[Aztlan] Yokes and the Mesoamerican ballgame

[Elaine Day Schele]

What at great picture Sam!  What if we carry your analogy of "the yoke being
like a trophy" one step further by saying that it could be likened to the S.
Ray Kickok Belt that was a trophy awarded to the top professional athlete of
the year, i.e. it could be worn around the waist on special occasions.  Do
you think the ballplayer might have shown this thing off either in his
"living room" or on his neck on special ceremonial events?

Elaine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sam Edgerton" <Samuel.Y.Edgerton at williams.edu>
To: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 3:55 AM
Subject: [Aztlan] Yokes and the Mesoamerican ballgame


> 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
>
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