Sports, Gambling, and Government: America's First Social Compact?

The presence of a 3,600-year-old ballcourt in the Mazatan region of Southern Mexico implies that a significant connection existed between ballcourts, competitive sport, and the emergence of the first ascriptive societies in Mesoamerica. We explore four likely connections between the Mesoamerican ballgame, rank society, and early government. These include gambling, playing the game, sponsorship of the game and its associated activities, and the effects of team sports on community identity. Ethnographic information from tribal societies is reviewed with respect to the social roles of competitive games and their effects on egalitarian society. We consider the idea that community identity, or communitas, can become embodied in a small group of people or individuals who sponsor sport, its associated rituals, and the construction of sporting facilities. These individuals may subsequently gain higher status within both their communities and their regions. This finding adds sport and competitive gaming to the growing list of processes that anthropologists should consider in exploring social transformations. [Mesoamerica, social complexity, ballgames, community identity]