Stone Disk with Relief of Mesoamerican Ball Player
source: Wikimedia Commons
author: mud and dark
Description
A relief in a large stone disk depicts a Mesoamerican figure with a ball and ritualistic headdress. Symbols adorn the outside of the disk.
Date
Artifact: unknown
Photo: January 2005
Information
This stone disk, found in Chinkultic, Chiapas, depicts a player of a ball game – likely the Mesoamerican ball game. As early as 1500 BC, the Chiapas region was home to the Mokaya people, thought to be ancestors to the Olmec, who left behind direct evidence of such ball games. The Maya also inhabited this region beginning in 300 AD, leaving behind evidence of this game as well.
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The Mesoamerican Ball Game | History of Ball Sports | Mesoamerican Pelota Purépecha
Pool, C. A. (2007). Olmec archaeology and early Mesoamerica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cornell, T., & Allen, T. B. (2002). War and games. San Marino, R.S.M.: Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Stress.
Crowther, N. B. (2007). Sport in ancient times. Westport, CT: Praeger.