@ballcourts@

[Michael Mccafferty]

The American Indian cultures known to archaeologists as "Mississippian,"
which began to appear around 800 AD, some of which were still active when
the Spanish arrived in the 1500's, are thought to have been influenced by
*maybe* the Huastecs.  There is, as yet, no definitive connection between
Mississippian and high Mexican cultures, but there are so many parallel
develpments--flat top pyramids, iconography, corn-based agriculture,
etc., etc.,--which appear to have spread north into the Mississippi Valley
from Mexico.  The Mississippians played a game called "chunkey."  If
you go to your library, you can probably find descriptions of this game
there. In essence, a large rectangular area (about the size of a soccer
field or larger) was delineated and specially prepared with a puddled clay
surface.  The object of the game, which was ostensibly a "hunter's" game,
was for one person to roll a "chunkey stone," which is a small, specially
prepared stone disk that looks alot like a modern ice hockey puck, down
the field at what ever rate of speed he chose.  The other contestants,
each equipped with a spear, then threw their spears at distant points
where each thought the chunkey stone was going to land.  That's basically
how it worked.  I've never heard of any paintings decorating the surface
of the chunkey playing field.

Michael

On Wed, 28 Jul 1999, Roberto Tirado wrote:

>
>
> >Roberto,
> >
> >What do you mean by "...a similar one played by native americans." ?
> >
> >Are you referring to Mississippian societies' chunkey?
> >---- Michael,
> thanks for responding .
>   the game played by the native americans i was referring to was one that
> was mentioned to me by a friend awhile ago.
> it so happened that she told me about a find ( or possibly many  finds ) in
> north america of structures very much resembling the typical 'I' layout of
> mesoamerican ballcourts. in the said article it was supposed that the native
> peoples also shared the same ballgame as the peoples to the south.
> unfortunately my friend already forgot which article it was and where she
> saw it.
>   Basically my interests is in the surface itself ! i want to know what it
> looked like , how it was painted and decorated... i want to utilize it for
> some personal murals and such.
>
>   ? what's 'chunkey' by the way ? tell me some about it.
>
>   thank you  .     RobertO
> >Best,
> >
> >Michael
> >
> >On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, Roberto Tirado wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >   greetings to the group.
> > >
> > > i was wondering if anyone knows about books or articles concerning the
> > > 'ballgame' played by mesoamerican societies and also a similar one
> >played by
> > > native americans .
> > >
> > >   i am looking for books with pictorial representations of the symbols
> >and
> > > decorations of the ballcourt surface itself.  Also useful to me would be
> > > detailed descriptions of the equipment used, and the varieties of rules
> >and
> > > playing styles.
> > >
> > > *thank you*
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________________________
> > > Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
> > >
> >
> >
> >Michael McCafferty
> >C.E.L.T.
> >307 Memorial Hall
> >Indiana University
> >Bloomington, Indiana
> >47405
> >mmccaffe at indiana.edu
> >
> >*******************************************************************************
> >"Glory" (what a word!) consists in going
> >from the me that others don't know
> >to the other me that I don't know.
> >
> >-Juan Ramon Jimenez
> >
> >*******************************************************************************
> >
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________
> Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
>


Michael McCafferty
C.E.L.T.
307 Memorial Hall
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
47405
mmccaffe at indiana.edu

*******************************************************************************
"Glory" (what a word!) consists in going
from the me that others don't know
to the other me that I don't know.

-Juan Ramon Jimenez

*******************************************************************************