Recently, I was interested in the question of what kind of sport is the oldest on earth and when the first competitions began to take place, in any sport and people (fans) were going to stare at it to find out who would be the winner. I dug into various sources, ranging from Wikipedia and the online library of the University of SibFU and found out which sports are the most ancient.

On many sites it is written that the most ancient game on earth " pitz"Which was played by one of the ancient Mayan peoples. A peculiar game somewhat reminiscent of football in modern world- the players were divided into several teams and tried to get into a special hole located on the side of the enemy. After the defeat, the elders made a new ball from the head. But actually it is not.

1. During excavations in the Sibudu cave in South Africa, American scientists found in the sediments traces of arrowheads and spears that were fired at special targets attached to the wall. According to the tracks, it turned out that there were many tracks and the arrows entered the targets with different strengths and along different trajectories, which indicates that there were several shooters. And it is quite possible that the shooters competed among themselves in the so-called " hunting sport"According to the research of scientists, these traces were left over 60,000 years ago

2. many cave paintings found already in other caves in Europe were depicted run and struggle more 17,000 years back.

3. Other rock paintings on the walls in Libya prove that 6000 BC. people also already competed archery

4. Also in Japan around the same time, images were found very similar to one of the ancient sports Sumo wrestling

5. In ancient Sumer, various drawings of struggle between people were discovered on stone slabs that appeared around 2600 BC

6. And only in 2500 BC information was found that the Maya played " pitz"

7. Many people believe that Greece is the ancestor of the oldest event of the Olympic Games, but in fact this is not so, the first competitions in javelin throwing, wrestling, fishing, long jump, rowing and so on appeared in ancient egypt AT 2000 BC

8.In 1600-1100 BC. Already in ancient Greece, competitions were held between athletes. Initially, these competitions were held at the funeral of noble people, but after they grew into more - large-scale competitions that later turned into Olympic sports. Competitions were held between the participants running, javelin throwing, discus throwing, long jump and in various other disciplines.

Outcome: from the above, one thing can be said for sure, that one of the most ancient sports was javelin-throwing and archery, which for some reason is understandable! These skills were necessary for people to survive. And the highest possession of these "sports" guaranteed the owner survival. But since people could not figure out among themselves who should be taken hunting and who should not!? Only the struggle between people could show who is best in these ancient sports.

Ancient sports would never have taken root in the modern world. In this article, we will not talk about the football players of 1940, when they wore leather helmets. Everything will be even stranger and much more than you can imagine.

1. Mesoamerican ball game. America, a country that appeared due to the destruction of the local population and their replacement with criminals. Actually, Maya was preferred to any diet. The latter also stood out for their love of sports.

Long before Columbus discovered America by storm, the official sport of ancient Mexico was a strange game the Maya called Pitz. Since then there has not been a single word English language, which can convey all the cruelty of this game, so we will simply call it the Mesoamerican ball game.

Judging by the image, she was much more fun than the Soviet electronic games. But what can I say - even the graphics of rock art of hell-knows-what-age among wild tribes was better!

The Mesoamerican ball game was almost like volleyball, except that the ball was rubber, weighed at least 4 kilograms, and if you failed, you were beheaded. Players had to keep the heavy ball in the air using only their butts and thighs, occasionally bats, rackets and stones were allowed. By the way, sometimes, injuries from the ball on the player's body were so terrible that they had to be torn open. Well, if the ball hit the athlete in the groin, then he was killed on the spot. Because, well, you know, mercy is what it is.

After the game, the winners will have fun with the ladies and draw scribbles all over their bodies, while the losing team will be stabbed to death and their captain decapitated.

2. Tug of war. Tug of war remains one of the most ancient sports still played today. You may have tug-of-war with your friends at school or summer camp more than once. Tell me, have you tried digging a fiery pit between teams?! And before that they thought of it, and, you see, it makes the fun even more interesting!

Instead of rope, players used animal skins, and given the Vikings' unhealthy love of violence, murder, fire, and an obsession with rape, it was only a matter of time before it all came together in triathlon.

