Medieval Football - Pre-medieval Games

Pre-medieval Games

• Neolithic Britain & Ireland.
  • Carved Stone Balls found at various sites in Scotland, northern England and north eastern Ireland. Spirals and rings of concentric circles carved on the balls can be found on standing stones and megalithic structures of the same period. Sites such as Maughanby Circle and Newgrange were designed to monitor the movements of the sun with special emphasis on the winter solstice. The connection with megalithic art infers these carved stone balls had significant cultural importance to the pre-Celtic people who made them. They thought in a symbolic way and displayed ceremonial behavior we may look upon today as religious. No written records exist for the Neolithic people of Britain and Ireland. From reading the archaeology it has not been is possible to determine whether these peoples understood the concept of a ball game. However, as playing ball games feature in later religious festivities including Christmastide which coincides with Yuletide, the winter solstice and the Pagan rebirth of the sun the possibility cannot be ruled out.
• Ancient Greece
  • Episkyros
• Roman Empire
  • Harpastum