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The Ballgame at Baking Pot, Belize: An Analysis of the Ballcourts at a Maya Civic Centre A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studles in PartiaI Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough� Ontarío. Canada © Copyright Josalyn Ferguson 1999 Anthropology M.A. Program June 1999 National Library Bibliotheque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rueWellington Ottawa ON K1 A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Ganada Yaur file Vorre reférence Our fiJe Narre re/tiranes The author has granted a non­ L' auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Librruy of Canadato Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seU reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L' auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d' auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimés reproduced without the author' s ou autrement reproduits sans son penmSSlOD. autorisation. 0-612-40469-2 Canada ABSTRACT The Ballcourts at Baking Pot: Ana ysis of the Ballgame at a Maya Civie Centre l Josalyn Ferguson While ínterest in the Ma a baIlgame continues to develop, the role or purpose of the y ballcourts ando henee. the ballgame within s ciet remains somewhat Precolumbian Maya o y elllsive. Investigators have traditionally eoncentrated on ethnohistorie. epigraphic and ieonographic data for clues. often overlooking the available architectural evidence. Reeently. archaeologists conducting regional analyses have begun to consider these data. The Maya civic centre of Baking in Belize, Central America. presents an unusual Pot opportunity to examine the role of the b llgame. as it possesses three masonry ballcourts. a Each is unique and has features distinct from those associated with other sites in the Belize Valley. Additionally. the dist tio balIcollrts at Baking Pot appears to be fundamental ribu n of to the role( s) allcou s. This thesis presents an overview of the Mesoamerican and of the b rt ballgame. as as a discussion of the Belize Valley and those sites which possess Maya well allc urts . A detailed examination of the excavated ballcourts at Baking Pot is provided. b o The thesis culminates in a discussion of the meaning and roles of the ballcourts and ballgame at Baking PoL It is argued that by examining the architectural and spatial dynamics of the ballcourts at Baking while considering notions of ideo ogy and Pot, Maya l socio-political complexity, decipherment of the meaning and role of the ballcourtsat Baking Pot is possible. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AH of my field work conducted since 1995on ballcourts wi thin the Belize Valley could not have been undertaken without the consent of the Belize epa ment of Archaeology. and D rt project directors Paul Healy and Jaime Awe (1995 excavations ofthe EBC at Cahal Pech)� Gyles [annone (1996/97 excavations at ual canil ; and Jaime Awe (1997 excavations of X- - ) the NBC at 8aking Pot) . would like to thank the many w nde ul people who have assisted me with my ballcourt 1 o rf research over the years, from the fieId school students who helped me excavate to all of my supervisors. [have worked with Jaime Awe 8 years Jaime's enthusiasm for now. and or archaeology and of the Maya enticed me to follow in his footsteps. Thank you for love f your patience, l eadership. and su port. will never be able to thank you enough for p 1 everything. worked in the field for Gyles [annone for three years, during which t n"le learned the 1 i 1 lo istics of being inv olved in an archaeoIogical p oject. Gyles was pe haps the m g r r ost n uential my academic career in the classroom, where he taught me all know ab t i fl on 1 ou theo . pro mise to continue to be provoked by theory in rny future. Thank you for being t)' 1 a \v o de ul an advisor. n rf "saund-board" d ec al goes to a son for agreeing to on my examining cornrnittee, and Sp i thanks Julia H rri be for contributing her cultural anthropoIogical views helping broade n my research and perspectives and archaeologically specific venues. atherwise a My utmost respect and gratitude goes out to Elizabeth Graham for agreeing to be rny external examiner, especially during a a cular y hectic time. [ owe a great deaL to Liz, as p rti l 1 would not be where am today without her introduction to archaeology, encouragement 1 Ul and assistance over the years. Thank you!! Finally. J would like to thank Paul Healy who. despite the hardships of holding an administrative position, agreed to supervise me during my M .A. Thank you for your continual direction, guidance. support and understanding during an occasionally rocky. but always challengin g, educational experience. The friendly people of Belize, including rny many good friends and colleagues there. aLso deserve special thanks for their continued generosity and tolerance of our yearly treks. Of particular mentíon are Joe Martinez. David " Ciego" Valencia, EveraLd Tut and family, Pete ó' Pacz" Zubrzycki . Bob and Nettie Jones, Ms. Lucky Kamica. