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One of the common links of the Mayan culture of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize is the game played with a rubber ball, about which we have learned from several sources. [1] The Maya ballgame was played with big stone courts. The ball court itself was a focal point of Maya cities and symbolized the city's wealth and power.
Ballcourts vary considerably in size. One of the smallest, at Tikal site, is only one-sixth the size of the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza. Despite the variation in size, ballcourts' playing alleys are generally the same shape, with an average length-to-width ratio of 4-to-1, although some regional variation is found: Central Mexico, for example, has slightly longer playing alleys, and the ...
The ball in front of the goal during a game of pok-ta-pok, 2006. The Mesoamerican ballgame (Nahuatl languages: ōllamalīztli, Nahuatl pronunciation: [oːlːamaˈlistɬi], Mayan languages: pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC [1] by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica.
The Great Ball Court. Archeologists have identified in Chichen Itza thirteen ballcourts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, [53] but the Great Ball Court about 150 meters (490 ft) to the north-west of the Castillo is the most impressive. It is the largest and best preserved ball court in ancient Mesoamerica. [44]
Layout chart of a typical Mesoamerican ball court. The Mesoamerican ballgame ritual was a symbolic journey between the underworld and the world of the living, and many ball courts are found in the mid-part of the city functioning as a connection between the northern and southern halves of the city. [23] All but the earliest ball courts are ...
In El Tajin, there is a rise in ball-court associated rituals. This site had dozens of ballcourts, and many were associated with ritualistic decapitations due to paraphernalia used in ritual practices. These large ball courts were sites of not only the ballgame, but also for ritualistic practices related to fertility.
One of the ball courts at the site. The site covers about 12 square kilometers. For study purposes it was divided into three large units. The southern part is the best preserved part. The Acropolis (area where the main structures are located, believed to be the shelter of political, economic and religious powers), is a good example of the ...
The artistry of the sculpture of the Late Classic period of Piedras Negras is considered particularly fine. The site has two ball courts and several plazas; there are vaulted palaces and temple pyramids, including one that is connected to one of the many caves on the site. Along the banks of the river is a large boulder with the emblem glyph of ...