The Mesoamerican ball game was played for recreational, sociopolitical, and religious reasons. The ball game held a central, primary part in the lives of Mesoamerican people. It was played across a wide geographic area by many different peoples. The ball courts began emerging in the Maya lowlands, at the end of the Middle Formative period (Ashmore 496). There is much, about the ball game, which is only theorized or speculated. The archeological evidence concerning the ball game is limited to the location and design of the ball courts, a few pieces of artifacts found in refuse piles, the contents of caches (when they have been recorded), art work depicting the game in progress, and ethnographic accounts. From these sources of information, a general picture of the ball game in Mesoamerican society can be drawn.
The Mesoamerican ball game was played throughout most of what is now known as Central America, Lower Central America, and the American Southwest. It was played as far north as the indians of the American Southwest and a version was played as far south as Amazonia. The sites of ball courts were both large central regional centers and smaller villages. The ball courts are usually located within the public, ceremonial building of the town. Ball courts continue to be discovered and uncovered during archeological expeditions.
Ball courts have been documented at the following archeological sites: Cuymapa Drainage; Lubaantun, Belize; Tonina, and Chapatengo, Chiapas; Teotenango, Central Mexico; Coba, and Uxmal, Yucatan; Copan, Honduras; Piedras Negras South Group, and Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala; Los Llanitos, El Salvador (J. G. Fox 486). These sites have had caches located within the ball court or nearby testifying to the importance of the ball court as a place of religious sanctification.
Ball courts have also been found in Tajin (Adams 233). Tajin is located in a group of abruptly rising hills. Much of the villa...