painted equipment? architecture and polychrome monumental sculpture in Mesoamerica: •Was there a sacrifice associated with the Results a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 10th win or loss of the game? to 11th October 1981. The majority of the work published about ball courts is based primarily on theories and Kubler, George. The art and speculations. However, it is widely understood that the game must have been of great architecture of ancient America: the Acknowledgments importance due to the significant amount of land that was dedicated to the court itself. Maya Mexican, Maya and Andean peoples. ballgame was often used as a political move in order to establish a hierarchy between New Haven, CT: Yale U Press, 1993 I would like to thank The University of individuals of a similar region. There is no solid evidence indicating that a sacrifice was Texas Study Abroad Office, The associated with the outcome of the game. Depending on the location as well as the time period Mesoamerica Center, Casa Herrera and the specific rules of the game are varied. It is relevant that some sites placed a larger Scarborough, Vernon L. The Professor Runggaldier for their guidance significance on the game than others. Mesoamerican Ballgame. Tu cs o n : U of and support during this research process. Arizona Press, 1991. Print..