Rubber Barons

As the game progressed, the intensity of the crowd grew into a fever pitch. The stark athleticism of the players was only matched by their careful strategy.

The players out there looked like they were a human version of pinball. They passed around a rubber ball they were never allowed to touch with their hands or feet. The ultimate goal was to make the ball pass through a hoop, guarded by the opposing team’s players.

This game was known as Pitz in Classical Maya, and this scene may as well have unfolded 2500 years ago, somewhere in central America. Pitz held deep spiritual meaning, often serving as a ritualistic embodiment of the cosmic struggle between life and death, revered by these civilizations as a sacred link between the earthly realm and the divine.

photo credit: CarlosSneak

The Olmecs—predecessors of the Maya—used rubber to make these ceremonial balls for sport, and for waterproofing things. They passed this knowledge down to the Maya, who passed it down to the Aztecs.

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