La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya

The monument relocation phenomenon during Prehispanic times in the Maya area, which includes engraved and plain elements, has been documented by various researchers since the realization of the very first archaeological excavations, such as those made during the last century at Tikal, Cobá, and La M...

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Main Authors: Octavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza Olguín, Rogelio Valencia Rivera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société des américanistes 2020-06-01
Series:Journal de la Société des Américanistes
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/18002
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author Octavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza Olguín
Rogelio Valencia Rivera
author_facet Octavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza Olguín
Rogelio Valencia Rivera
author_sort Octavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza Olguín
collection DOAJ
description The monument relocation phenomenon during Prehispanic times in the Maya area, which includes engraved and plain elements, has been documented by various researchers since the realization of the very first archaeological excavations, such as those made during the last century at Tikal, Cobá, and La Milpa. This use of the stone monuments might have served many and varied purposes, but in certain contexts it certainly had a predetermined goal. Such is the case of the monuments recently found at the Maya site of Chactún, discovered in 2013, and located in the Northern sector of the Calakmul Biosphere reserve, as some of them have been found sawn and relocated into two of the ballcourts discovered so far at the site. The reuse of stelae, located at special positions inside this architectonic context, mainly at the corners of the ballcourts and visible to the spectator, indicates that this relocation did not have a random or economical reason, such as reuse of these highly valuable materials as simple construction elements. In the case of Chactún, as well as in similar contexts at other sites such as Calakmul, we propose that this phenomenon had other connotative goals, that went from a practical use of the monuments as ballcourt markers, as they were placed in the corners and at the center of the court, to a ceremonial purpose where the power and prestige of the monuments were taken to be transferred to the newly constructed ballcourt, as part of an apotropaic activation ritual that enabled this constructed space for the practice of the very special ritual activities planned for it.
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1957-7842
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publishDate 2020-06-01
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spelling doaj-art-083e07aceffa4c9c800faa7b8ce326202025-02-05T15:54:40ZengSociété des américanistesJournal de la Société des Américanistes0037-91741957-78422020-06-01106115718610.4000/jsa.18002La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico mayaOctavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza OlguínRogelio Valencia RiveraThe monument relocation phenomenon during Prehispanic times in the Maya area, which includes engraved and plain elements, has been documented by various researchers since the realization of the very first archaeological excavations, such as those made during the last century at Tikal, Cobá, and La Milpa. This use of the stone monuments might have served many and varied purposes, but in certain contexts it certainly had a predetermined goal. Such is the case of the monuments recently found at the Maya site of Chactún, discovered in 2013, and located in the Northern sector of the Calakmul Biosphere reserve, as some of them have been found sawn and relocated into two of the ballcourts discovered so far at the site. The reuse of stelae, located at special positions inside this architectonic context, mainly at the corners of the ballcourts and visible to the spectator, indicates that this relocation did not have a random or economical reason, such as reuse of these highly valuable materials as simple construction elements. In the case of Chactún, as well as in similar contexts at other sites such as Calakmul, we propose that this phenomenon had other connotative goals, that went from a practical use of the monuments as ballcourt markers, as they were placed in the corners and at the center of the court, to a ceremonial purpose where the power and prestige of the monuments were taken to be transferred to the newly constructed ballcourt, as part of an apotropaic activation ritual that enabled this constructed space for the practice of the very special ritual activities planned for it.https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/18002ballgamemonument relocationstelaeritual activationapotropaic use
spellingShingle Octavio Quetzalcóatl Esparza Olguín
Rogelio Valencia Rivera
La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
Journal de la Société des Américanistes
ballgame
monument relocation
stelae
ritual activation
apotropaic use
title La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
title_full La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
title_fullStr La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
title_full_unstemmed La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
title_short La recolocación de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activación ritual durante el periodo Clásico maya
title_sort la recolocacion de monumentos dentro del juego de pelota como mecanismo de activacion ritual durante el periodo clasico maya
topic ballgame
monument relocation
stelae
ritual activation
apotropaic use
url https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/18002
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