Mesoamerican ballgame

Examples of Mesoamerican ballgame in the following topics:

• Ceramcis of the Veracruz

  • In contrast to Smiling Figures from Remojadas, the mold-made ceramic figure from Nopiloa (below) depicts a bearded, mustachioed male wearing a ballgame yoke around his waist to protect him from the hard, solid rubber ball used in play.
  • There are cylindrical ear ornaments in his ears and, beneath his arm, a baton-like object perhaps related to the local incarnation of the ballgame.
  • The rules and manner in which the Mesoamerican ballgame was played varied among contemporary sites and evolved through time.
  • The people of ancient Veracruz interacted with people from other Mesoamerican cultures, and this Nopiloa figure displays motifs commonly found in Maya art.

• Architecture of the Maya

  • The Great Ball Court northwest of the Castillo is the largest and best preserved court for playing the Mesoamerican ball game, an important sport with ritual associations played by Mesoamericans since 1400BCE.  
  • The modern version of the Mesoamerican ballgame is called Ulama which is similar to racquetball.

• Aztec Religion

  • The Aztecs also worshipped deities that were central to older Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmecs.
  • Like all other Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztecs played a variant of the Mesoamerican ballgame, named "tlachtli" or "ollamaliztli" in Nahuatl.
  • The practice of the ballgame carried religious and mythological meanings and also served as sport.

• The Olmec

  • They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed, such as the Maya.
  • Judging from the available archeological evidence it is likely that they originated the Mesoamerican ballgame and possible that they practiced ritual bloodletting.

• Colossal Heads of the Olmec

  • The Olmec culture of the Gulf Coast of Mexico produced the first major Mesoamerican art, and is particularly known for the creation of colossal stone heads.
  • The first major Mesoamerican art, that of the Olmec, emerged during the Preclassic period along the Gulf of Mexico.

• The Toltecs

  • The Toltecs were a Mesoamerican people who preceded the Aztecs and existed between 800 and 1000 CE.
  • The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula in the early Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 800–1000 CE).
  • Skeptics argue that the ancient city of Teotihuacán and the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan were much more influential sites for Mesoamerican culture than Tula.
  • Furthermore, the site of Tula includes two ball courts for the religious rubber ball game that appears in many Mesoamerican civilizations.
  • This site also raises questions about the flow of influence between multiple Mesoamerican cultures before the rise of the Aztec Empire.

• Teotihuacan

  • Just 30 miles from modern day Mexico City lies the precolumbian Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan.
  • The geographical layout of Teotihuacan is a good example of the Mesoamerican tradition of planning cities, settlements, and buildings as a reflection of the Universe.

• The Classic Period of the Maya

  • The Maya civilization participated in long distance trade with many other Mesoamerican cultures, including Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, and other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico.
  • In addition, they traded with more distant, non-Mesoamerican groups, such as the Taínos of the Caribbean islands.
  • The Classic Period of Mesoamerican chronology is generally defined as the period from 300 to 900 CE, the last 100 years of which, from 800 to 900 CE, are frequently referred to as the Terminal Classic.

• The Aztec People

  • The Aztecs were a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of Central Mexico during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.
  • The Aztecs were a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of Central Mexico in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.

• The Mixteca-Puebla Tradition

  • This variant of artistic style and iconography, commonly found in pottery, became associated with traits of the Toltec archaeological tradition in Mesoamerican culture during the early post-classic period (800-1000).