Ball game yoke,

1000–500 BCE

Although the ball game was played throughout Mexico and Central America, no region gave it more attention than Veracruz—in part because the rubber-tree sap used to make the balls is prevalent in the humid tropical lowlands along the coast. Most regional variants of the game shared several basic features: the use of a solid rubber ball; a ball court consisting of a narrow alleyway with sloped walls, sometimes with enclosed end zones; and two teams, each with two or three members who wore specialized protective gear. Only the upper arms, thighs, and torso of a player could strike the ball, and each of these areas bore its own type of protection made of cloth, deer hide, or wood. Heavy stone replicas of ball game gear likely served as trophies for the victors in noble bouts of the game. Frequently made of precious greenstone, such replicas also may have been created as works of art to be wagered, as gambling was a significant component of Mesoamerican ball games. Some sculptures include elaborate relief carving, often portraying bruised and battered individuals, who may represent captive players. Others portray identical youthful faces, possibly mythical hero twins who played the ball game against the lords of the underworld. Smaller stone replicas of ball courts and of balls also were created, especially during Aztec times, and placed in dedicatory caches to consecrate new ball courts.