What Is Mesoamerica?

Mesoamerica oldest sport was known as the Ballgame, played by all the major civilizations all the way from the Olmec’s to the Aztecs. The magnificent ball courts were part of a city’s sacred complex and there were often several playing courts in a single city. Many believe that it was not only a game and had to deal with religious things, with the evidence found many archeologists, like Professor Jeffrey P., believe that the game had religious significance and featured in episodes of Mesoamerican mythology. The game even supplied candidates for human sacrifice, for the sport could, quite literally, be a game of life or death. (Cartwright)
Origin
The game known as the “Ballgame” was originated sometime in the Preclassical Period (2500-100 BCE),
probably by the Olmec, but there’s no certain evidence the supports this ideology and later became a common Mesoamerican-wide feature of the urban landscape by the Classical Period (300-900 CE). Earliest evidence of the ball game comes not from ball courts found at sites but from ceramic figurines of ball players recovered from El Opeño, Michoacan state in western Mexico about 1700 BC (Shown in Figure 1.)There are an estimated 1,300 known ball courts in all Mesoamerica. The game took in specific buildings named ball courts, recognizable in many archaeological sites,
Mythology
The game is very important in Mesoamerican mythology. The game can be found in the story of the Mayan Gods Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú who annoyed the gods of the underworld with their noisy playing and the two brothers were deluded into descending into Xibalba (the underworld) where they were challenged to a ball game. When losing the game, Hun Hunahpús was decapitated; a foretaste of what would become common practice for players unfortunate enough to lose a game. (Cartwright)
Another famous myth of the ball game was held at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan between the Aztec king Motecuhzoma and the king of Texcoco. The lengend says that they predicted the fall of Motecuhzoma’s kingdom and the game was set-up to establish the truth of this bold prediction. The prediction was right and Motecuhzoma did, of course, lose his kingdom at the hands of the invaders from the Old World. The story also supports the idea that the ball game was sometimes used for the purposes of divination.
Evidence
Earliest evidence that supports the idea of a game play during the Pre-classic Period, known as the “Ballgame,” are the discovery of fourteen rubber balls which were found at the site of El Manatí located in the State of Veracruz, in the country of Mexico (1600 BC).
Another evidence was the discovery of the oldest ballcourt which dated to 1400 BC, found at the site of El Paso de la Armada, a very important site in the State of Chiapas in Southern Mexico. It was also the first site where they found consistent imagery, including ballplaying costumes. Most archaeologist agree that the origin of the ball game was linked with the origin of ranked society. The ball court found at Paso de la Amada was constructed near the chief's house and, later on, the famous colossal heads were carved depicting leaders wearing ballgame
helmets.
This colossal heads were found mostly in Olmecs sites and carved by them, some archeologist believe they were rulers dressed as ballgame players, due to their characteristics. Even if the locational origins are not clear, archaeologists believe that the ball game represented a form of social display and whoever had the resources to organize it gained social prestige. (Cartwright)
According to historic records, the Maya and Aztecs used the ball game in most cases to solve hereditary issues, wars, and even sometimes to predict the future but mostly to make political issues.
Paso de la Armada
The archaeological ruins of a large scatter Mesoamerican community on the Pacific Coast of the state of Chiapas, Mexico. It is located in the Soconusco region. It was at Paso de la Armada where they first discovered evidence for the first Mesoamerican Ballcourt, this earthen structure was discovered by archaeologists Warren Hill and Michael Blake in the year 1995, who were the second ones to research the site, they discovered the court was built between 1400-1250 BC. When excavating a mound structure was found to contain two parallel earthen platforms edged by benches which are 2.5 m wide and 35 cm high, flanking an alley measuring 80 m long. The ball court, at Paso de la Armada was located among high-status residences, which suggested that the ball game held a strong connection with elite segments of society.

The Court
In the Early Preclassic playing courts were simple, flattened-earth rectangles but by the Late Formative Period (300 BCE onwards) these changed into more imposing areas which consisted of a flat rectangular surface set between two parallel stone walls.
Each side could have a kiklarge vertical stone ring set high into the wall.
The walls could be perpendicular or sloping away from the players and the ends of the court could be left open but defined using markers or, in other layouts, a wall closed off the playing space to create an I-shaped court. (Cartwright) One of the earliest known ball court is located at the Olmec city of San Lorenzo but the largest surviving stone playing court is at the Mayan-Toltec city of Chichén Itzá.
The
Game
The rules of the game are not known for certain and to they believe of many archelogies the rules varied across the various cultures and different periods. The only thing that was certain was that the aim to get a solid rubber (latex) ball through one of the rings. This was difficult than it seemed because players could not use their hands. One can imagine that good players became highly skilled at directing the ball using their padded elbows, knees, thighs and shoulders. Teams were composed of two or three players and were male-only. There was also an alternative version, less-widespread, where players used sticks to hit the ball. The reason it was called the game of the death it was because a very dangerous game not only because the losers were mostly sacrifice but let’s not forget about the ball which was a lethal weapon itself, as measuring anywhere from 10 to 30 cm in diameter and weighing from 500 g to 3.5 kg, it could easily break bones. Throughout the years seven rubber balls have been preserved in the bogs of El Manatí near the Olmec city of San Lorenzo. These balls range from 8 to 25 cm in diameter and date from between 1600 and 1200 BCE. (Cartwright)

Players of the Game
Most players were professionals or amateurs, they have found evidence of betting on the outcome of important games. The game also had a strong association with warriors and war captives were often forced to play the game. In most cases players who lost were frequently depicted in Mesoamerican art, appearing in sculpture, ceramics and architectural decoration - the latter often decorating the courts themselves - and these depictions often show that the players wore protective gear such as belts and padding for the knees, hips, elbows and wrists.
The players in these works of art also typically wear a padded helmet or a huge feathered headdress.
Winners
Winners of the game may have received trophies, many of which have been excavated at famous sites by different archaeologies. The trophies included hachas and palmas, a hacha was a representation of human head (early ones might have actually been heads) with a handle attached and a palma was also most likely a trophy or element of ceremonial costume worn by ball players. Other trophies for game winners include stone yokes (typically u-shaped to be worn around the waist in imitation of the protective waist gear worn by players) and hand stones, often elaborately carved. Most of the trophies are mos commonly found in graves and are reminders of the link between the sport and the underworld in Mesoamerican mythology. (Cartwright)

Almost all main Mesoamerican cities had at least one ball court. Interestingly, no ball court has yet been identified at Teotihuacan, the major metropolis of Central Mexico.

http://www.ancient.eu/article/604/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120508152131.htm