Played since 1400 b.C., this prehispanic game was practiced in a lot of Mesoamerican cultures. Do you want to know more?
- WHAT IS THE “JUEGO DE PELOTA”
- WHY IT WAS PLAYED?
- WHERE WAS IT PLAYED?
- THE “JUEGO DE PELOTA” IN OAXACA
WHAT IS THE BALL GAME?
It is a game that arose before the arrival of spaniards, in the game 2 teams that were composed of 1 to 7 members, played in a special construction for this game.
In the game the teams had to try to put a rubber ball (the rubber came from a tree) through a decorated ring of rock.
The ball could only be touched with certain parts of the body like hips, arms, etc, but not with hands, feet or head.
The ball game had a lot of importance, we can see the importance of this game in archaeological sites, since the mesoamerican pos-classic, there is not one archaeological site without a “juego de pelota”.
WHY IT WAS PLAYED?
There are different reasons, but one of them is because of astrological rituals, and also for conflict solution.
WHERE WAS IT PLAYED?
This activity had a special place, this construction could be of different sizes but the original figure was kept, the building had a figure like an I, like the one below and it was made of rock.
THE “JUEGO DE PELOTA” IN OAXACA
The antique urban centers of Oaxaca, like Monte Albán, Dainzú and others have the ball games constructions where the ball game was played.
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