Category: aztecs

Ullamaliztli: The Mesoamerican Ball Game, and Waging War with Sports

The Aztecs called it ullamaliztli, but the game is older than the Aztecs. Adopted by the Mayans and likely pioneered by the Olmec, today’s historians, in a stroke of un-inspiration, call it the Mesoamerican Ball Game. The game was a blood sport: a brutal contest where two teams kept a ten-pound rubber ball in play …

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