The tug-of-war took place over a fiery pit outside the city they had just captured, with the victors getting exclusive rights to rape all the local women. The winners got all the joys of robbery, and the losers were burned alive.

3. Pankration. While Greece is responsible for many of the inventions and terms of Western civilization and breathed life into many, the ruthless olive eaters are also responsible for the invention of the brutal sport called pankration. Some semblance of a modern martial art, but this ancient sport was too gay to survive to this day.

The entertainment portal site sincerely hopes that
that not a single fighter just took offense at us.
Seriously, this is a story - nothing personal, faggot!

There were no rules, no rounds, no pauses in this blue-eyed fun. The idea was to defeat the opponent using only your body. Punching, kicking, heading, jumping damage, and so on. An ordinary fight without rules, but there was a referee, and he only made sure that the rivals did not kill or injure each other. Naturally, this did not always work out.

This ancient sport was not as cruel as the crowd wanted, and then, it was replaced by those known to this day. The latter were more popular, simply because they killed each other, maimed each other, could be poisoned by animals, and so on. etc.

4. Naumachia. Playing Battleship? The Romans also knew this game, they just used real ships. They filled the amphitheater with water, threw the boats into the water and enjoyed the deadly fight. Naumachia means "sea war" and the battles usually parodied scenes from the most famous battles in human history. There were several thousand participants, almost exact amount real participants in a real battle.

Unlike real battles, nothing washed away the blood on the deck of the ship. Blood, body parts and internal organs just piled up until they went overboard. Many men literally choked on their own blood in the process of this ancient sport. Most died, and, as a rule, they were slaves.

Naval war in Ancient Rome included the presence of flamethrowers such as napalm and was called Greek fire, which ignited at the moment of reaction with oxygen. So, in addition to tons of blood, bloated corpses and severed limbs, viewers could enjoy the slaves burned alive. By the way, appreciate the indifferent facial expressions of the participants in this ancient sport:

The world is changing: something shamelessly becomes obsolete, something new comes to replace the outdated. So it is with sports. Although it seems that this does not concern him, because most of the sports are older than the sideboard in his grandmother's apartment. But nevertheless, in the backyard of history, there were several undeservedly, and perhaps deservedly forgotten sports lying around. Some of them have been transformed, while others have ceased to be considered a sport at all. But first things first.

1. Shooting pigeons

This discipline is somewhat reminiscent of hunting. Not sure if it's good or bad this species sports have been canceled as cities literally suffocate in hordes of feathered carcasses. And pigeons carry various diseases. On the one hand, there was a plus in this fun, and on the other hand, it was somehow not civilized, or something.

The sport, by the way, was an Olympic one, but it got to the Olympics only once: in 1900. Then the athletes shot 300 pigeons. The most accurate was the Belgian Leon de Landin, who scored 21 points. These were the only modern Olympic Games in which living creatures perished. After that, the discipline returned to the program for some time, but they were already shooting at clay pigeons.

2. Rackets

The invention of British sports fans. The essence of the game is simple: two or four participants take turns sending the ball into the wall so that when it bounces it hits the opponent's half. When one player makes a mistake, the right to serve is transferred to another, and so on. In a word, when you and your friend were throwing the ball at the wall out of boredom in the yard, you were not just passing the time, but playing the once Olympic sport.

The British achieved the inclusion of rackets in the program of the 1908 Olympics in London, where they competed for two sets of awards - in singles and doubles. Only seven Britons applied to participate. After the London Games, racketeering at the Olympics was never heard of. And no one has lost anything from it.

3. Jeu de pomme

The roots of de poma (from the French jeu - "game", paume - "palm") go back to the Middle Ages. The ancient game immediately became the ancestor of tennis, squash, racquetball (a game reminiscent of squash) and handball. The first mention of jeu-de-pome appeared in the 13th century - even then it was played in France, Italy and England.

