In some locations, such as Pueblo Grande in Phoenix, Hohokam ballcourts are large, intact ovals surrounded by earthen embankments. Villagers may have picked up on the Mesoamerican style of playing and adapted it to their own purposes. New research suggests that the Hohokam ballcourts could have spread as part of a burgeoning religious revitalization movement. “It’s a great way of linking social groups.” “Whenever you have games, you have people coming together,” Wallace said. In doing so the courts played a major role in strengthening Hohokam identity and interactions among villages. Though archaeologists continue to debate their purpose, and ethnographic accounts are silent on this matter, most researchers now surmise that the Hohokam courts were used for ballgames, much as the Mesoamerican ones were, according to Henry Wallace, a senior research archaeologist with Desert Archaeology, Inc., in Tucson, Arizona. 7 and are associated with the Hohokam culture. Archaeologists have found more than 200 oval-shaped earthen depressions with embankments in central and southern Arizona that resemble the Mesoamerican ballcourts. But it’s possible these games weren’t limited to Mesoamerica. These ballgames were rich in symbolism-in some cases the gods were said to have played-and a powerful force that bound communities together. Beginning some time before 1200 B.C., competitors kicked and whacked rubber balls up and down a playing court. From the Olmec to the Maya to the Aztec, ballgames were one of the defining activities of Mesoamerican cultures.