The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame Book

The ballgames of Mesoamerica were the world's first team sports. Competitive games of the Old World, such as the ancient Olympic games, stressed individual excellence rather than team participation. The Olmec, Mesoamerica's first great civilization, began playing rubber ballgames around 1800 BC on Mexico's Gulf Coast. While the games varied from region to region, they became firmly established as one of the defining features of Mesoamerican life, until their eventual prohibition by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The games, which combined elements of modern basketball, football, and soccer, were great public spectacles in which art played a central role. They were the source of endless inspiration for Mesoamerican artists, who created miniature ballcourts packed with players and spectators, elaborately attired figurines of ballplayers, and an array of athletic equipment whose beauty and symbolic meaning provided more than physical protection from the rigors of the sport. The Sport of Life and Death is published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Mint Museum of Art. Drawing upon collections in the United States and Mexico, it is the most comprehensive work ever on the ancient ballgame, with essays contributed by the world's foremost authorities on Mesoamerican art and culture. We learn that the marvelous qualities of rubber, extracted from native American plants, led to the development of the games; that Olmec and Maya rulers played the ballgame as part of their ceremonial duties; that ballcourts were dynamic public spaces where great pageants were enacted; and that elaborate rituals of human sacrifice often concluded a great game. 320 illustrations, 180 in color. Read More