18/12/2025
Ōllamaliztli ⚽️
Is the oldest known ballgame in the world, dating back at least 3,000 years.
It was played, in different regional forms, by multiple cultures, including:
Olmecas (earliest evidence, c. 1400–400 BCE)
Zapotecas (c. 500 BCE–900 CE)
Maya (c. 250–900 CE, Classic Period, with continued play after)
Mexica (Aztecs) (c. 1300–1521 CE)
The game used a solid rubber ball and was typically played using the hips, thighs, and core.
Rules, symbolism, and contexts varied by time and place it could be recreational, political, or ceremonial but it was not universally sacrificial, as often exaggerated in modern retellings.
