By: Mayan of La Corona, Department of el Petén, Guatemala Limestone (AD 600-750).
The Maya civilization inhabited the lands of Central America and Mexico such as modern-day Yucatan, Tabasco, Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. This artifact depicts a Maya ball player ready to strike a ball. The ball player’s pose shows that this game heavily depended on the use of the whole body, particularly the hips, to strike the ball. The ball player is wearing a mask, headdress, a leather or wooden yoke belt, and a chest protector called palmas. The heavy gear that the ball players wore indicated that protection was necessary in this game because most of these games ended with blood. The reason that this game was filled with violence is because of the rubber filled ball that was about two feet in diameter that could literally knock out the player. The panel is carved from limestone and comes from the royal center of La Corona. The exquisite material that the panel is carved from and the location that it was carved in shows the importance of this ball game in Maya civilization. The figure on the panel seems noble and divine-like showing that this ball game was used for religious and ritual reasons. In fact, this panel was carved around 600-750 AD when the Maya civilization was dominated by the imperial city of Calakmul. Many Calakmul kings visited La Corona for its fortunes and amazing ball courts. The winner of the ball games was believed to be favored by the gods. The headdress also has a jaguar figure which is important because the jaguar was a symbol of strength in Mayan civilization. The idea that most of these games ended with the death or severe injury of the player depicted the gruesome rules of this game.The gruesome rules of the ball game, the various gears worn, and the religious symbols depicted in the panel demonstrated the importance of strength and sacrifice in terms of pleasing the Mayan gods.
This artifact tells us that even Native American cultures such as the Mayan culture had an establishment of a social hierarchy. This game was played by individuals of different social classes down the social hierarchy pyramid. The interesting fact about this ball game is that it was played by women, children, and nobles alike. This meant that this game was somewhat an equalizer in the social hierarchy because the loser of the game would often be used as sacrifice to please the gods. This is also important because it portrays the method of settling disputes between rival Native American societies. Native American societies settled their disputes by playing this ball game because the winner of the game aimed to kill or injure the rival in a way that seemed legal in Mayan civilization. This was a loop hole in which rivals could legally settle disputes rather than illegally causing public bloodshed. The ball game had religious purposes as well as political purposes of settling a dispute between rival communities.
This broadens our narrative of American history because it shows the diversity and unity that was present before European colonization of the Americas. This sport was widely practiced in Mesoamerica/ Caribbean and many other similar sports were used in religious practices in other parts of America. The museum administrator told us that the museum was divided into 10 regions based on different beliefs, traditions, and laws. The practice of this sport in Mesoamerica further proved the point that even though diversity was found throughout America prior to colonization, similar sports and religious beliefs would unite regions of Native American cultures.
