體育運動的歷史最早可以追溯到公元前 70000 年左右的人類遠古時代。在日後發展成為體育運動的體力活動在早期便與戰爭和娛樂等方面之間產生了聯絡 。 研究與體育運動相關的歷史可以從中發掘到有關社會變革和體育自身本源的資訊，因為體育的發展與人類基本技能的發展（比較類玩樂）。隨著人們進一步追溯歷史，隨時間上溯而逐漸減少的可信證據使得關於體育起源和最初目的的理論越來越難以透過依據來支撐。 早在體育運動誕生之初便與軍事訓練聯絡了起來。比如，競賽常被用作於確定個人是否適合充軍的手段之一，而團隊運動則被用來訓練和證明一個軍事單位在軍隊中作戰以及作為一個團隊一起工作的能力。 Sports in prehistory Cave paintings found in the Lascaux caves in France appear to depict sprinting and wrestling in the Upper Paleolithic around 15300 years ago Cave paintings in the Bayankhongor Province of Mongolia dating back to the Neolithic age show a wrestling match surrounded by crowds Neolithic Rock art found at the cave of swimmers in Wadi Sura near Gilf Kebir in Egypt shows evidence of swimming and archery being practiced around 10000 BCE Prehistoric cave paintings in Japan depict a sport similar to sumo wrestling Ancient Sumer Various representations of wrestlers have been found on stone slabs attributed to the Sumerian civilization One showing three pairs of wrestlers has been generally dated to around 3000 BCE A cast bronze figurine perhaps the base of a vase found at Khafaji in Iraq shows two figures in a wrestling hold and dates to around 2600 BCE Interpreted as one of the earliest depictions of sport the statue is housed in the National Museum of Iraq Archeology has also found early suggestions pointing to the sport of boxing in ancient Sumer The Epic of Gilgamesh gives one of the first historical records of sport with Gilgamesh engaging in a form of belt wrestling with Enkidu The cuneiform tablets recording the tale date to around 2000 BCE however the historical Gilgamesh is supposed to have lived around 2800 to 2600 BCE The Sumerian king Shulgi 21st century BCE boasts of his prowess in sport in the Selfpraise of Shulgi A B and C Fishing hooks not unlike those made today have been found during excavations at Ur suggesting some sort of angling activity in Sumer around 2600 BCE Ancient Egyptian Monuments to the Pharaohs found at Beni Hasan dating to around 2000 BCE indicate that a number of sports including wrestling weightlifting long jump swimming rowing archery fishing and athletics as well as various kinds of ball games were welldeveloped and regulated in ancient Egypt Other Egyptian sports also included javelin throwing and high jump An earlier portrayal of figures wrestling was found in the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum in Saqqara dating to around 2400 BCE Ancient Greece The Minoan art of Bronze Age Crete depict ritual sporting events thus a fresco dating to 1500 BCE records gymnastics in the form of religious bullleaping and possibly bullfighting The origins of Greek sporting festivals may date to funeral games of the Mycenean period between 1600 BCE and 1100 BCE The Iliad includes extensive descriptions of funeral games held in honour of deceased warriors such as those held for Patroclus by Achilles Engaging in sport is described as the occupation of the noble and wealthy who have no need to do manual labour themselves In the Odyssey king Odysseus of Ithaca proves his royal status to king Alkinoös of the Phaiakes by showing his proficiency in throwing the javelin It was in Greece that sports were first instituted formally with the first Olympic Games recorded in 776 BCE in Olympia where they were celebrated until 393 CE These games took place every four years or Olympiad which became a unit of time in historical chronologies Initially a single sprinting event the Olympics gradually expanded to include several footraces run in the nude or in armor boxing wrestling pankration chariot racing long jump javelin throw and discus throw During the celebration of the games an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the games in safety The prizes for the victors were wreaths of laurel leaves Other important sporting events in ancient Greece included the Isthmian games the Nemean Games and the Pythian Games Together with the Olympics these were the most prestigious games and formed the Panhellenic Games Some games eg the Panathenaia of Athens included musical reading and other nonathletic contests in addition to regular sportsevents The Heraean Games held in Olympia as early as the 6th century BCE were the first recorded sporting competition for women Ancient sports elsewhere Sports that are at least two and a half thousand years old include hurling in Ancient Ireland shinty in Scotland harpastum similar to rugby in Rome cuju similar to association football in China and polo in Persia The Mesoamerican ballgame originated over three thousand years ago The Mayan ballgame of Pitz is believed to be the first ball sport as it was first played around 2500 BCEThere are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 2000 BCE Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in Chinas ancient past Ancient Persian sports include the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh Among other sports that originated in Persia are polo and jousting A polished bone implement found at Eva in Tennessee United States and dated to around 5000 BCE has been construed as a possible sporting device used in a ring and pin game Various traditional sports of South Asia are believed to be thousands of years old with khokho having been played since at least the fourth century BCE aspects of kabaddi having potentially been mentioned in the Mahabharata and atyapatya having been described in the Naṟṟiṇai around 300 CEKabaddi How to play Indias 4000yearold indigenous sport OlympicscomKho Kho a kabaddilike sport linked with Indian epic Mahabharata know all about it Olympicscom Middle Ages For at least 900 years entire villages had competed with each other in rough and sometimes violent ballgames in England Shrovetide football and Ireland caid In comparison the game of calcio Fiorentino in Florence Italy was originally reserved for combat sports such as fencing and jousting being popular Horse racing in particular was a favourite of the upper class in Great Britain with Queen Anne founding the Ascot Racecourse Long summer days provided predictable opportunities for free time when peasants could engage in athletic activities Swimming wrestling and racing were common among all ages and both genders while organized ball games of various types can be found in every medieval society and culture The participation of sports ball games to be exact at the time loosened control the ruling class had over the peasants this is not a rare trend throughout history By the fourteenth century no fewer than thirty bans have been placed by English Kings on ball games such as football handball and hurling The Middle Ages were not immediately devoid of sports from the Roman Empire after it collapsed Gladiatorial bouts and chariot racing continued sporadically and intermittently well into the Middle Ages They would eventually fade away and be replaced by local activities Hawking however was the particular reserve of