The Ball Game Played by the Aborigines of the Antilles

Ricardo E. Alegria

American Antiquity, Vol. 16, No. 4. (Apr., 1951), pp. 348-352.

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 FACTS AND COMMENTS
T H E BALL GAME PLAYED BY THE ABORIGINES Faltas or errors in the game consisted in allowing the
O F THE ANTILLES ball to come halt on the ground, or throwing it beyond
the limits of the court. The ball could only be struck
The study of the so-called jtcrgos o cnrrales de 10s with the shoulder, the elbow, the head, the hips or the
rndios comprises one of the most interesting aspects of knees and never with the hands. Oviedo (1851) ex-
West Indian archaeology. The Archaeological Research plains very clearly why the ball could not be struck
Center of the University of Puerto Rico has devoted with the hand:
speclal attention to their study In the belief that these
E v a s pelotas a l t a n mucho . . . mas corno son rnacizas son alro
jt~rgo.7stand in intimate relation wlth a number of proh- pe\adas; e I le diesen con la rnano abierta, o con el puiio cerrado,
lems of Caribbean archaeology, the solution of which en poco, golpes abrlrian la rnano o lo d e ~ o n c e r t a r i a n .
cannot but lead to a clearer and more exact view of the
aboriginal culture. Bartolomt. de las Casas (1909) tells us that when
The earliest historical notices of these sites are to be women played the game among themselves they did not
found in the chronicles of the conquest and coloniza- use thelr hips or their shoulders, but rather struck hack
tion. W e learn that one or more courts, in which games the ball with their knees.
of hall were played and ceremonies with a socio- The historical sources make it clear that the game
religious significance were celebrated, were to be found was of great importance among the aborigines and
in each village. BartolomP de las Casas f 1909) describe5 served as a social bond among the different commu-
the courts in these words: nities of indigenous population. Matches were held
hetween town and town at which wagers were made
. . . tenian una plaza, cornunmente ante la puerta d e la ca\a and the caclques offered prizes. In the history oi the
del seiior, rnuy barrlda, tres veces rn6s luenga s u e ancha, cercada
d e uno\ lomillos d e un ralrno o do\ d e alto . . . conquest of Puerto Rico there is an interesting incident
connected with the game. The chroniclers relate that
The aboriginal name for the court and the game was at the commencement of the native rebellion the ca-
burry (Casas, 1909). The same word is used by the cique Aymamon laid hold of a young Spaniard and
country people of the Antilles today to refer to the offered him as a prize or trophy to winner of a match.
small open areas in front of their houses. The chron- But for the prompt intervention of Diego de Salazar,
icler Oviedo (1851) describes the balls which were used a Spanish captain, Oviedo (1851, libro 16, cap. 4) says
in the game: the life of the young man would indeed have been the
E las pelotas son d e unas rayces d e arboles e d e h i e r v a e rumof prize of the winner. Oviedo (1851, libro 16, cap. 5) also
e rnezcla d e cosas, s u e toda junta esta rnlxtura parece algo cerlrpcz tells us that the fate of Don Cristobal de Sotomayor
negra. Juntas estaq y orrai rnarerlaa, cuencenlo todo y hacen una was decided by a game of hall. These allusions, and the
pasta; e rodeanla y hacen la pelota, tarnafio como una d e la? d c
viento en Elpaiia, e mayore5 e rnenores; la cual rnixtura hace una
archaeological discoveries associated with the courts
re: negra, e no peaa a las rnanos; e dehpu; que esra exura torna5c where the game was played, lead us to belleve that the
algo espongiosa, no POI que tenpa agutero n~ vacuo alguno, como game was more than a diversion and had a ceremonial
la e\ponpa, pero allgere\cesic; y c\ como fofa y a k o pehada. and religious significance. This ceremonial and religious
This description of Oviedo's of the balls which were significance, taken together with the other features of the
game which have been referred to, appears to indicate
ased in the game leads us to the conclusion that they
a certain connection with the Mex~canrlachtli and the
were made of rubber or of some resln with similar prop-
pok ta pok of the Mayas. Although it is true that in
erties. W e see here, therefore, the first allusion in his- the game as played in the Antilles there is no reference
tory to rubber and to its use by the Indians of the to rings through which the ball was passed, it is known
Antilles. that in the Mexican game the passing of the ball
The game was played by two teams or sides, each of through the stone rlng occurred very seldom, there being
which was made up of from ten to thirty players. As another method of scorlng. W e are of the oplnion that
a rule the teams were composed of men exclusively, hut the batey of the Antilles is a simplified version, adapted
on some occasions women as well participated in the to the cultural level of the tarnos of the Mayan pok ta
game (Casas, 1909). Oviedo (1851) notes a certain re- pok. It is certain that a simplified version of the Mexi-
semblance between the game played in the Antilles can tlachtlr was ~ l a y e dby the Indians of the Hohokam
and the game of football which he had seen plaved in culture, in the Southwest of North America. It is pos-
Italy. Bartolomb de las Casas (1909) describes the game sible that the route of diffusion of the game of pok ta
pok and of other elements of Mayan culture was not a
Itself as follows:
direct one from Yucatan to the Antilles, but an indirect
Echaba uno d e 10s d c u n puesro la pclora a lo\ del orro y one by way of South America, for we know that in
rebatiala el que \e hallaba m a i a rnano, .;i la pelora venia POI
alto con el hombro, que la hacia volver corno u n rayo, y cuando South America a similar game was played by the Oto-
venia junto a1 suclo, d e piecro, poniendo la rnano derecha en macos (Gumilla, 1944).
rierra, dabale con la punra d e la nalpa, que volvia rnaa q u r d e At the time of the disintegrat~on of the aboriginal
p a o , 109 del puesro conrrario, d c la rnisrna manera la tornaban
con la\ nalgas, h a v a que, aeeun la.. rerla. Lie ; ~ q ~ ~tuego,
e l el uno
culture of the Antilles the game of burry ceased to he
o el orro pue5rn comerian ialra. plaved. In Prierto R ~ c oat the present tlnie there re.
 FACTS A S U COhfXiENTS 349

