Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Ancient sports elsewhere

Sports that are at least two and a half thousand years old include hurling in Ancient Ireland, shinty in Scotland, harpastum (similar to rugby) in Rome, cuju (similar to association football) in China, and polo in Persia. The Mesoamerican ballgame originated over three thousand years ago.

The Mayan ballgame of Pitz is believed to be the first ball sport, as it was first played around 2500 BC.There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 2000 BC.  Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's ancient past. Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh. Among other sports that originated in Persia are polo and jousting. A polished bone implement found at Eva in Tennessee, USA and dated to around 5000 BC has been construed as a possible sporting device used in a "ring and pin" game.

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