COLLECTION NAME:
Maya Art and Architecture
Record
Filename:
Mayan Ball Game1.jpg
Identifier:
Mayan Ball Game1
Creator:
Unknown
Style or Period:
Pre-Columbian
City or Region:
Cancun
Site:
Quitana Roo
Country:
Mexico
Language:
Spanish
Subject:
Maya
Subject:
architecture
Subject:
sports
Subject:
games
Description:
Courts were usually a part of a city's sacred precinct, a fact which suggests the ball game was more than just a game. Early Preclassic playing courts were simple, flattened-earth rectangles but by the Late Formative Period (300 BCE onwards) these evolved into more imposing areas which consisted of a flat rectangular surface set between two parallel stone walls. Each side could have a large vertical stone ring set high into the wall. The walls could be perpendicular or sloping away from the players and the ends of the court could be left open but defined using markers or, in other layouts, a wall closed off the playing space to create an I-shaped court. The court at Monte Alban, Oaxaca is a typical example of the I-shaped court. The length of the court could vary but the 60 m long court at Epiclassic El Tajin (650-900 CE) represents a typical size. The flat court surface often has three large circular stone markers set in a line down the length of the court. Some of these markers from Maya sites have a quatrefoil cartouche indicating the underworld entrance which has led to speculation that the game may have symbolised the movement of the sun (the ball) through the underworld (the court) each night. Alternatively, the ball may have represented another heavenly body such as the moon and the court was the world.
Course Number:
11234
Instructor:
Karen James
