Patolli

Patolli is a board game that originated in the pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and was played by different peoples with similar rules. The game is similar to the Indian Pachisi and the Korean Yut.

History

Proven the game with the founders Teotihuacán, with the Toltecs, the Aztecs and the Maya was known.

The game sometimes very high bets have been made, in extreme cases, which concerned their own home or the family and sometimes led into slavery.

In 1521 it came to the Spanish conquest to a ban of the game since the Spanish ecclesiastical authority saw in a pagan game with strong religious significance. Many of the then existing play mats and accessories were destroyed by the Spaniards, and people that violated the game ban were punished severely.

Symbolism and Religion

The game probably has to calendar cycles related symbolism in itself. Thus it symbolized the movement of the heavenly bodies. Also striking is the number 4, which plays a major role. There are four fields in the middle, it has four dice beans (after Glonegger ) and four game arms. Possibly. symbolizes the cardinal points and / or the seasons.

The Indians believed that the God Macuilxochitl influenced the game. He was called during the game. Macuilxochitl is the " God of the five flowers". The number 5 is also included in board. There are at arms twice per five fields of the selected fields to the middle. In Parlett there were five beans for dice.

Game play

Patolli was on mats ( petate called ) played with an X as a field of four cruciform arms. The playing field consists of a total of 64 fields. The railways have each two times eight fields that are arranged in parallel. In the center are four more boxes. Played two people or two groups against each other. Diced (called Patolli ) with four or five beans, which were marked on one side with a white dot or with a hole, the game pieces were made of red and blue beans. It now had its own figures from the center are conducted from three arms before you win. On one arm remained one of the opponents spared, two arms but there was a possibility of collision.

It is not entirely clear which number had the bean throws. Probably these were the correct moves per litter:

Which could not be released as well, the functions of the fields which are behind the triangular marks. Whether they are just as Zugfelder served, or if they had a different meaning, one does not know. If it were the case that this did not serve as Zugfelder, the game has thus a total of only 44 Zugfelder.

Variants

During archaeological excavations Patolli fields were found that were scratched into the plaster floor, so in Teotihuacán, Palenque and Tikal as well as in western Mexico. However, the games have a different pattern. Even in historical times played the Tarascan Michoacán with a similar playing patterns.