Mayan Ball Game

Chichen Itza, one of the largest sites near Cancun, Mexico, features a massive ball game court, measuring around 150 by 40 feet—bigger than a football field. It’s the largest court in the Mundo Maya. The ball game, that became known as Pok-A-Tok or Pitz to the Maya, was a popular activity among all Mesoamerican peoples and originated around 3,000 B.C., serving a ritualistic purpose for the ancient Maya.

The game is featured in many myths, often representing the struggle between deities of day and night or the clashes between sky gods and underworld rulers. The ball symbolized celestial bodies like the sun, moon, or stars, while the rings represented sunrise, sunset, or equinoxes.

There were two teams, and the number of players varied depending on the region where the game was played. Most ball courts featured two sloping parallel walls with three round disks known as markers or a single stone ring positioned at right angles to the ground.

The players scored by touching the markers or passing the ball—which was 50 centimeters in diameter and weighed more than two pounds—through the rings. The markers or rings were several yards above the ground, and the players could only touch the ball with their elbows, knees, or hips. Scoring was considered such a feat that it usually ended the game.

These games could go on for days.  The losing team was usually sacrificed.