The head, the pumpkin, the resin and the blood. Different meanings of the rubber ball across the centuries

Thanks to many ceramic representations and reliefs datable especially during the Classic Period, we can try to understand the size of the ball used during the game, also with a comparison with the available archaeological data – which cover a time span ranging from the Preclassic to the Postclassic time – and with the writings of the first chroniclers. Thanks also to comparisons with written sources such as the Popol Vuh we know the symbolical connection between the ball and the head. In particular, the episode of the substitution of Hunahpu head with a pumpkin, together with some representantion from the Classic Period, shows the connection of the head and the ball with the Sun, giving to the ballgame an agrarian and cosmological dimension. The written sources also inform us about the word used to refer the rubber and ball, and the connection with the resin and the blood as burnt offerings. By putting together all these sources, it is possible to understand the different meanings that the rubber ball have in ancient, colonial and modern Maya culture.