mains only a vague recollection in the oral tradition of is remarkable. If we consider their weight and the fact
the country people of the center of the island, where that it was necessary to bring them to their presem posi-
the courts in w h ~ c hit was played are still recognrzed tion from a river-bed several hundred meters away, we
and are referred to as jurgos o corraltzs dr 10.7 rnclios. may appreciate the importance and srgnificance of this
Almost all the courts are found in the interior of the work of primitrve engineering. The two shorter sides
island. This pattern of distribution presents us with a of the rectangle consist of two paths formed of smaller
difficult problem, for we know that during the historical stones set in regular order. Many of the great stones
perlod it was in the coastal belt that the most important of the turo longer sides still show faint traces of the
Indian settlements were situated. The explanation may carvings which they once bore. Stone artifacts and frag-
lie in the fact that o n the coast the system of agriculture ments of ceramic ware were encountered in the ground
practiced, especially the cultrvation of .ellgar cane, has adjacent to the court, where once stood the bohios or
been so intense as to destroy all traces of the courts, dwellings of the aborigines. In the same area were dis-
which were simple structure.^, while in the interlor of covered a number of wooden posts which doubtless
the island, owing to the character of the terrain, the once formed part of the hohios. These posts are of a
soil has not been as intensively cultivated as to lead wood known to the country people of the island as
to such result. The courts which have been discovered orreg6n (Coccoloba rugosa); some are of considerable
in Puerto Rico lie in the environs of Utuado, Lares, size and appear to have been used in the construction
Adjuntas, Barranquitas, Orocovis, and Jayuya. All of of important wooden structures, possibly watchtowers
the aforementioned townships are situated in the moun- or residences pertaining to the caciques. Their preserva-
tainous region in the center of the rsland. T h e courts tion is due to the nature of the soil, which is a clay,
are as a rule encountered close to rivers and in narrow and to the durable quality of the wood.
valleys. The data and material obtained in the field are still
T h e Center of Archaeological Research of the Uni- under study; nevertheless, we feel justified in advancing
versity of Pueto Rico established a field-base in the re- certain general observations with regard to the impor-
gion of LJtirado for the purpose of studying the remarns tance and significance of the playing courts in the arch-
of those courts of which all traces have not been oblrt- aeology of the Antilles. W e believe that we have dis-
erated by the continuous cilltivation of the soil. In this covered sufficient evidence to establish a connection
region it was possible to verify the existence of twenty- between the courts and the so-called "stone collars"
four courts. Size and state of preservation vary consider- which are so characteristic a feature of Puerto Rican
ably. All were carefully stirdied and excavations were archaeology. These stone collars have hitherto consti-
carried out at the sites of the most important of them, tuted an enigma; a number of conflicting theories have
in the course of which a quantity of fragments of earth- been put forward to explain their significance or use.
enware and several stone utensils were found. T h e arti- In the course of our excavations a number of fragments
facts discovered belong to the tarno phase of the Ara- of collars were encountered, and according to the in*
wak culture and were found for the most part in the habitants of the drstrict several complete specimens had
environs of the courts, hut, in a few cases, in the courts previously been found in the environs of the courts and
themselves. In only one case were graves (three) en- either destroyed in the belief that they might contarn
countered in the environs of a court. objects of value or sold to collectors. It appears to be
Of all the courts which were studied the most im- significant that by far the majority of the collars the
portant are to be found on the preperty of Sr. Ir,lanuel provenance of which is known, were found in the re-
Diaz-Mas, in the Barrio Caguanas of CJtuado. T o all gion in which the playing courts are situated. More
appearances on this property was situated the most im- than half of the specimens in the archaeological collec-
portant center of the aboriginal religion yet discovered tions of Puerto Rico were found in the townships of
in the whole area of the Antilles. Here, besides a great Utuado and Orocovis, urh~ch comprise the region in
central court, are eight other rectangular courts of vari- which the playing coi~rtsare most common. W h a t func-
ous sizes and one circular court. T h e importance of tion these collars could have had in the r a m e of ball
the remains o n this property was pointed out more than is not immediately evident. However, the clear connec-
thirty years ago by the American archaeologist J. A. tion between the hatey of the Antilles and the Mexican
Mason, who initiated the excavation of the site (hlason, game calls to mind the interesting discovery made by
1940). Ekholm (1946) with regard to the possible use of the
T h e Center of Archaeological Research devoted four stone yokes of Central America in the hall game as
weeks to the excavation of the central court and the there played. According to Ekholm the stone yokes
ground adjacent to it. This court is a rectangle 160 feet were worn by the players as ceremonial belts. His thesis
long and 120 feet xide. T h e longer sides, which run seems more probable since the discovery of terra cotta
from north to south are marked by lines of great stone figurines representing players of the game wearing belts,
blocks or monoliths, some of w h ~ c hare more than six which resemble the yokes. T h e enigmatical stone collars
feet high and must wergh more than a ton. The man- of Puerto Rico, whose resemblance to the yokes of Cen-
ner in which these Rreat stones have been planted ver- tral America has been repeatedly pointed out (Fewkes,
tically in the earth to form an eiiclosure of such a size 19C7), may have had a similar function.
FIG. 113. a. T h e longer s ~ d e s.,f the p1a:a are marke,i h v Ilne5 of area: .;time l~li.iA.: o r rnonii1i:h
b. T h e central and ;he sircuiar plaza.
 FACTS AYD COMMENTS 35 1

