[Aztlan] Re: The old ballgame's smallest court

[Sam Edgerton]

Listeros: When speaking of "smallest ball-courts," we mustn't forget that 
all mentioned so far are only "small" in terms of their length and width, 
not in the height of the parapets or sloping walls. In other words, none of 
these were built for dwarves or liliputians (comparable to building special 
basketball courts for the latter with the basket lowered to less than ten 
feet). No, they must have been intended for "normal" sized players, but 
most likely not in teams, but one or two on special ceremonial 
occasions.  I suspect, for example, that the tiny ball-court just below 
Temple I at Tikal was for the sole purpose of the divine king who, after a 
ceremony atop the pyramid in which a captive was to be sacrificed, would 
descend slowly in grandeur and finish the ritual by symbolically 
despatching the captive in the small court at the temple foot.- Just the 
king by himself with whatever the vicarious representation of the captive 
as ball - somewhat in the manner of Bird Jaguar of Yaxchilan vs Jewel Skull 
in the reliefs below Temple 33.
Sam Edgerton