中美洲蹴球

座落在奇琴伊察的蹴球場。

中美洲蹴球（納瓦特爾語：ōllamalīztli，纳瓦特尔语发音：[oːlːamaˈlistɬi]；馬雅語系語言：pitz；英語：Mesoamerican ballgame）是一種流行於古代中部美洲具有儀式關聯的體育活動。阿茲特克版本的此類活動，是今墨西哥錫那羅亞州Ulama（或作Ollama）球類運動的前身。

中美洲蹴球有其重要儀式意義，主要的正式球賽都是作為儀式活動而舉行。這項運動也被作為兒童遊戲進行，且女性也可能從事於這種運動。

這種球賽與活人獻祭有關，尤其是斬首。例如，埃爾塔欣有石板雕刻一個在球場上被犧牲的人，而奇琴伊察也有石板則雕刻一名被斬首且跪著的球賽參與者，蛇和植物從他的脖子上長出來，凸顯犧牲血液的再生滋養力量。與這種球賽相關的祭祀主題藝術遍佈整個中部美洲，從危地馬拉南海岸Bilbao遺址的雕塑，到發現於墨西哥中部的文獻資料中。在基切人的《波波爾·烏》也描述有關傳說故事。然而，儘管犧牲與球賽有密切聯繫，但其中犧牲的確切機制和意義仍無法被確認；目前仍無法確知是什麼人會被犧牲、在何種場合下犧牲，以及這種犧牲與球賽本身有何關聯。

被發現有早於公元前1000年有關文物的遺址（以紅點標示）的地圖。

参考文献

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延伸阅读

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外部链接

• The First Basketball: The Mesoamerican ballgame（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） NBA Hoops Online
• A figurine showing ballplayer gear（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）