[Aztlan] Yokes and the Mesoamerican ballgame

[Sam Edgerton]

Listeros: T. Leyenaar & L. Parsons in their book ULAMA: THE BALLGAME OF THE 
MAYAS AND AZTECS, 2000BC - 2000AD; FROM HUMAN SACRIFICE TO SPORT 
(Amsterdam, Erasmus Press, 1988) published an interesting photograph (click 
on the URL below) showing an ancient grave apparently of a Veracruz 
ballplayer buried with a polished stone yoke framing his head like a crown. 
The yoke here is quite plain and undecorated, but its presence in this 
honored position in the grave would seem to indicate that the carved stone 
yoke was intended more as the symbol of the ballgame's ideological and 
social importance, and that it was probably not for use in the game itself. 
In other words, the carved stone yoke was a prized trophy, awarded to great 
players like the Wimbledon Cup or an Olympic gold medal.
Sam Edgerton


http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/BALLPLAYER.jpg