Ligabue Magazine 70

Domenici relates how the earliest rubber balls were found in a lagoon on an ancient Olmec site in the Veracruz area in Mexico, together with other offerings dedicated to the underworld deities of water and fertility from around 1700 to 1600 BC. The ballgame had a powerfully symbolic dimension and the ballcourt was a place of sacrificial death and rebirth, an area for the cosmological combat between life and death. Archaeologists have found a surprisingly large number of ballcourts: for example, eleven at El Tajìn and twenty-four at Puebla (Mexico).

Despite our fairly detailed knowledge of the ballgame, as Domenici points out, the religious symbols associated with it in the Classic period are more complex than we previously thought. The ballgames clearly also had a political significance, since sovereigns and young princes are often depicted in competitions during diplomatic meetings held between rulers of various cities. Despite all the symbolism, however, the game was often still just a game. Indeed, according to the early Spanish chroniclers, games also involved gambling for very high stakes and featured wealthy celebrity athletes. Just like today.

The story of the voyage of the Kon-Tiki, the balsawood raft on which Thor Heyerdahl and five companions crossed the Pacific Ocean, is a modern adventure that has almost become legendary. They set off from Peru for Polynesia to explain the similarities between pre- Inca cultures and archaeological remains on islands in the Pacific. Although the Norwegian ethnologist’s theory was immediately challenged and today has been disproved by the results of DNA studies, he did make his point: it’s possible to sail on a raft for 101 days eastwards across the Pacific. That adventure in 1947, just two years after the war had finished, is reconstructed here by Adriano Favaro. Incidentally, it was also the first ocean crossing to be broadcast live to the whole world in a series of radio messages. We stay on the seas, this time in the Caribbean, for an intriguing story retold by Fabio Bozzato, a journalist and essayist. He describes the sinking of the San José off the port of Cartagena in Colombia (what was described at the time as the wealthiest galleon ever also features in a story by Gabriel García Màrquez). After being bombarded by the cannons of four British warships, the galleon and its fabulous cargo of gold and precious objects sank to the seabed on 8 June 1708 and remained buried there until recently, when an American company announced that it had been rediscovered. The Colombian government, however, immediately stepped in to halt the salvage operation, claiming its rights over the underwater heritage and sunken treasures. This gave rise to another battle a modern legal wrangle fought in courts with official stamped paper and international deeds.

The art of trade lies in endowing commerce and its related activities with a spirit. This very modern and culturally advanced notion is found in a 15th-century book described by Giovanni Favero, a lecturer in economic history at Ca Foscari University, Venice. He tells the story of Benedetto Cotrugli from Ragusa and his L’arte della mercatura (The Art of Trade) written in 1458. Long overlooked, this book has also recently been translated into English. Now become a key figure in the history of trade, Cotrugli was one of the first writers to deal with the theory of double-entry bookkeeping. A generation later, the theory was explained in exemplary fashion by Luca Pacioli, who copied some pages wholesale from his unknown predecessor. In The Art of Trade, Cotrugli also provides guidelines for the merchant’s conduct from being honest to moderation in eating and dressing and how to approach different cultures and life styles. This masterpiece of wisdom is in many ways still valid today.

More surprises await us in the article by Diego Calaon. A Venetian archaeologist at the University of Stanford, he describes the birth of the city of Venice in a very different light from the story told in most history textbooks. Neither barbarians nor wars” is his motto: the city developed through a complex combination of trade, seafaring activities and ways of life in which the principal building material was not stone but wood, and the various commodities included salt and fish. In short, Venice developed through exchanges between the mainland and the lagoon, whose mudflats were gradually built up with warehouses, ports and craft workshops. And it is not even true to say that Venice and Byzantium grew as twins. The Serenissima came into being independently in the 9th century and was then Byzantinised, but only two centuries later. One surprise after another, Calaon takes us far from the trite legends about the foundation of the city towards the truth, which can only be fully demonstrated with the aid of archaeology.

Bon Voyage!