Playball: Earliest Ballcourt in Highland Mexico | A Book Talk by Prof. Jeffrey Blomster

The Mexican Cultural Institute is honored to present Los Juegos de Pelota, a journey through one of Mesoamerica's most captivating traditions. Spanning thousands of years, the ball game was far more than sport: it was ritual, power, and cosmology in motion. This first-of-its-kind cycle traces its story from ancient past to present day.

The series opens with Playball: Earliest Ballcourt in Highland Mexico — A Book Talk by Prof. Jeffrey Blomster on the origins and cultural significance of the Mesoamerican ballgame. Join us on May 13th at 6:30 PM at the Mexican Cultural Institute. 

In this lecture, Prof. Blomster explores one of the oldest and most important sporting traditions in the Americas: the Mesoamerican ballgame. Drawing on archaeological research from Oaxaca and beyond, he traces the early development of the game and examines its deep ritual and symbolic meanings within ancient Mesoamerican societies.

Far more than a sport, the ballgame served as a powerful arena for political expression, religious ceremony, and social organization. Through material evidence and historical interpretation, this talk sheds light on how the game reflected broader ideas about cosmology, conflict, and community in pre-Columbian civilizations.

This presentation is part of a broader series connecting ancient Mesoamerican traditions to contemporary global conversations around sport and culture, including reflections inspired by the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

A Q&A will follow the talk. Books and related materials may be available at the event.

ABOUT PROF. BLOMSTER:

Dr.Jeffrey P. Blomster is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, where he has directed excavation and laboratory projects centered on the site of Etlatongo, in the Nochixtlán Valley. His research explores the transformations associated with emergent socio-political complexity, analyzing the relations between interregional interaction, imagery and style, gender and bodies, power, religion and ideology. He is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at George Washington University, Washington DC. His most recent book is a co-edited volume published in 2017 by Cambridge, The Early Olmec and Mesoamerica: The Material Record.