The rules are extremely simple: you need to throw a small ball over a stretched net or rope with your hand. Then, as a game projectile, they began to use a bat - a wide stick, and later switched to prototypes of rackets, although they initially used their palms, but it is very painful. The venue for the game of jeu de paume was special closed halls called "tripot" (from the French tripot). Only in Paris there were more than 200 such premises, which immediately attracted the capital's bourgeois - the game was affordable mainly for members of the royal court and high-ranking nobles.

They played jeu de paume for money: the bet was an ecu coin (equal to 60 sous) - an artisan on this amount could quite calmly exist for several weeks. The ecu was divided into four parts of 15 sous, each of which was worth one point. From here, by the way, the scoring system in modern tennis came out, only “45” was replaced by “40” for the convenience of commenting - shouting a short number is much more energetic.

The game was included in the program of the 1908 Olympics in London, but ironically, only the British and Americans took part in the first and last Olympic tournament, and not its creators, the French.
By the way, this sport was well known in Russia. The sports department of St. Petersburg State University still has a playground for this fun. It has been standing since the eighteenth century.

4. Pistol duel

In fact, there was nothing wrong with this discipline. Only at first glance it seems that such a sport is somehow connected with aristocrats, etiquette, gloves in the face and gunshot wounds. In fact, everything was not quite like that, since ... mannequins acted as opponents of the Olympians, as was the case at the games in 1906. The opponents took turns shooting at the scarecrow from a distance of 20 and 30 meters. This sport was again lit up in the games of 1912, but then disappeared forever.

5. Art

"This is some nonsense!" you say. “Really, nonsense,” we agree. It's hard to even call it a sport. On the other hand, all those who despise physical exercise and says that the jocks are degenerates, they received some confirmation of their words.

It all started in Stockholm. In 1912, art competitions were included in the program of the Olympic Games. It was part of the idea of ​​Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC. Later, at the 1912 Games, De Coubertin, who was not physically developed, won the gold medal in literature.

In 1948, 25 countries sent artists to London to compete in architecture, painting, sculpture, literature and music. This was the last time there were art competitions at the Olympics. But once again, this sport has hacked professionalism. Most of the artists were professionals, which was contrary to the then IOC statute, and the competition was removed from the program of the Olympic Games. And then it finally dawned on everyone that there was no place for ranting about paintings and vases at the sports festival.

6 Obstacle Swimming

A very unusual, but undoubtedly fun, 200m swim race. Competitors first swam to the pole and rapidly climbed onto it. And then they had to go back down, swim a little more, climb on two boats, overcome the distance under two more, and then, finally, the finish line appeared on the horizon.

The competition was held only once, during the 1900 Olympic Games. Then the winner was Frederick Lane from Australia. You can imagine all these wisdoms, and it even becomes a pity that this sport has long ceased to be an Olympic sport. In terms of entertainment, he, perhaps, would have surpassed many activities.

7. Naumachia

Let's dive into unforgivable antiquity. Sports such as chariot riding, running and wrestling already existed then. But the most spectacular, of course, were the gladiatorial fights, the most impressive of which was the naumachia - this is the Roman tournament of sailors, the name roughly translates as "sea battle", a kind of progenitor of sailing. Only in sailing no one kills anyone.

The Romans filled the arena with water, launched boats into it and recreated famous naval battles. Often these were bloody spectacles, where prisoners of war or people sentenced to death participated. Unlike most similar sporting events, naumachia was characterized by an extremely high mortality rate among participants.

8. Venazio

It is difficult to say for whom these competitions were worse - for the slaves or for the animals with which they were forced to fight. In fact, the Romans were so interested in the confrontation between people and animals that at the grand opening of the Colosseum, more than 9,000 wild animals were released against people, some of which were killed. People often suffered the same fate: for example, sometimes the participants were not given any weapons at all, and lions or bears became their opponents, and people had to somehow defeat the hungry beast or die. Often these competitions included some kind of drama: the fighters appeared as heroes of a theatrical plot. Roman authorities thus achieved two goals at once: they executed criminals and provided entertainment for the masses.

