Editing Mesoamerican ballgame (section)

===Clothing and gear===
The game's paraphernalia—clothing, headdresses, gloves, all but the stone—are long gone, so knowledge on clothing relies on art—paintings and drawings, stone reliefs, and figurines—to provide evidence for pre-Columbian ballplayer clothing and gear, which varied considerably in type and quantity. Capes and masks, for example, are shown on several [[Dainzú]] [[relief]]s, while Teotihuacan murals show men playing stick-ball in skirts.<ref name=t2004 />

[[File:Pelotaspieler_2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)|National Museum of Anthropology]] in Mexico City – a figure of a pelota player]]
The basic hip-game outfit consisted of a [[loincloth]], sometimes augmented with leather hip guards. Loincloths are found on the earliest ballplayer figurines from Tlatilco, Tlapacoya, and the Olmec culture, are seen in the Weiditz drawing from 1528 (below), and, with hip guards, are the sole outfit of contemporary ''ulama'' players (above)—a span of nearly 3,000 years.

In many cultures, further protection was provided by a thick [[girdle]], most likely of wicker or wood covered in fabric or leather.  Made of perishable materials, none of these girdles have survived, although many stone "yokes" have been uncovered. Misnamed by earlier archaeologists due to its resemblance to an [[yoke|animal yoke]], the stone yoke is thought to be too heavy for actual play and was likely used only before or after the game in ritual contexts.<ref name=Scott /> In addition to providing some protection from the ball, the girdle or yoke would also have helped propel the ball with more force than the hip alone.  Additionally, some players wore chest protectors called ''palmas'' which were inserted into the yoke and stood upright in front of the chest.

Kneepads are seen on a variety of players from many areas and eras and are worn by forearm-''ulama'' players today. A type of [[Garter (stockings)|garter]] is also often seen, worn just below the knee or around the ankle—it is not known what function this served. Gloves appear on the purported ballplayer reliefs of Dainzú, roughly 500 BC, as well as the Aztec players are drawn by Weiditz 2,000 years later (see drawing below).<ref>Dainzu gloves are discussed in [[#Taladoire2004|Taladoire, 2004]]</ref><ref name=Blanchard /> Helmets, likely utilitarian, and elaborate headdresses, likely used only in ritual contexts, are common in ballplayer depictions. Headdresses are particularly prevalent on Maya painted vases or on [[Jaina Island]] figurines. Many ballplayers of the Classic era are seen with a right kneepad—no left—and a wrapped right forearm, as shown in the Maya image above.