Ball court design dates back 3,400 years

Beyond identifying elites: Feasting as a means to understand early Middle Formative society on the Pacific Coast of Mexico

“…His results indicate that overall population levels were low during the Barra phase, increased dramatically in the Locona phase and then dropped slightly during the Ocós phase when dispersed settlements were absorbed into established centers. Paso de la Amada, the largest of these polity centers, contained a series of chieXy residences at Mound 6 and a ballcourt at Mound 7 (Blake, 1991;Lesure, 1997Lesure, , 1999Hill et al, 1998;Hill and Clark, 2001). These two architectural features fell into disuse at the end of the Ocós phase, a century before the site was abandoned (Lesure, 1997;Clark, 1997).…”

The Teotihuacan Anomaly: The Historical Trajectory of Urban Design in Ancient Central Mexico

“…The earliest known ballcourt was constructed at Paso de la Amada on the Pacific coast, ca. 1400 BC (Hill, Blake, & Clark, 1998). Ballcourts were common features at sites throughout Mesoamerican during Preclassic times (Clark & Hansen, 2001;Hansen, 2000;Olko, 2003;Scarborough & Wilcox, 1991); see Figure 2A, top.…”

Cultura de paso de la amada, creadora del ‘juego de pelota’ mesoamericano / Culture of paso de la amada, creator of ‘mesoamerican ballgame’

“…Se trata de la mayor construcción de su tiempo en Mesoamérica, y está formada por dos montículos paralelos de 1,5 m de alto, que delimitan un estrecho pasillo de juego de unos 80 m de largo y 7 m de ancho. El ancho total de la estructura es de 30 m, y los autores calculan que esta estructura de tierra debió requerir 1.375 días de trabajo (Hill et al, 1998).…”