Now there are a great number of absolutely crazy sports, but in the old days there was something to brag about too. Or something to be afraid of. It remains only to be content with the fact that some games have sunk into oblivion - and they have long been forgotten. So this is just a history lesson.

Pankration

The ancient Greeks are famous not only for the creation of Western civilization, but also for the invention of the solid game "pankration", which, at the same time, can be considered progress in the terrifying list of the then "games". This one was extremely similar to the modern martial arts mix, except that there were no bosses, rounds, breaks in it. It was necessary to get close to the opponent so close to gain control over him. At this step, blows, grabs, wraps and other techniques should be used that would force the competitor to surrender.
This sport even entered the program of the Olympic Games of the old world, and athletes developed many techniques and techniques.

"Corrida" with elephants

This game was played in 54 AD. e. in Rome. In the so-called "venation", the players were required to stand in front of a monster called "The Animal of Carthage". Actually, they were elephants.
In addition to the fact that it was necessary to fight with elephants, each slave (and specifically captive slaves were played) comprehended that the possibility of survival did not exceed 2 percent. Well, we may have gone too far with percentages: how could the slaves know about percentages ... Anyway, it was a deadly gladiatorial game. The Romans played this game so often that the North African elephants were in danger of extinction ...

Skin tugging

Tug of war is one of the old games that is still played today. The rope can also be dragged through various obstacles: a swamp, a pond. But no one would have thought to drag him through the pit of fire. And the Vikings figured it out. Instead of rope, animal skins were then used. Again, the fate of the losers is unclear: according to some versions, they could completely become victims of the militancy of the Vikings.

"Pitz"

Before the advent of football official game of old Mexico there was a strange game that the Mayans called pitz. In some versions it is called the Mesoamerican ball game. They played almost like volleyball (wishing to rule, by and large, remained unknown), and the role of the ball was played by a weighty ball (about 4 kg), rolled up from unusual rubber.
Points were counted for attacking the opponent's wall, and were removed if the ball touched the ground more than 2 times. No matter which team could earn the respect of the public and even win at the end. To do this, it was necessary to throw the ball over a vertically located rim, which was located at an incredible height. The favorites went to celebrate the victory, and the losers ... Here the views are spreading. Historians imply that from time to time the game took on a ritual character: it was part of the ceremony of sacrifice to the old gods ... Wanting it hard to say who exactly was chosen as a victim: favorites or losers. On the this moment the game acquired the most civilized and peaceful features. It is called "ulama".

Tournament of fishermen

The game was contained in the fact that 8 young men jumped into a fishing boat and sailed along the Nile. Later they began to fight: right in the middle of the river. The battle was very cruel: it could not do without wounds, as well as without falling overboard. It’s hard to believe, but almost all the fishermen of that time, not like ordinary people, didn’t know how to swim… So almost everyone just drowned… And don’t forget about the crocodiles and hippos that appeared here when the boats started screaming and there was some blood in the water. As you understand, animals also contributed to this game, in which it is extremely difficult to see at least a fraction of a healthy sense ...

This game is sea ​​battle, only with true ships.
Everything is quite simple. The Romans made an extraordinary amphitheater with water and true ships, which were supposed to fight like in a true battle. The Romans called the game naumachia, which means "military events with the introduction naval forces". The number of accomplices reached several thousand, and everything happened almost the same as in a real battle.

It was not easy to find several thousand guys ready to fight on these ships, because almost all of them, perhaps, were slaves, as in the case of gladiator fights ... And, in general, it is absolutely incomprehensible why it was necessary to establish similar types, taking into account the number of old wars. It was completely possible to sell tickets for those fights. But, apparently, the audience demanded something else ...

Everyone wants strong sensations. Some people find pleasure in such small things as a second glass of wine. Other people raise their dopamine levels through risky activities. As far as we know, humans have been participating in adrenaline-pumping activities for a long time. Here are ten extreme sports from the past that show our ancestors were willing to risk life and limb for a little pleasure.

