The Mayan Ball Court

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

“Both the Aztecs and the Mayans had a version of the game of basketball. The Mayans played the first basketball game around 500 years ago, although their ball was a human skull of a conquered foe!” (Faurschou, “History of basketball”). Aspects of the games included today’s basketball, American football, and

When people think of sports, some of the first things that come to mind are ball games such as football and basketball, cheerleaders, and expensive halftime shows. We rarely think about the origins of these organized games, which date back thousands of years to the subtropical regions of Central America. Today’s sports fans have nothing on the Mayans. The Mesoamerican Ball Game is the oldest known sport in the Americas. It was a ritual, political and social activity that involved the whole community. The basic form “consisted of two parallel mounds separated by a playing field, but the ball court evolved and took on an important variation with end zones forming an I shape” (Foster, 2002, p.233). These structures had sloping walls and benches, where

The Maya has a rich culture, tradition and life styles such as lifeways through costumes, rituals, diet, handicrafts, language, housing, or other features that would attract tourist. It is estimated that between 35 and 40 percent of tourism today is represented by cultural tourism or heritage tourism. However, in some places such as Roaten Island on Honduras and would use that tourism as an advantage and would create fake Maya artifacts and invent an idealized Maya past for the island.

I believe the most remarkable achievement was how the Mayan were able to create and build their cities.The Maya lived in mesoamerica, part of Central America including central Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The Mayan had over 2,500 Maya locations according to Document B in the packet The Maya: What Was Their Most Remarkable Achievement. How is it possible that the Mayan were able to make over 2,500 cities? They had populations in tens of thousands also according to Document B in the packet The Maya: What Was Their Most Remarkable Achievement. One of the largest Mayan cities had a population of 70,000.

The Mayans were hardworking people who lived in Mesoamerica. A thousand years ago before the spanish arrived, the maya built a great civilization. What many seem to question is what was so remarkable about what this group did.The four criterias scale, genius, physical effort and significance will be examined to see which was actually remarkable. People today argue over which Mayan achievement was the greatest - the trade network, numbers, calendars, and city-buildings , however true to say is that the building cities was the achievement that set the group off to great contributions.

Description/Source: For Mayans, making art was something they did on a regular basis. Art had been made for over 30,000 years. Art was a vital part of everyday life and a huge part of

(Sources C and E) are about ‘Human Sacrifice’ and ‘Spanish Siege of Tenochtitlan’. They evidently show the Aztecs attention to detail to make the drawings look so realistic and lifelike. The two art pieces show age and a great deal of expression. The art looks alive, though, it is about death. This reflects the Aztecs desire to elude loss and

The Ancient Maya are recognized for numerous accomplishments. Among their accomplishments are the techniques they contributed to the Maya beauty rituals. Archaeological excavation penetrates the Mayan people and their commitment to revolutionizing beauty. In Extreme Makeover, Mary Miller determines the considerable lengths the ancient Mayan civilization endured to reconstruct their bodies. They devoted endless measures of worth and persevered through unimaginable agony to create a beautiful self-image. Comparable to our society, the Mayan people satisfied the illusion of appearance by adopting the artistic imagery that conformed their society. “What did ancient Maya men and women hope to see when they looked in their pyrite mirrors?” A source of inspiration came from the ruler K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, or Pakal the Great, who reigned over the city of Palenque from 612 to 683 A.D. Thorough examination into the remains of Pakal uncovers the definitive beauty that influenced many ancient Mayan men. ¬Through their artistry and the examination of their remains we can begin to comprehend what propelled their quest for physical perfection.

The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the

The Mayans were a society filled with many athletes/sportsmen. They had large ballcourts to play different games in. The Chichen Itza was one of the ballcourts used for the various activities in the Mayan lifestyle. One of the sports played by the Mayans was called Pok-a-tok. The objective of the game was to hit a ball into a stone hoop. That may sound pretty simple , but players had to bounce it with leather shields that were attached to that players arms, legs, and chest. The ball could not be physically touched by the player or touch the ground. Players wore yokes which, was a heavy deflector worn around the players waist to help direct the ball. Sometimes it did not matter if you won or lost. The winners or losers of the game could both

Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors

All remnants of the distant past are romantic, but ancient Maya civilization has a special fascination. It is a "lost" civilization, whose secrets lie deep in the mysterious tropical forest. The style of Maya architecture and sculpture seems alien and bizarre.

This refers to a period when the Mayan civilization flourished, and extended from 300 to roughly 900 A.D (Miller 52). Because of our image of classical antiquity, the word “Classic” implies the heights of cultured accomplishment. In the classic period, we envision musicians