What is the ball court at Chichen Itza?
What is the ball court at Chichen Itza?
The Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza is the largest playing field in Mesoamerica. It measures 168 by 70 metres (551 by 230 feet) and the walls are 8 metres (26 feet) high. Here the game of Pok-a-Tok was played, the most popular and highly revered sport among the Maya.
Where is Great ball court Chichen Itza?
The Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá (late-classic), located in the Yucatán Peninsula, hold the largest ball court in Mesoamerica. The Ball Court symbolized the underworld in the Maya cosmovision and appears in the Maya creation myth as depicted in The Popol Vuh (Book of Council).
How big is the Chichen Itza ball court?
545 feet
The ball court (for playing the game tlachtli [Mayan: pok-ta-pok]) is 545 feet (166 metres) long and 223 feet (68 metres) wide, the largest such court in the Americas.
What game did they play in Chichen Itza?
The ballgame was played within a large stone structure consisting of a long narrow playing field flanked by two walls. The game was played by two teams of two to four players. The ball had to be kept in the air by hitting it with the hips, thighs or upper arms, and bouncing it off the side walls.
What was the ball court used for?
Ball Courts Though primarily used as a location for the ball games, archeological evidence also indicates that they were likely used in other spectator sports such as wrestling as well as feasts. The game was an important part of the social fabric in the Mayan world.
What was a ball court used for in Mayan society?
In this way, the ball court was a portal to Xibalba — the Mayan underworld. The Maya used the game as a stand‐in for warfare, settling territory disputes and hereditary issues, and to foretell the future. Captives of wars were forced to play (undoubtedly rigged) games that resulted in their sacrifice when they lost.
How do you win Pok in Tok?
Working as a team, try to hit the center of the circle on your team’s target with the rubber ball without using your hands. The other team will try to take the ball away from you to hit their target, but they also cannot use their hands. The first team to hit the target wins a point.
What is special about Chichen Itza?
At its peak, Chichen Itza was the most populous city in the entire Yucatan Peninsula. Even today, its ruins reflect a great civilization filled with architectural marvels and ancient secrets. Chichen Itza is also home to several cenotes (natural pits of groundwater), including the Xtoloc Cenote or “Sacred Cenote”.
When was the Chichen Itza ball court built?
864 A.D.
The bases of the structures—essentially, look-out boxes set atop the walls, each one with a small slit running through it —had been detected before, but archaeologist hadn’t been sure what they were used for. Since the ball court was built around 864 A.D., the boxes and the stairs leading to them had crumbled.
Why is Pok-A-Tok sacred?
The Ball Game, called pok-a-tok, was sacred to the Maya. In the myth, the hero twins had to battle the gods of Page 2 Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies death from the underworld by playing a ball game. The ball is believed to represent the moon and the sun and the court represents the earth.
How big is the ball court at Chichen Itza?
The Mayans were great sportsmen and build huge ballcourts to play all their games. The Great Ballcourt of Chichen Itza is 225 feet wide and 545 feet long overall. It has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the blue sky.
What is the acoustics like at Chichen Itza?
This being the main one, also considered the largest in Mesoamerica. This specific court exhibits very interesting acoustics like a conversation at one end can be heard 135 m away at the other and like in many other buildings not only in Chichen Itza, a clap produces multiple loud echoes.
Where is the largest ball court in Mesoamerica?
The Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá (late-classic), located in the Yucatán Peninsula, hold the largest ball court in Mesoamerica. The Ball Court symbolized the underworld in the Maya cosmovision and appears in the Maya creation myth as depicted in The Popol Vuh (Book of Council).
What does the ball court represent in the Mayan culture?
The Ball Court symbolized the underworld in the Maya cosmovision and appears in the Maya creation myth as depicted in The Popol Vuh (Book of Council). The Grand Ball Court of Chichén had multiple purposes and was an important site of sociopolitical power.
