tlachtli (Mdz36r)

The ball court was a sacred space in Nahua (and, more generally, Mesoamerican) belief systems. The colors and quadripartite divisions may well have a cosmic reading. The varying location of the four colors associated with the quadrants is notable (see the attestations for some examples), even if the four colors remain the same (red, yellow, turquoise, and green). The presence of rings, through which balls likely passed, is an important detail to notice. Not all ball courts have or had rings (see for example this court at Monte Albán, Oaxaca). In our glyph image here, the rings appear to be horizontal, perhaps something like a basketball hoop today, but more often they were vertical, and the ball went through the hoop from the sides. For various images of vertical rings, see our blog. The ball was rubber and it bounced through the court somewhat symbolically, reminiscent of the sun in movement. Decapitated heads also had an association with the ball and ball game, and skull racks (tzompantli), too. See our online Nahuatl dictionary for further information about the term tlachtli.