1. Diving into the ground

Pentecost is one of the islands that form the state of Vanuatu in the southern part Pacific Ocean. The island's men perform a ritual that looks like madness to outsiders. Divers into the ground climb onto a platform of roughly hewn logs 25 meters high. At the top they tie a creeper to each leg. Then they jump from the tower.

This ritual is said to be around 1500 years old, although its exact origin is not known. According to one legend, a woman, driven to despair by her husband's constant sexual harassment, fled into the jungle. Running away from her husband chasing her, she climbed a tree. To save herself, she tied vines to her feet and jumped. The husband neglected this and died, falling to the ground. Now the men performing this ritual reminds them not to fall for the same trick. Diving into the ground is also associated with the yam harvest. Those who jump from the highest height will get the best harvest.

Despite the sheer danger of this activity, injuries from diving into the ground are remarkably rare. The vines have good elasticity, and the soil under the tower is plowed to cushion the impact in the event of a hard landing.

2. Ancient polo

Polo is one of the oldest team sports in the world. AT ancient world cavalry often played a decisive role in battles. The ability to turn a horse and steer it straight into the gaps could change the course of a battle. The game of polo probably developed from cavalry drills. One would think that the game eliminates danger, but a quick look at the history of polo reveals a list of bloody accidents.

Polo originated in the ancient Persian Empire before the 6th century BC. This game was popular among warriors. When Alexander the Great was about to set off to conquer Persia, the Persian king Darius sent him a stick and a polo ball, hinting that young man should go back to playing games.

This game has spread to Europe and Asia. In Samarkand you can still see the polo field of Tamerlane the Great. A variation of polo was also played in the Byzantine Empire, using netted poles instead of clubs.

Runners clash with high speed horses, the use of long poles that could get tangled in their legs, and poor protective equipment led to dangerous game. The Byzantine emperor Manuel suffered a concussion in one of the games, but he got off lightly. Emperors Alexander and John of Trebizond died while playing polo.

3. Nestinarity

In different cities in Greece and Bulgaria, a ritual is performed each year that may be thousands of years old. In its current form, Nestinariststvo represents the Christian veneration of Saints Constantine and Athanasius. The worshipers take the icons of these saints and then pass through the mountain of burning firewood.

According to legend, when a church caught fire in Bulgaria, the villagers who were nearby heard from it the voices of the saints asking for help. Under the protection of the blessings of the saints, the villagers were able to safely carry the icons and relics of the saints out of the flames. Now they repeat the same feat and trust that it is divine grace that guides them safely across the coals.

Not everyone supports Nestinarity. Firewalking has been associated with the ancient worship of the god Dionysus, and some think that this ritual is of pagan origin and therefore should not be performed by devout Christians.

4. Florentine calcio

The ancient Romans had a ball game called Harpastum, which was apparently similar to modern rugby. The players passed the ball to each other and grabbed it in the air, preventing it from touching the ground. Roman commentators believed that it was the ideal physical exercise for young people. Florentine calcio, a game whose origin is associated with Harpastum, takes physical interaction rugby and discards all its boring rules.

The Florentine (or historical) calcio was played in the central square of Florence in the 16th century. In this game, teams of 27 people oppose each other and try to possible ways throw the ball over the fence on both sides of the court. Players can wrestle, punch and kick to gain possession of the ball. To boost the morale of the event, a cannon is fired after every goal scored.

Previously, the winning team was rewarded with a cow. Now the winners get free food, and the losers go home to treat their injuries.

5. Knuttlake

Knuttleke was a Viking game, and that's enough to suggest the rough nature of the game. There is little reliable data about knuttlake, but there is some information in the Viking sagas that made it possible to make an approximate reconstruction of this game.

There were two teams of overweight Vikings with clubs. The club must have been shaped so that it could catch the ball, and, according to the sagas, it sometimes broke in anger. The ball used by the teams was small and hard enough to draw blood or knock a person down with a fairly strong throw. The location of the game is disputed. Most sources speak of a frozen pond or level ground in winter time, but apparently this was not a requirement.