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Silva and all the wonderful staff at the Cahal Pech Village. [ would like to thank all of rny wonderful friends and colleagues in the Maya area and at Trent University, whose advice, comments and support have been invaluable, most especially: Sonja Schwake. Tina '-My Pillar of Strength" Christensen, Cameron Griffith. Nadine "Beaner" Gray. Sherry Gibbs, Christophe ""Mappus" Helmke. Jim Aimers. David F. Lee. Jen PiehI, ,óBig" Jirn ConIon, Rhanj u "Wizard" Song o Norbert Stanchly, Keith Prufer. Sam ConnelL David Cruz, Mike Mirror and Vanessa Owen, Jason Yaeger, Minette Penados, Allan Moore, and all of the other graduate students and professors at Trent, and especially the most wonderful secretary ever, Sandi Carro 1 would also like to make special mention and thanks to those whose research and advice helped contribute to my own. incIudi ng: David Driver, Steven McDougal, Jim McGovem. Chris Hartman, Joseph Ball, Richard Leventhal and Wendy Ashmore, Jim Garber, AnabeL Ford, and Elizabeth Graham. Last, and definitely not least, 1 would like to thank the troly most encouraging and Ioving iv famiiy around, most especiaiiy lviy Dad, lvLark Ferguson, my Stepmother Cherrei CampbeiL and my brother, ivíatthew Ferguson. Thank you for your support and for being there for me. i love yOll. v T ABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACf .. .... ... .... ....... " ...... " . ... .. ..... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . II T ABLE OF CONTENTS . v LrST OF RGURES. .. Vlll LIST OF TABLES . ... ... .... ... .... x. CHAPTER l INTRODUCfION [ntrodu cti o n .................... .................. ..... ...... The Ballgame ... .. ... .... .... ... ... ..... 2 The Arcrutecture and Setting . 5 Origíns . .. 13 The Game . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16 Discussion . .... ..... .... ..... .... .... 21 Summary .......... ...... ...... ..... ............... ..... 22 CHAPTER 2 THE BELIZE VALLEY, [TS SITES ANO BALLCOURTS Introduction .... .. ...... ............ ..... ... 27 Con textual Framework .... ... ... .. ... .. 27 Precolumbian Maya and Settlement in the Belize VaUey . ... ...". 28 s .... "...................... 32 The Belize Valley Site andTheir Ballcourts VI Actuncan (Cahal XUX) ........ .. 32 B lackman Eddy . ..... ... ... ... .. ..... 34 Buenavista Del Cayo . .. .. .. .. .. .. 35 Cahal Pech . ...... .... ..... .... ... ..... 37 El Pilar . 39 Las Ruinas De Arenal ... .... .. .. .... .... 41 North Caracol Fann .................... ................ 42 Ontario Village . 43 Pae bi tun ............................................ 44 X-ual-canil .. ..... .... ... .... .. .... .. .... .. 46 Xunantunich . ... ... .... ... .. ..... .. .... 48 Oiscussion . .. ... ... .. ... ... ... ..... ...... 50 Surnmary .. .......................... ................. ...... 54 CHAPTER3 THE MAYA CIVIC CENTRE OF BAKINGPOT ANO ITS 8ALLCOURTS lntroduction . ....... .... ... ... ... .... ... 71 8aking Pot . .... ... .......... ......... .... .... ... 71 History of ArchaeoLogicallnvestigations at Baking Pot . 74 O.G. Ricketson ... ..... ... .... ... ..... .... .. 74 A.H. Anderson ..... ...... ..... ... ..... .... .. 76 G.R. Willey, W.Bullard. 1.8. Glass and 1. Gifford ... ... 76 W. Bullard and M. Ricketson BuHard .... .. ....... .. .. ... 77 J.1.Awe and the Belize VaIley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project . ... ... .... ... 78 The Ballcourts at Baking Pot ... .... .... ..... ... .. ... .. 79 VII . Structure n-o BallcourtComplex . ....... ........ _ . _ .. ... 80 Plaza 2 Ballcourt (Mounds F and H) ........................ 82 The North Ballcourt (NBC) .............................. 89 Stru cture L Excavations 90 Structure K Excavations ........... ........ ...... .... 92 Playing Alley Excavations .... ........ ..... .......... 95 Oiscussion 99 100 Sllmmary ...................................... .... ......... CHAPTER4 DISCUSSION . .. .. .. 114- Introduction ... _ .. _ . Maya Ideology and the Ballgame . I L4 1 Soci o-Political Complexity and Ballcourts in the Belize Valley . ... _ . 22 Architecture and the Maya of the Belize Valley . 134 Settlement Pattems
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