One of the more commonly known aspects of the ancient Maya culture is the ballgame. This ancient ballgame was played by most Mesoamerican cultures on a constructed ballcourt and many major Mesoamerican sites have at least one, if not more than one. Contemporary Mesoamericans still play versions of this ballgame today, but without the use of the ballcourts, questioning the importance and purpose of the ballcourt that is no longer the case today. After over a century of research, scholars have yet to unravel all the cosmological and mythological mysteries of the ballcourt and its purpose to the ancient Maya. Although the archaeological record rarely supports the well-known Postclassic Hero Twin myth, most scholars continue to use this myth to interpret Classic ballgame iconography. In this study, I link Classic period ballcourt architecture and iconography at Caracol to Preclassic cache practices, to an Early Classic tomb, and to an elite Classic structure, demonstrating a widespread set of cosmological symbols that were not exclusively reserved for the ballcourt. I suggest that the four eroded figures on Caracol Ballcourt Markers 1 and 2 represent east, west, zenith, and nadir, and that the north-south alignment of Classic Southern Lowland ballcourts was the result of a vertical visualization of the three ballcourt markers. This study shows that the Maya ballcourt was a cosmogram, intended to delineate sacred space and demarcate a portal into the underworld.

Le site d’Ucanal, dans le Petén au Guatemala près de la frontière avec le Bélize, est un site maya avec une très forte occupation et un grand centre cérémoniel actif durant le Classique terminal, une période où de nombreuses autres cités mayas étaient en ébullition politique ou en train d’être abandonnés. Les jeux de balle faisant partie des centres civiques ont très souvent été fouillés dans des optiques reliées aux activités cérémonielles et à l’élite. Ce mémoire propose d’étudier les déchets provenant des dépotoirs situés en périphérie du jeu de balle afin d’étudier les activités pratiquées par les spectateurs et non juste celles des officiants. Pour ce faire, une analyse globale de tous les artefacts (lithiques, céramiques et fauniques) du jeu de balle #1 du groupe A d’Ucanal a été réalisée. Des analyses de la distribution des artefacts entre les différentes zones du terrain de jeu et entre le terrain de jeu et d'autres contextes du site ont été entreprises afin d'identifier l'éventail possible d'activités associées au terrain de jeu d'Ucanal. Les résultats démontrent qu’en plus des activités rituelles généralement documentées en contexte de jeu de balle, le jeu de balle d’Ucanal est associé à des activités de festins qui impliquent une grande consommation de coquillages possiblement accompagnée de musique et de paris. / The archaeological site of Ucanal, located in the Petén region of Guatemala near the border with Belize, is a Maya site with a large population and active ceremonial centre during the Terminal Classic, a period in which other sites were wrought with political turmoil or were in the process of being abandoned. The ballcourts located in civic centers have often been researched from the perspective of formal ceremonial activities and the elite. This thesis proposes to study the debris from middens located on the outskirts of the Ucanal site ballcourt in order to study the activities practiced by spectators instead of focusing solely on the formal activities within the court itself. To do so, a holistic documentation of all the artifacts (lithic, ceramic and fauna) was conducted from excavations of ballcourt #1 of group A of Ucanal. Artifact distribution analyses between different zones of the ballcourt and between the ballcourt and other areas of the site were undertaken to identify the possible range of activities associated with Ucanal’s ballcourt. The results show that in addition to the ritual activities generally documented in the context of ball games, Ucanal's ballcourt was associated with feasting activities which involved freshwater shells and possibly the accompaniment of music and gambling.