A Mesoamerican ballcourt ( Nahuatl languages : tlachtli ) is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for more than 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame , particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. More than 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone. Although there is a tremendous variation in size, in general all ballcourts are the same shape: a long narrow alley flanked by two walls with horizontal, vertical, and sloping faces. Although the alleys in early ballcourts were open-ended, later ballcourts had enclosed end-zones, giving the structure an -shape when viewed from above.
31-516: Pueblo Grande may refer to: Pueblo Grande Ruin and Irrigation Sites , an archaeological site and park in Phoenix, Arizona Pueblo Grande de Nevada , an archaeological site near Overton, Nevada [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
62-502: A Maya version of stoop ball . The association of stairs and the ballgame is not well understood. Linda Schele and Mary Miller propose that the depictions record historic events and in particular record a "form of play ... distinct from the game conducted on the courts", one that "probably followed immediately after[ward] on steps adjacent to the ballcourts". Other researchers are skeptical. Marvin Cohodas, for example, proposes that
93-544: A backdrop of stairs. Conversely, Maya staircases will occasionally feature reliefs of ballgame scenes or ballgame-related glyphs on their risers . The most famous of these are the Hieroglyphic Stairs at Structure 33 in Yaxchilan , where 11 of the 13 risers feature ballgame-related scenes. In these scenes, it appears as if the players were actually playing the ball against the stairs in what would seem to be
124-459: A large platform mound with retaining walls. This massive structure contains over 20,000 cubic meters (yards) of fill. There were also many dwellings, and at least three ball courts . The Hohokam archaeological culture developed some of the largest and most advanced canal systems in all of pre-Columbian North America. They were the first people to practice irrigated agriculture in the region. The remnants of their irrigation canals are part of
155-485: A north-south orientation were earlier than east-west enclosed courts. Stone rings, tenoned into the wall at mid-court, appeared in the Terminal Classic era . Actually sending a ball through the ring must have been a rare occurrence. The players could not use their hands or even feet to guide the ball. Moreover, the rings were only slightly larger than the ball itself and were located at no small distance from
186-473: A platform upon which structures were built. The platform mound was also surrounded by a 6 to 7-foot high compound wall, which would have limited access to the mound. Some archaeologists have suggested that platform mounds were used for ceremonial purposes. The platform mound at Pueblo Grande is one of the largest mound structures ever built by the Hohokam. A possible astronomical observatory was built on top of
217-557: A prehistoric platform mound and irrigation canals. The City of Phoenix manages these resources as the S’e d av Va’aki Museum . Long before Euroamericans moved into the area that is now Phoenix, it was home to a thriving civilization called Huhugam by the culturally affiliated O’odham and the Hohokam by archaeologists. These Ancestral Native Americans created the archaeological structures preserved at Pueblo Grande. Pueblo Grande features
248-459: A strong centralized state, such as the Aztec Empire, have relatively few ballcourts while areas with smaller competing polities have many. At Cantona, for example, the extraordinary number of ballcourts is likely due to the many and diverse cultures residing there under a relatively weak state . Ballcourts vary considerably in size. One of the smallest, at Tikal site, is only one-sixth
279-406: A wrestling match. It is also known from archaeological excavations that ballcourts were the sites of sumptuous feasts, although whether these were conducted in the context of the ballgame or as another event entirely is not as yet known. The siting of the most prominent ballcourts within the sacred precincts of cities and towns, as well as the votive deposits found buried there, demonstrates that
310-521: Is not surprising to find that in the Valley of Oaxaca , for example, ballcourt orientations also tend to be a few degrees east of north, or at right angles to that. Other than this general trend, no consistent orientation of ballcourts throughout Mesoamerica has been found, although some patterns do emerge at the regional level. In the Cotzumalhuapa region, for example, open-ended ballcourts with
341-412: Is not universal. Two ancient ceramic ballcourt models recovered from western Mexico show the three markers placed length-wise along the court: one (again) at exact mid-court with the remaining pair set midway between the walls at either end of the playing alley. The ballcourt markers at Copan are also arranged in this manner. The ballcourt at Monte Albán, meanwhile, has only one court marker, placed at
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#1732802217758372-648: The City of Phoenix in 1924 by Thomas Armstrong. Soon after, Phoenix purchased an additional 10 acres south of the platform mound, named "Park of Four Waters", which became part of the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. In 1929 Odd S. Halseth was hired as both the director of Pueblo Grande and as Phoenix's City Archaeologist – the first City Archaeologist in the United States. Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park continued to expand and
403-429: The Hohokam archaeological tradition discontinued use of their ballcourts. Many of the ballcourts were filled in with trash and platform mounds, such as the one at Pueblo Grande became more prominent at Hohokam sites. The platform mound at Pueblo Grande began as two low circular mounds around AD 800. These were expanded over time with stone-walled cells that were filled with trash and capped with caliche plaster to create
434-527: The Hohokam for almost a thousand years. The site of Pueblo Grande is situated at the headgates of multiple large canals on the north side of the Salt River . A combination of a bend in the river and a bedrock outcropping served to push river water to the surface and made this an ideal place to divert water into the canals where it was carried for long distances. The longest Hohokam canal originated near Pueblo Grande and carried water for over 16 miles into
465-541: The Pueblo Grande platform mound. One room had doors that may have, at the winter and summer solstice, aligned with Hole-in-the-rock, a natural feature in the Papago Buttes to the northeast. Archival records indicate that there was once also a "big house" at Pueblo Grande, similar to the one at Casa Grande National Monument . The platform mound and approximately 5 acres of surrounding land were donated to
