Invention of the Game
What was an ingredient in rubber balls?
Latex (sap from rubber tree)
Juice from morning glory vines
Why did the players wear protective gear and padding?
Because the ball was heavy — often between 6 and 10 pounds. It could leave players bruised!
What did the Maya sacrifice more often than human beings?
Animals
Drops of their own blood (bloodletting)
What is a term (vocabulary word) for the people who watched the ballgame?
Spectators
What is one source we have for understanding the ancient Maya ballgame?
Popol Vuh
Ballcourts
Artwork & artifacts
What do we think the stone rings on the wall were for?
What do we think the stone rings on the wall were for?
What might the ball in the game symbolize as part of a ritual?
The sun
Why do carvings sometimes show ballplayers almost lying on the ground?
Because they had to get low to the ground quite often to hit low balls with their hips.
Who invented the ball game in Mesoamerica?
The Olmecs
Other than protective gear, what did players wear during games?
Fancy headdresses
Sandals
Jewelry
What physical geographical feature did the Maya admire?
Mountains
What does the location of ballcourts in early Maya cities tell us about their beliefs or values?
They were important (central).
They had a religious connection (next to temples).
What was the shape of the ballcourt?
Upper-case I
Often had sloping surfaces (ramps) on the sides
What happened to some losers (or losing captains) of the game?
Decapitation (human sacrifice)
The Maya used the sun to help them determine ...
How to tell time
To create the Maya Calendar
Why do we think that Maya women also played the ballgame?
We’ve found ceramic figures showing women dressed for the game.
What were the Maya re-enacting through the ball game?
Struggle between life and death
Struggle between Hero Twins & Gods of Death
Battle between day and night
Battle between good and evil
Why did the Maya sometimes sacrifice a ball player?
To keep the gods happy and return their gifts. Or to ensure the harvest (rebirth of maize).
A lot of the gods worshipped by the Maya were painted in the form of..
Animals
Where was the ball game played?
All over Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador) and the Caribbean