The oldest known Mesoamerican ball court, which dates to 1650 BCE and has a floor of compacted earth rather than stone, is at Paso de la Amada in Chiapas, on the Pacific coast of Mexico just ...

A 3,400-year-old ball court in the southern mountains of Mexico suggests many societies contributed to the development of an ancient, well-known Mesoamerican ball game.

Each Olmec head is unique, ... ritualistic ball game. Their design—like that of other Olmec artifacts such as ceramics and figurines—appears to have been inspired by the jaguar, ...

Mesoamerican cultures took their ball games seriously. Beginning with the Olmec civilization, the game involved two teams vying to use their bodies to propel an eight-to-nine-pound rubber ball ...

A latex ball of Olmec origin, dating back some 3,000 years. It is unclear whether this ball was actually used for game play or whether it was a ritual ball. Judging from its pristine condition, it ...

Newly Unearthed Mesoamerican Ball Court Offers Insights on Game’s Origins “This could be the oldest and longest-lived team ball game in the world,” says one archaeologist ...

The ball game was part of the dialectic between authority and the gods." When the Spaniards, led by Hernan Cortés, arrived in Mexico, "they saw the ball game as a fascinating spectacle and a ...

This Olmec mask was worn around the neck as a pendant. ... the ceremonial ball game and complex astrological calendars all originated with the Olmecs.

Olmec Family Fiesta attendees will have the opportunity to view the 10 Olmec sculptures installed at the College of DuPage. ... their wars, was through this ball game.

Gail Borden Public Library’s new “Olmec Origins” exhibit, featuring 33 Olmec sculptures, makes its Kane County debut Nov. 13 at the main library in downtown Elgin.

On Long Hidden: The Olmec Series, bass giant William Parker suggests a new cosmology that unearths common threads between the ancient, indigenous cultures of West African Manding and Middle American ...