Word count :1520 Jacob Blenkinsopp HY 103 Mr. Ragland October 2, 2014 The Importance of the Invention of the Mayan Ball Game and Its Religious Significance The Mayan Ball Game is thought to have stemmed from Mayan mythology. It is thought to have originated in southern Mexico around 3700 years ago. The games usually took place is specific I-shaped buildings. There are thought to be around 1,300 known ball courts in existence in Mesoamerica. Although it is thought to have stemmed from Mayan mythology, all of the major civilizations of Mesoamerica played the game, based on archaeological evidence. This included the Olmec, the Toltec, Maya, and the Aztec. This ball game was much more than a game. It became a means of managing conflict and also …show more content…
The Mayan version of the game is not very well documented and is for the most part a mystery. There have been many archeological discoveries that have led to the belief that the ball game is connected to Mayan religious mythologies. Due to the fact that no official ball courts have been uncovered, archeologists have come to the conclusion that the ball game no longer existed by the time the Spanish made their arrival in Mesoamerica in and around the sixteenth century. The Maya religious narrative, the Popol Vuh, is known as one of the most compelling documentations of just how important this game was to the Maya. The game was not only a sport, it also provided clues for the mythological and religious interpretations of the ball game. Michael Coe was one of the many that documented the religious significance of the Popul Vuh myth. Michael Coe is an American archaeologist, epigrapher and author. He is primarily known for his research of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican studies and also works on the Maya civilization. Linda Schele, who was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography, was responsible for reconstructing the ritual context of the ballgame that was told in the Popul Vuh. The Mayans framed the Popul Vuh as their understanding of life and death. Schele believed that the ball game served as a religious reenactment of the participation of the gods in the changing of the seasons. The …show more content…
Fourteen rubber balls were discovered in the shrine of El Manati in Veracruz. It is speculated that these balls were deposited over a long period of time beginning around 1600 BC. The oldest example of a ballcourt discovered the date was build around 1400 BC at the site of Paso de la Amada. This was an important Formative site that was in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. This also held the first consistent imagery. It included ballplaying costumes and paraphernalia. This was discovered from the San Lorenzo Horizon of the Olmec civilization. Historic records have shown that the Aztecs and the Maya used the ball game for many more reasons that entertainment. They used it as a means to solve hereditary issues, wars, to tell the future, and also to make important ritual and political