Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Stone Ring at Ball Court

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Stone Ring at Ball Court Oct 22nd 2011, 10:03 This photograph is of the stone rings on the inside wall of the Great Ball Court. Several different ball games were played by various groups in similar ballcourts throughout Mesoamerica. The most wide-spread game was with a rubber ball and, according to the paintings at various sites, a player used his hips to keep the ball in the air as long as possible. According to ethnographic studies of more recent versions, points were scored when the ball hit the ground in the opposing players' part of the courtyard. The rings were tenoned into the upper side walls; but passing the ball through such a ring, in this case 20 feet off the ground, must have been darned near impossible. Ballgame equipment included in some cases padding for the hips and knees, a hacha (a hafted blunt axe) and a palma, a palm-shaped stone device attached to the padding. It is unclear what these were used for. The sloping benches on the side of the court were probably sloped to keep the ball in play. They are carved with reliefs of the victory celebrations. These reliefs are each 40 feet long, in panels at three intervals, and they all show a victorious ball team holding the severed head of one of the losers, seven snakes and green vegetation representing the blood issuing from the player's neck. This is not the only ball court at Chichén Itzá; there are at least 12 others, most of which are smaller, traditionally Maya sized ball courts.

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