Football Olmecs And Mayans Archaeologial Records

Football, The Olmecs And Mayans
There was a sacred ball game that was played by the Olmecs which was later passed on to the Mayans and Aztecs. The rubber ball they played with, weighed as much as 3 and half pounds. This sacred ball game had religious significance and an important part of community rituals. This game was first played, by the Olmecs. It spread over the centuries to the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan (Now Mexico City), Toltecs, then passed on to the Mayas and Aztecs. In Aztec times the game was known as Tlachti. Among the Mayas, the game was known as Pok-Ta-Pok.

In the City of Tenochtitlan, there are capital letter (I) shaped courts, with stone rings, this is where the sacred game was played. Two teams would face each other over a line drawn across the centre of the court between two giant side walls. The object of the game was to knock the rubber ball into the opposing team's court. The players bounced the ball off the walls, and hit it only with their hips, knees or elbows.

The players wore, padded kneecaps, leather aprons, gloves and face masks for protection. You could also win if you Knocked the ball through either of two stone rings that bulged out from the middle of each side wall.

This is why when the Europeans came to America, they saw that the natives were playing games with a bouncing ball made out of rubber. The rubber was extracted from trees that the natives called Cau-Uchu, a word meaning "Weeping Wood," named after the oozing fluid coming out of the trees. This fluid was systematically cultivated In pre-Columbian America, which was when the Olmec civilization existed.

The Europeans or Tamahu took pieces of the gummy material back to Europe and tried to duplicate the water resistant product, such as shoes, coats, and capes worn by the natives of South America and Central America. However, they were unsuccessful. The rubber samples, that was brought back to Europe, became merely a museum piece for the next two centuries.