Maya Ballgame and Culture

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Ingredient in rubber balls

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Latex (sap from rubber tree) and juice from morning glory vines

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Subsistence good traded by the Maya

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Corn, beans, cassava, salt… many others

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Source for understanding the ancient Maya ballgame

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Popol Vuh, ballcourts, artwork & artifacts

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Inventor of the ball game in Mesoamerica

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The Olmec

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Most important crop to the Maya

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Maize / corn

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Shape of the ballcourt

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Upper-case I, often had sloping surfaces on the sides

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Reason players wore protective gear and padding

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Because the ball was heavy—often between 6 and 10 pounds. It could leave players bruised!

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Different calendars kept by the Maya

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3: a 260 day calendar, a 365 day calendar, and one of 52 years.

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Prestige goods traded by the Maya

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Jade, cacao, fine cloth, feathers, pelts, honey, oysters, obsidian, and many others.

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Ceiba Tree representation in the Maya creation story

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Heavens (branches), Earth (trunk), Underworld (roots).