Mexico or Guatemala, Usumacinta river area,
late classic Maya culture
Ball court panel
c. 650­800 A.D.
Limestone
23.9 x 43 cm
Ada Turnbull Hertle Fund, 1965.407

This relief panel represents a ballgame that the Maya people played with a solid rubber ball. The players’ headdresses represent different animals and helped identify each player, just as baseball uniforms tell us a player’s team. The Maya also used protective gear. Today, no one knows what the rules of this game were, but we believe that the players were not supposed to touch the ball with their hands, and instead bounced the ball off other parts of their bodies.