EXCAVATION OF 3,400-YEAR-OLD BALLCOURT REWRITES THE ORIGIN OF AN ANCIENT, BRUTAL GAME

[Judi Lynn]

Archaeologists may have been wrong for decades about this iconic and mysterious game's origins.


The history of sports may need to be rewritten: A new discovery disputes the origin story of the iconic, brutal and mysterious Mesoamerican ball game, played by ancient South and Central American civilizations from the Olmecs to the Aztecs.

The remains of the newly-discovered ballcourt in Oaxaca, Mexico upend some common assumptions about the root of the game, which was once played in giant, open-air courts with a rubber ball across Mesoamerica.

The court is dated at 3,400 years old — some 800 years older than any other ballcourt found thus far. The discovery suggests the game is far more ancient and far more popular across Mesoamerica than scientists realized.

Previously, researchers thought the game was played mainly in lowland areas of present-day Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador. And it was perhaps as popular as modern-day soccer: 2,300 ballcourts have been discovered in these countries.

More:
https://www.inverse.com/science/excavation-of-3400-year-old-ballcourt-rewrites-origin-of-ancient-brutal-game

You may find the google image page of Oaxaca ball courts intriguing, considering their antiquity:

https://tinyurl.com/qllk3md

[sybylla]

1. This is wild.

I had a Mayan anthro class in 1987. We have learned so much since. That the game is older and probably evolved into the more brutal version is very interesting.