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An Analysis of the Ballcourts at a Maya Civic Centre

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An Analysis of the Ballcourts at a Maya Civic Centre The Ballgarne at Baking Pot, Belize: An Analysis of the Ballcourts at a Maya Civic Centre A Thesis Subrnitted to the Cornmittee on Graduate Stridies in Partial Fulfillrnent of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario. Canada O Copyright Josalyn Ferguson 1999 Anthropology M.A. Program June 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*m cf Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. me Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your lils Votre reUrence Our iiie Notre relerenm The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofichelnlm, 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 protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Ballcouris at Baking Pot: Analysis of the Ballgame at a Maya Civic Centre Josalyn Ferguson While interest in the Maya balIgame continues to develop, the role or purpose of the ballcourts and. hence. the ballgame within Precolumbian Maya society remains somewhat eiusive. Investigators have traditionally concentrated on ethnohistoric, epigraphic and iconographie data for clues. often overlooking the available architectural evidence. Recentl y. archaeologists conducting regional analyses have begun to consider these data. The Maya civic centre of Baking Pot in Belize, Central America, presents an unusual opportunity to examine the role of the ballgame. as it possesses three rnasonry baflcourts. Each is unique and has features distinct from those associated with other sites in the Belize Valley. Additionally. the distribiition of ballcourts at Baking Pot appears to be fundamental to the role(s) of the ballcourts. This thesis presents an overview of the Mesoamerîcan and Maya ballgame, as well as a discussion of the Belize Valley and those sites which possess ballcouris. A detailed examination of the excavated ballcourts at Baking Pot is provided. The thesis culminates in a discussion of the meaning and roles of the ballcourts and ballgame at Baking Pot. It is argued that by examining the architectural and spatial dynamics of the ballcourts at Baking Pot, while considering notions of Maya ideology and socio-political complexity, decipherment of the meaning and role of the ballcourts at Baking Pot is possibIe. AI1 of my field work conducted since 1995 on ballcourts within the Belize Valley couid not have been undertaken without the consent of the Belize Department of Archaeology. and project directors Paul Hedy and Jairne Awe ( 1995 excavations of the EBC at Cahal Pech); Gyles lannone ( 1996/97 excavations at X-ual-canil); and Jaime Awe (1997 excavations of the NBC at Baking Pot). 1 would like to thank the many wonderful people who have assisted me with my ballcourt research over the years, from the field school students who helped me excavate to al1 of my supervisors. I have worked with Jairne Awe for 8 years now. Jairne's enthusiasm and love for archaeology and of the Maya enticed me to follow in his footsteps. Thank you for your patience, leadership, and support. i will never be able to thank you enough for everythin_o. I worked in the field for Gyles Iannone for three years, during which the I Iearned the logistics of being involved in an archaeological project. Gyles was perhaps the most influential on my academic career in the classroom, where he taught me al1 1 know about theory. I promise to continue to be provoked by theory in my future. Thank you for being a wonderful "sound-board" and advisor. Special thanks goes to Julia Harrison for agreeing to be on my examining committee, and for contributing her cultural anthropological views and helping broaden my research perspectives and othenvise archaeologically specific avenues. My utmost respect and gratitude goes out to Elizabeth Graham for agreeing to be my extemal examiner, especially dunng a particularly hectic tirne. I owe a great deal to Liz, as I would not be where 1 am today without her introduction to archaeology, encouragement and assistance over the years. Thank you!! Finîlly. 1 would like to thank Paul Healy who. despite the hardships of holding an administrative position, agrecd to supervise me during my M.A. Thank you for your continual direction, guidance. support and understanding durhg an occasionally rocky. but always challenging, 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 mention are Joe Martinez. David -'Ciego" Valencia. Everald Tut and family, Pete "Pacz" Zubrzycki, Bob and Nettie Jones, Ms. Lucky Kamica. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Silva and al1 the wonderful staff at the Cahal Pecli Village. I would like to thank al1 of my 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 Piliar of Strength" Christensen, Carneron Griffith. Nadine "Beaner" Gray. Sherry Gibbs, Christophe "Mappus" Helrnke, Jim Aimers. David F. Lee. Jen Piehl, "Big" Jirn Conlon, Rhanju "Wizard" Song. Norbert Stanchly, Keith Prufer. Sam Connell. David Cruz, Mike Mirror and Vanessa Owen, Jason Yaeger. Minette Penados, Allan Moore. and al1 of the other graduate students and professors at Trent, and especially the most wonderful secretary ever, Sandi Carr. I would also like to make special mention and thanks to those whose research and advice helped contribute to my own, including: David Driver, Steven McDougal, Jirn McGovern. Chris Hartman, Joseph Ball, Richard Leventhal and Wendy Ashrnore, Jim Garber, Anabel Ford, and Elizabeth Graham. Last, and definitely not least, 1 would like to thank the truly most encouraging and loving 1v famiiy around, mos~especiaiiy Xy Yaci, iviark Ferguson. my Siepmoiher Cherrei Sampbeii. and my brother. Matthew Ferguson. Thank you for your support and for being there for me. i love you. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTWCT ..................................-............--. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . - . - . - . - . u TABLE OF CONTENTS . - . - . - . - - . - . v *.- LlST OF RGURES . - . - . ~III LIST OF TABLES . - . - . - . - 5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction . -.. -.. 1 TheBallgame ...................-....-....................... 2 The Architecture and Setting . - . 5 Origins ........................-............................ 13 TheGame ...........................-.......-...-........... 16 Discussion . - . - . 2 1 Surnmary ................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2 THE BELIZE VALLEY, ITS SITES AND BALLCOURTS Introduction . -.. -.. 27 ContextualFramework . -.. -.. -.. 27 Precolumbian Maya and Settlement in the Belize Valley . - . 28 The Belize Valley Sites and Their Ballcourts . 32 Actuncan (Cahal Xux) ...... Blackman Eddy .......... Buenavista Del Czyo ....... CahaI Pech ............. El Pilar ................ Las Ruinas De Arenal ...... North Caraco1 Farm ....... Ontario Viilage ........... Pac bi tun ............... X-ual-canil ............. Discussion .................... Summary ..................... CHAPCER 3 THE MAYA CIVIC CENTRE OF BAEUNG POT AND ITS BALLCOLRTS Introduction ................................................ 71 BakingPot ................................................. 71 History of Archaeological Investigations at Baking Pot ............. 74 O.G. Ricketson .................................... 74 A.H. Anderson .................................... 76 G.R. Willey. W . Bullard . J.B. Glass and J . Gifford ........... 76 W . Bullard and M . Ricketson BulIard ..................... 77 J.J. Awe and the Belize Valley Archaeological ReconnaissanceProject ........................... 78 The Ballcourts at Baking Pot ..................................... 79 vii Structure II-D Ballcourt Complex .......... PIaza 2 Ballcourt (Mounds F and H) ........ The North Bailcourt (NBC) .............. Stmcture L Excavations ............. Structure K Excavations ............. PIaying Aliey Excavations ............ Discussion ................................ Summary ................................. CHAFTER 4 DISCUSSION Introduction ................. Maya Ideology and the BalIgame . Socio-Political Cornplexity and Ballcourts in the Belize Valley ............... Architecture and the Maya of the Belize Valley . Settfement Patterns and the Maya .......... Srimrnary ........................... CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSiONS Introduction ................................................ 143 Baking Pot and Its Ballcourts .................................... 143 Sumrnary ................................ ... ............... 151 REFERENCES CITED ....................................... 1% LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Ballcourt Structural Features ............................ Figure 1.2 Early Ballplayer Figiirines .............................
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