FIG. 114. h . T h e shorter sides c'f the plaza consist of paths formrii
a. P a r t ~ a lview of t h e central plaza.
of smaller stones set i n a r e ~ ~ i l aorder.
r
 F c a x ~ s ,JESL \KT.
I9Oi. "The Abor~elncc of Puerro Rlco and Neirhborlna
liland\." Annual R e p o ~ t ,Bureau ot .A,nerjcan Ethnoloxp.
19?3-04, Vol. 2 5 , p. l b i . W a s h l n ~ t o n .
G [ . \ ~ : L LJ~U ,> ~ I > I <
1944. El Ortnoio ilu\tnldo Vol. i , Tomo 1, p. 165. Borori.
Mhsc,\. J u ~ i \ A .
1911. "A Large Archaiolog~cal Sire ar Caps, Uruado." Nett,
York .4cndemg ot Scrences, Pi~blicarlon of the Sc~entgfir
Surwe> of Polto Riro a n d the Vjrgcn I l a n d r . Val. 13,
Pr. 2. Szu Yorb.
O\,t:o I- \ / + ~ u r i ,G o\zk~o F ~ ~ M V I IIILL Z
1851. H ~ ~ t o r lxenriai
a ) natural de lar l i ~ d i a r . i ~ l ay ~ tierla-

ii71n. '!el m a r o;>ano. \'ol. 1. Llndrld.

