Editing Mesoamerican ballgame (section)

===Proxy for warfare===

The Mesoamerican ballgame was a ritual deeply ingrained in Mesoamerican cultures and served purposes beyond that of a mere sporting event. [[Fray Juan de Torquemada]], a 16th-century Spanish missionary and historian, tells that the Aztec emperor [[Axayacatl]] played [[Xihuitlemoc]], the leader of [[Xochimilco#Precolonial|Xochimilco]], wagering his annual income against several Xochimilco [[chinampas]].<ref>[[#Taladoire2001|Taladoire (2001)]] p. 97.</ref> [[Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl|Ixtlilxochitl]], a contemporary of Torquemada, relates that [[Ce Acatl Topiltzin|Topiltzin]], the Toltec king, played against three rivals, with the winner ruling over the losers.<ref name=s14>[[#Santley|Santley]], pp. 14–15.</ref>

These examples and others are cited by many researchers who have made compelling arguments that the game served as a way to defuse or resolve conflicts without genuine warfare, to settle disputes through a ballgame instead of a battle.<ref>[[#TaladoireColsenet|Taladoire and Colsenet]], p. 174: "We suggest that the ballgame was used as a substitute and a symbol for war."</ref><ref>[[#Gillespie|Gillespie]], p. 340: the ballgame was "a boundary maintenance mechanism between polities".</ref>  Over time, then, the ballgame's role would expand to include not only external mediation, but also the resolution of competition and conflict within the society as well.<ref name=Kowalewski/>

This "boundary maintenance" or "conflict resolution" theory would also account for some of the irregular distribution of ballcourts.  Overall, there appears to be a negative correlation between the degree of political centralization and the number of ballcourts at a site.<ref name=s14/>  For example, the Aztec Empire, with a strong centralized [[Sovereign state|state]] and few external rivals, had relatively few ballcourts while Middle Classic [[Cantona (Mesoamerican site)|Cantona]], with 24 ballcourts, had many diverse cultures residing there under a relatively weak state.<ref>[[#Day|Day]], p. 76</ref><ref>[[#Taladoire2001|Taladoire (2001)]] p. 114.</ref>

Other scholars support these arguments by pointing to the warfare imagery often found at ballcourts:

*The southeast panel of the South Ballcourt at El Tajín shows the protagonist ballplayer being dressed in a warrior's garb.<ref>[[#Wilkerson|Wilkerson]], p. 59.</ref>
*Captives are a prominent part of ballgame iconography.  For example:
:::Several ceramic figurines show war captives holding game balls.
:::The ballcourt at [[Toniná]] was decorated with sculptures of bound captives.
:::A captive-within-the-ball motif is seen on the Hieroglyphic Stairs at Structure 33 in [[Yaxchilan]] and on Altar 8 at [[Tikal]].
*The modern-day descendant of the ballgame, ''ulama'', "until quite recently was connected with warfare and many reminders of that association remain".<ref>[[California State University, Los Angeles]], Department of Anthropology, [http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/anthro/jbrady/ulama/photohi.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222321/http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/anthro/jbrady/ulama/photohi.htm|date=October 4, 2013}}.</ref>