OLMEC BALL GAME

5TO A
SOCIAL STUDIES

OLMEC BALL GAME

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Cristhian Herrera

Cristhian Herrera
 The Olmec ball game
Cristhian Herrera

It’s a Mesoamerican ball game created by the Olmec civilization,

it’s a ceremonial sport of teams played throughout the region for
centuries. They built earthen mounds, pyramids and ceramics of
several types that became common throughout a broad region
influenced by the Olmec civilization.

They had court larger than a

football court were usually 120
feet long and 30 feet wide,
with ‘I’ form and researchers
have found 600 courts, they
used rubber balls but if they
launched with force the balls
could hurt or kill someone.
They used their hips to move
the ball.

One had to try to get the ball into the stone hoops on the sides of
the courts or make the other team drop the ball for points.

They played this because it was part of their culture.

In Mesoamerican mythology the game is an important element in
the story of the Maya gods Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú. The
pair annoyed the gods of the underworld with their noisy playing
and the two brothers were tricked into descending into Xibalba
(the underworld) where they were challenged to a ball game. Losing
the game, Hun Hunahpús had his head cut off; a foretaste of what
would become common practice for players unfortunate enough to
lose a game.

Three facts about Olmec Ball Game:

 The exact rules of the game are not known for certain and in
all probability there were variations across the various
cultures and different periods
 Players were frequently depicted in Mesoamerican art,
appearing in sculpture, ceramics and architectural decoration
 The game was use for resolve conflicts in way a short battle
representation. This means that the loser team, generally
were sacrificed.

Thank you I hope you learn something about Olmec ball game.

Links Reference

 https://www.worldhistory.org/article/604/the-ball-game-
of-mesoamerica/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_ballgame
 https://www.townfairtire.com/blog/life-or-death-the-
mesoamerican-rubber-ball-game.html