D:, rector,
. Archaeol~gi~al
Research Center
L'nlversltv of Puerto R ~ c o

A SHELL SNAKE EFFIGY FROhl

DRITISH H O N D U R A S
Durlng a field trlp to Br~tish Honduras in the sum-
mer of 195@, the carved representation of a serpenr
sketched in Flgare 116 was seen in the prlvate col-
lect:on of Mr. Eustace Evans of Belize. Esthet~callv,the
plece 1s designed and executed w ~ t ha skill that makes
~t an outstand~ngexample of ahorlglnal art. T h e specl-
men is also deserv~ngof description hecause ~t 1s stvlis-
t~callvi~nusual for the Maya area, helng quite d~fferent
from the traditional Maya artifacts.
T h e artifact, now 111 the possession of h'lr. Evans, was
FIG. 115. In the ground adjacent to the court were found by workers digging a pit o n the Evans plantation
discovered a numher of wooden posts which douhtless (Last Chance Plantation) which I S on the west hank of
once formed part of the bohios or dwellings. the Salt Creek Lagoon, some twenty miles up the coast
from Belize. T h e present writers vlsited the slte of the
T h e association of courts in the Barrlo Caguanas of find, which was a large area of aboriginal occupation.
LJtuado appears to indicate that the district was a reli- There are a numher of low constructed mounds, with
g ~ o u sc enter. Nowhere else have we discovered a group- no discernible plan of arrangement. T h e whole area is
ing of courts of drfferent sizes and shapes. This assocla- covered w ~ t ha mldden deposit, Including areas six feet
tion of such a number of courts on one side can only or more In depth.
he explalned by the existence of elaborate socio-religious Lack of time prevented an adequate invest~gation of
ceremonies In which the kall game played an important
thls hite. Surface sherds show numerous local peculiarl-
part. Although fragments of ceramic ware and some ties but appear to be most simllar to Thompson's San
utensils were found in the envlrons of the courts, thehe Jose V p e r ~ o d (Thompson, 1939, pp. 138-51). Prelimi-
finds were so scanty that they do not appear to ind:cate nary indicat~ons are that the occupation of the site
the existence on the site of a village of any great sue. extended into terminal Tepeu or later times. T h e posi-
T h e study of the playing courts has cast a new light tion of the snake effigy withln the slte is not known, but
on the subject of the archaeology of the Antilles and the naturalistic treatment contrasts s h a r.~.l v with the
has shown beyond question that the cultural connec- highly conventionalized serpent form usually found In
tions hetween the Antllles and Central America deserve Maya art.
further consideration and invest~gation. T h e shell snake IS 5% inches In length and about an
inch in diameter. It is made from the columella of a
large conch shell, and the surface of the specimen I S
BIBLIOGRAPHY
smooth and ~vory-like in color and texture. By using
Cksks, B ~ K T O L OLIE
\ I CL ~ S
the natural t w ~ s tof the shell the native artist has cre-
1909. Apoldgetica historia de las Indlas. Por M . Scrrano y
Sacnz. Nueva Blhl~oteca d e Autorei E~panolec, Vol. 1 3 , ated an impression of writhing movement. T h e design
P. 358. M a d r ~ d . is made hy shallow incised lines; the eyes are shallow
F.
E K I I O L U ,GORDON drilled pits (the ventral groove is natural). T h e work-
1916. "The Probable Uhe of Mexicnn Srone Yokc<." American manship varies In quality, more care being evidenced at
A n t h r o p o l n r ~ i t ,Vol. 48, KO.4, pp. 591-ht'h. Menn\hn. the head end than at the rail.