496-471: The archaeological site at Pueblo Grande. Pueblo Grande was occupied from approximately AD 450 to 1450, at which time it was abandoned like many other villages throughout the Phoenix basin. The reasons why these ancestral Native Americans left their villages and irrigation systems are widely debated among archaeologists. There are many competing hypotheses that include floods, droughts, warfare, and disease. Canals were built, maintained, and abandoned by
527-519: The area of modern-day Glendale . This likely gave Pueblo Grande a prominent role among the many Hohokam villages on the north side of the Salt River. The remains of these canals are preserved at Pueblo Grande in an area called the Park of Four Waters. Other platform mound villages like Pueblo Grande were built at strategic locations along the Salt River, and may have been involved in controlling
558-461: The ballcourt. At the ballcourt at Tonina , for example, 6 sculptures of prone captives overhang the apron, a pair at mid-court and a pair at each of the ends of the cornice. Unfortunately, rings, markers and sculptures are more portable and more prone to removal or destruction than the permanent ballcourt infrastructure, and at some ballcourts these features have been lost forever. Many – or even most – Maya depictions of ballgame play are shown against
589-493: The ballcourts were places of spectacle and ritual. Although ballcourts are found within most Mesoamerican sites, they are not equally distributed across time or geography. For example, the Late Classic site of El Tajin , the largest city of the ballgame-obsessed Classic Veracruz culture , has at least 18 ballcourts while Cantona , a nearby contemporaneous site, sets the record with 24. In contrast, Northern Chiapas and
620-468: The ends of the alley as if to keep errant balls from rolling too far away. By the Terminal Classic, the end zones of many ballcourts were enclosed, creating the well-known [REDACTED] -shape. The evolution of the ballcourt is, of course, more complex than the foregoing suggests, and with over 1300 known ballcourts, there are exceptions to any generalization. Unlike the compacted earth of
651-424: The exact center of the court. These sunken court markers are almost invariably round and usually decorated with ballgame-related scenes or iconography. Other markers were set into ballcourt walls. Many researchers have also proposed that above-ground, moveable objects, for example stone hachas , were also used as court markers. Various sculptures, stelae , and other stonework were also important components of
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#1732802217758682-642: The flow of water to outlying villages. Complex cultural organization would have been needed to maintain all the canal systems. The site of Pueblo Grande may have had as many as two ball courts. These were publicly accessible sites likely used for ceremonial purposes, possibly ritual ball games, and periodic markets. Ball games may have drawn large crowds to participate in market activities, facilitating regional trade. There may be cultural links between Hohokam archaeological culture ballcourts and Mesoamerican ballcourts, though, there are significant architectural differences between their design. Some time after AD 1100,
713-601: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pueblo_Grande&oldid=1020155211 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Pueblo Grande Ruin and Irrigation Sites Pueblo Grande Ruin and Irrigation Sites are pre-Columbian archaeological sites and ruins, located in Phoenix , Arizona . They include
744-683: The modern ulama game, the Mesoamerican ballgame's descendant. Paso de la Amada , Soconusco , along the Pacific coast boasts the oldest ballcourt yet identified, dated to approximately 1400 BC . This narrow ballcourt has an 80 m × 8 m (262 ft × 26 ft) flat playing alley defined by two flanking earthen mounds with "benches" running along their length. By the Early Classic, ballcourt designs began to feature an additional pair of mounds set some distance beyond
775-467: The museum now functions as a repository for archaeological collections from the City of Phoenix. On March 23, 2023, the City of Phoenix changed the name of the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park to S'e d av Va'aki Museum. Mesoamerican ballcourt Ballcourts were also used for functions other than, or in addition to, ballgames. Ceramics from western Mexico show ballcourts being used for other sporting endeavours, including what appears to be
806-462: The northern Maya Lowlands have relatively few, and ballcourts are conspicuously absent at some major sites, including Teotihuacan , Bonampak , and Tortuguero . The ballgame was initially thought to be originated in the coastal lowlands, yet a ballcourt was discovered at Etlatongo in the mountains of southern Mexico, dating to 1374 BCE. It is thought that ballcourts are an indication of decentralization of political and economic power: areas with
837-603: The playing alley, the side walls of the formal ballcourts were lined with stone blocks. These walls featured 3 or more horizontal and sloping surfaces. Vertical surfaces are less common, but they begin to replace the sloping apron during the Classic era , and are a feature of several of the largest and best-known ballcourts, including the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza and the North and South Ballcourts at El Tajin . There
868-461: The playing alley. At Chichen Itza, for example, they were set 6 meters above the alley, while at Xochicalco they set at the top of an 11-meter-wide apron, 3 meters above the playing alley (see lead photo). As shown on Aztec codices , court markers were also used on many ballcourts to establish the dividing line between teams – one set into the playing alley floor at exact mid-court, the other two placed against each side wall. However, such placement
899-633: The size of the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza. Despite the variation in size, ballcourts' playing alleys are generally the same shape, with an average length-to-width ratio of 4-to-1, although some regional variation is found: Central Mexico, for example, has slightly longer playing alleys, and the Maya Northern Lowlands slightly wider. The following is a comparison of the size of the playing alleys for several well-known ballcourts. The earliest ballcourts were doubtless temporary marked off areas of compacted soil much like those used to play
930-419: The vertical surfaces were covered with elaborate reliefs showing scenes, particularly sacrificial scenes, related to the ballgame. Most prominent ballcourts were part of their town or city's central monumental precinct and as such they share the orientation of pyramids and other structures there. Since many Mesoamerican cities and towns were oriented to a few degrees east of north (roughly 15° east of north), it
961-561: Was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964. It consists of two parts, that were on adjacent properties, and both associated with the same history. They were listed separately in the National Register of Historic Places as Pueblo Grande Ruin and Hohokam-Pima Irrigation Sites on the October 15, 1966 date when all National Historic Landmark sites were administratively listed. In addition to containing exhibit galleries,