by Mahmoud Banawan

The ancient Mayan ball game called Pok-A-Tok, also known as Pitz, that was mentioned at the beginning of the Popol Vuh and appeared in the film The Road to El Dorado, has a large cultural significance. The game goes back roughly 3,500 years and it’s believed to have been invented by the Olmecs. The ancient Mayans also loved the game and it was played at various times as a normal sport would be played. However, sometimes Pitz games would be massive spectacles for the whole community to watch and in these cases, the losers were executed and sacrificed, similar to gladiator fights in the Colosseum. In the Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins played Pitz and the court was directly above Xibalba, the Mayan equivalent of an underworld. “Someone has begun to play again over our heads. Have they no shame, stomping about up there?” One Death and Seven Death said after the twins started playing Pitz. Sacrifices to Xibalba were seen as a way to ensure a good crop season so it makes sense that they’d have “holy games” where the losers were sacrificed on the field. 

The exact rules of the game are unknown, but the Spaniards who saw Aztecs playing the game in the 1500s said that two teams of two to five players had to keep the ball up in the air without the use of their hands or feet. Players usually used their upper arms, thighs, or hips to hit the ball. The balls were solid rubber that varied in weight and size but could get up to eight or nine pounds so injury, and sometimes death, was common if the player hit the ball wrong. Around 1200 A.D, stone hoops were added high on the walls (up to six meters in the air). It was rare to get the ball through the hoop, but if a player did, it was an instant win for their team. 

This model was designed in a 3D drawing application, then printed on a 3D printer.