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Pastimes in the
Place of Reeds
Posted 13 January
The Ballgame
A form of the ballgame was played all through Mesoamerica (Miller & Taube, 1993; Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). The ballgame is likely to have originated in the low lying rubber producing areas of Mexico before 1400 BC. By 1000 BC it had reached Central Mexico and was throughout Mesoamerica by 300 BC. A version is still played today. The hip-ball game was the most common type although variations also existed where the ball was struck by a wooden stick, racquets, bats and batons, handstones, and the forearm, perhaps in combination
The "Hip-ball" Ballgame
The most common ballgame was the hip-ball game (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). Little is know of the rules. Modern-day ulama resembles a net-less volleyball with each team confined to one half of the court hitting the ball back and forth using only the hips until one team fails to return it or the ball leaves the court (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). Earlier point scoring varied by region and period but known examples include:
- A player lost points if they:
- let the ball bounce more than twice before returning it to the other team,
- let the ball go outside the boundaries of the court
- tried and failed to pass the ball through one of the stone rings
- A player gained points if
- the ball hit the opposite end wall
- hit the stone ring but didn't go through
- put the ball through a ring
- A player won the game immediately if they
- put the ball through a ring
The hip-ball itself was made of rubber (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). It was roughly 20 cm in diameter and weighed between 3 and 4 kg. This made it about the size of a modern volleyball but 15 times heavier. Not surprisingly the players typically suffered bad bruising and could die if hit in the wrong place.
The loincloth was the universal uniform but not surprisingly players wore protective padding in areas (upper arm, thigh, and hips) used to hit the ball (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). The basic protection was pads on the hips. Some players wore a "yoke", i.e. girdle, to protect the hips, and upright rods of various shapes inserted into the yoke to give some protection to the chest. Helmets and knee pads could also be wore. In some areas players wore a knee pad only on the right.
The game was played in a long and narrow court with, typically, a 4:1 ratio (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). The game was played along the length of the court. Social games would have been played on adhoc fields but important or ritual games were played in a masonry court. These had sloping, horizontal and/or vertical walls. Originally the courts had open ends but over time they became an "I" shape, with the end zones being used for player to rest or forming up. After 1000 AD the Maya added a stone ring to the centre of the long side walls. The ring became standard through Mesoamerica. Sending the ball through the rings scored points or gained immediate victory. Given some Mayan examples have the stone ring 6 metres above the floor scoring a "goal" must have been rare.
The game was played by even sized team with 2-4 players a side (Miller and Taube; Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). It was possible for two players to play three, and other ratios were possible. In the large ball court at Chichen Itza there is a relief showing seven players a side. The number of players probably depended on the size of the ball court and the context.
The ballgame was played by amateurs and professions, for sport and as part of religious ritual (Miller & Taube, 1993). The outcome was the subject of considerable gambling. Goals and court boundaries were marked by posts with round stones on top.
Generally it is men and gods that played the ballgame; there is only one depiction - in the Maya area - of woman playing the game (Miller & Taube, 1993). The game's association with war may explain the gender bias (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame).
The ritual ballgame was associated with sacrifice (Miller & Taube, 1993). The ball itself probably represents a skull or head, and some players were decapitated after a ritual game. Although Miller and Taube say the winning captain decapitated the losing captain it is not actually clear who sacrificed whom.
Mayan Ballgame
"Hockey" Ballgame
A version only depicted in Central Mexico, including at Teotihuacan, has the players using a bat resembling a field hockey stick to hit the ball (Miller & Taube, 1993). In fact Teotihuacan is the only major centre in Mesoamerica that lacks a masonry ball court (Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame). There are depictions of ball courts but none have been found yet. It is likely that the hockey version of the game dominated the traditional "hip" ballgame in Teotihuacan and the area under Teotihuacan influence (e.g. Matacapan or Tikal in the Mayan lands). Given the mural evidence the hip-ball game was still played in these areas but possibly just as a social game. Unlike the hip-ball players the hockey players at Teotihuacan wore skirts. The hockey field had large stone monuments at both ends. The ball was slightly larger and heavier than a modern baseball.
References
Miller, M., & Taube, K. (1993). An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. London: Thames & Hudson.