Matches could last for several days - like modern cricket matches. But unlike cricket, players could be intercepted and hit while the ball was in play.

6 Chariot Race

Gaius Appuleius Diocles was the richest known sportsman who, during his career as a charioteer, amassed a fortune equivalent to today's billions of dollars. Considering the risks he faced, he probably deserved it.

The Romans loved chariot racing. Drawings of racing appeared everywhere in the city. Bets were made that amounted to fortunes. A huge hippodrome, the Circus Maximus, was built in Rome. It could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. Chariots drawn by two or four horses made seven circles around the circus. The key to victory was the capture of the inside track. Accidents were not uncommon, and according to the study of the graves of charioteers, their average lifespan was only 22 years.

Chariot racing is so dangerous that even playing it in movies can be deadly. In the 1926 film Ben Hur, there was a chariot race scene that cost the lives of five horses and one stuntman.

7. Water joust

Knightly duel is very dangerous. Some people took sharp sticks and attacked other people on horseback with the intention of knocking them out of the saddle with their sharp stick. At some point, it seemed to people that this sport was not dangerous enough, and they decided to add the danger of potential drowning to it.

In the 17th century in the south of France, teams of young people fought on the water. The bachelor team in the blue boat attacked married men on a red boat. It was a noble fight. Two boats, propelled by ten rowers, were moving at full speed at each other, while the fighters, in armor and with a shield, stood on board trying to shoot down their opponents.

On the ancient Nile, water fights were competitions for real goals. The Nile fishermen fought for access to the water. On the frescoes you can find confirmation of the battles between the fishermen, the rules of which were not distinguished by sophistication. While most of the crew steered the boat, the fighters, armed with poles, tried to knock others into the water. Falling into the water, the fighter became a victim of hippos and crocodiles.

8. Pankration

In ancient Greece, pankration was an Olympic sport in which two men went head-to-head in a brutal duel with almost no rules. The only rules were that the wrestlers could not bite, gouge their eyes, or hit their genitals. Everything else was considered fair play if it resulted in a victory over the opponent. Losing was considered to be your admission of defeat.

Arrhichion won an unusual victory in pankration on the ancient Olympic Games. His opponent applied a choke hold to him while he reached for his leg. Arrhichion managed to break his opponent's ankle. This, of course, forced him to give up. And then the judges found that Arrhichion had been strangled. Nevertheless, a victor's wreath was put on his corpse and carried through the streets.

9. "Plebeian" football

In England, starting from the 14th century, on Forgiveness Tuesday, young people liked to get together and play with the ball. Not only modern football, but also football hooliganism goes back to these games. Puffed up pig bladder was made with the aim of returning it to your team's village. The goal caused great unrest. Self-mutilation was common, and even deaths occurred.

Usually hundreds of people played "plebeian" football, whole villages competed with each other. AT big cities it could have been a competition between groups of apprentices who ran through narrow lanes and streets. In 1365, King Edward III banned football because it created inconvenience and distracted healthy people from archery practice. Football taught wrestling, but not quite the same kind.

During one match in Pont-l'Abbe, France, 40 people reportedly drowned in a pond when the ball fell into the water.

10. Cretan Bull Leaps

In 1400 BC on Crete, in the palace of Knossos of King Minos, a wall fresco was painted depicting a young man jumping over an attacking bull. Such images are not unique. Images and sculptures of people holding on to the horns of a bull have been found in the excavation sites of many objects of the Minoan culture.

According to some researchers, such images reflect rather than a real, but a mythical event. Many Cretan images show people using the horns of a bull to jump over the animal's back, which seems extremely risky. Others point to modern fights bulls, during which the young men regularly jump over the bulls. It seems most likely that the bull-leaping was a ritual that actually took place in Crete.

Do not forget that ancient Crete was the habitat of the mythical Minotaur - half-man, half-bull, who demanded human sacrifices. Is it possible that the ritual of jumping over the bull, which no doubt cost the lives of many people, survived the myth of the Minotaur?