| This is a detail from one of the walls of the ball court at Chichen Itza. The ball courts are one of the most distinctive features of the Mayan ruins and also one of the most contraversial aspects of Mayan civilization for scholars. The theories on the ball game range generally agree that it had a ceremonial function and might have involved movements of the players which echoed the movements of the sun and the planets in the heavens. The aim of the game appears to have been to hit a ball through stone rings set quite high up on both walls of the court (which is shaped like an alley, so the rings oppose each other). What is unclear is whether the players wore any protective gear and what the function of the racquet that the existing sculptures show the players holding was. Historians disagree whether the victors in the game were rewarded, or whether they were sacrificed. It is thought that captives were forced to play the game, perhaps for their lives. |
