The Ballcourt

Ballcourts were common in southern Arizona from A.D. 750 to 1200 but relatively rare in the northern part of the state, suggesting that the people of Wupatki intermingled with their southern Arizona neighbors, the Hohokam, who may have borrowed and modified the ballcourt idea from earlier contact with the Indian cultures of Mexico. The uses of the ballcourts remain uncertain, but the labor required to build them and the more than 200 found in Arizona suggest that ball games may have been an important part of life for the people of Wupatki and their southern neighbors. Located along major natural drainages and travel routes and often within a one-day walk of a neighboring village, ballcourts may also have provided opportunities for social exchange between villages. The Wupatki ballcourt is 78 feet wide, 102 feet long, and had a 6-foot-high wall.

Arizona · United States