[Aztlan] Ballgame questions

[Justin Kerr]

Just a side comment-
The FAMSI bibliography www.famsi.org/research/bibliography.htm lists 293
entries for ballgame and 30 entries for ball game. 
There seems to be a considerable body of literature to delve into.
Justin Kerr 
-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Craig
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:43 PM
To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: [Aztlan] Ballgame questions

Listeros:
   
  I have been researching the Mesoamerican ballgame and I have 2 questions
that don't seem to be directly addressed by published research.
   
  -> What is the purpose of the "wings" (to coin a word) in the I-shaped
ballcourt endzones?  It's hard to envision a situation where the ball would
enter the wings of the end-zone -- and if it did, it would seem unlikely the
defending team would be able to return it.  And yet it seems that most
Classic era ballcourts featured these wings.
   
  -> Based on the huge size of the balls in some Maya works (e.g. Kerr's
fine oft-reprinted photo of the Dallas vase), some authors (e.g. Heather
Orr) state that "some scholars propose . . . " that these balls really were
that large but were hollow.  It seems instead that most researchers consider
such images to be an "exaggeration" (to quote M Coe).  Has any serious
researcher ever seriously suggested (as opposed to "wondering" or
"speculating") that the Maya used large hollow balls on occasion??
   
  Thanks in advance for any help,
  Craig Fisher

       
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