Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Ball Game
The recreation most favored by the Maya was
juego de pelota
(a ball game), courts for
which can still be seen at many archaeological sites. It's thought that the players had to try
to keep a hard rubber ball airborne using any part of their body other than their hands, head
or feet. In some regions, a team was victorious if one of its players hit the ball through
stone rings with holes little larger than the ball itself.
MAYA WRITING
During the Classic period, the Maya lowlands were divided into two major linguistic groups. In the Yucatán Penin-
sula and Belize people spoke Yucatec, and in the eastern highlands and Motagua Valley of Guatemala they spoke a
language related to Chol. People in El Petén likely spoke both languages. Scholars have suggested that the written
language throughout the Maya world was a form of Chol.
Long before the Spanish conquest, the Maya developed a sophisticated hieroglyphic script which is partly phon-
etic (glyphs representing sounds), and partly logographic (glyphs representing words).
