Photo Collection of Stephanie Wood and Robert Haskett

Monte Albán

The “ballcourt” in Monte Albán. The ballcourt has the classic shape of an upper case “I.” The walls, which slope inward, probably would have had a smooth plaster surface. This court would have had its peak usage about 1500 years ago. We do not know how the game was played, but a ball game called “pelota” (Spanish for “ball”) is still played in parts of the Valley of Oaxaca. The ball is made from natural rubber, about the size of a softball. It is hit back and forth between two teams, wearing leather mitts. Both teams try to keep the ball in the air, but when it falls the position is marked and territory is lost to the opposing team. Eventually one team or the other loses all of its territory.

[Source: John M.D. Pohl, Exploring Mesoamerica, Places in Time Series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp.43-44.]

For examples of markers used in Maya ball games (possibly different from what was used at Monte Albán), see: http://www.arqueomex.com/S5N6MNASalArqMaya2.html.

© 1982, Robert Haskett.