emperors and kings This sport would be one of the few sports continued in the Middle Ages Frederick II Holy Roman Emperor may have played a critical role in its persistence as he was an avid hawker who authored the first comprehensive book on falconry Furthermore kings may have followed the example of falconry as to mimic the status of an emperor During the Middle Ages tournaments were not an uncommon occurrence after all war was a constant threat that could occur often Thus preparation for war is practice practice is competition and competition is sport consequently before the establishment of sports history the medieval hallmarks of upperclass sports ie jousting mock combat and blood sports were generally agreed upon as military training Modern sports historians however debate that such sports were for entertainment purposes one example considered were tournaments which offered little to prepare one for actual war and would likely have set any forms of real training back Tournaments in the Middle Ages arose out of local festivals As a result many tournaments had their own local characteristic but were uniform in habits and customs of the region the tournament was stationed in Medieval tournaments presents characteristics of modern sport as those ex professional knights who were most successful and popular perhaps the only medieval equivalent to todays sports stars followed the money and fame of the tournament circuit Those with political backing and social favor were able to accumulate property and goods to ensure a comfortable life after their competitive days were over The tournament was a market and a social mixer These tournaments consequently attracted many people to attend for various purposes such as marriages and trade of livestock and land or wares provided by merchants and vendors The Middle Ages also revealed the importance of owning a horse common to the sports and amusements of the ruling class was the horse If someone of the ruling class did not own a horse it would represent that they did not have much wealth as well and fun since they would be unable to participate in certain sports like horse racing Renaissance After the late middle ages early modern sports became less of a violent or military training activity and more of an activity done for recreational benefit in Europe During the Renaissance educators and medical surgeons promoted playing sports because of their numerous physical and psychological benefits to the human body During this era there was also support for moderating sports as it was viewed as more for leisure than a strict procedure Openair sporting events became an attraction for many and people of all different social hierarchies were involved in this new culture These new radical ideas about sports made their way into books and films and eventually became part of the social culture during the Renaissance As mentioned by Mike Huggins Gargantua written by François Rabelais was a wellknown novel published in 1534 that mentioned sports and games as a unit like many other renowned works of literature All different types of sports became a functional unit in many peoples routines and it brought refreshment into peoples lives As the popularity and involvement of sports increased rules began to form and sports became more regulated so they could be fair Sports clubs and associations which provided a sense of unity also became more common especially for elite sports such as horse racing cockfighting hunting and tennis during the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies For example Charles II formed 20 rules for horse racing in 1665 Sports were a form of entertainment for spectators who did not play themselves There were stakemoney contests and prizes in these sports and racing competitions These modern advancements and developments made about sporting life in the Renaissance in Europe eventually made their way to Asia Africa and Latin America Development of modern sports Some historians most notably Bernard Lewis claim that team sports as we know them today are primarily an invention of Western culture British Prime Minister John Major was more explicit in 1995 We invented the majority of the worlds great sports 19th century Britain was the cradle of a leisure revolution every bit as significant as the agricultural and industrial revolutions we launched in the century before The traditional team sports are seen as springing primarily from Britain and subsequently exported across the vast British Empire European colonialism helped spread particular games around the world especially cricket not directly related to baseball football of various sorts bowling in a number of forms cue sports like snooker carom billiards and pool hockey and its derivatives equestrian and tennis and many winter sports The originally Europeandominated modern Olympic Games generally also ensured standardization in particularly European especially British directions when rules for similar games around the world were merged Regardless of game origins the Industrial Revolution and mass production brought increased leisure which allowed more time to engage in playing or observing and gambling upon spectator sports as well as less elitism in and greater accessibility of sports of many kinds With the advent of mass media and global communication professionalism became prevalent in sports and this furthered sports popularity in general With the increasing values placed on those who won also came the increased desire to cheat Some of the most common ways of cheating today involve the use of performanceenhancing drugs such as steroids The use of these drugs has always been frowned on but in recent history there have also been agencies set up to monitor professional athletes and ensure fair play in the sport England Writing about cricket in particular John Leech has explained the role of Puritan power the English Civil War and the Restoration of the monarchy in England The Long Parliament in 1642 banned theatres which had met with Puritan disapproval Although similar action would be taken against certain sports it is not clear if cricket was in any way prohibited except that players must not break the Sabbath In 1660 the Restoration of the monarchy in England was immediately followed by the reopening of the theatres and so any sanctions that had been imposed by the Puritans on cricket would also have been liftedLeach 2005a is a heavily annotated chronology of cricket 13001730 and the source for numerous entries here He goes on to make the key point that political social and economic conditions in the aftermath of the Restoration encouraged excessive gambling so much so that a Gambling Act was deemed necessary in 1664 It is certain that cricket horse racing and boxing ie prizefighting were financed by gambling interests Leech explains that it was the habit of cricket patrons all of whom were gamblers to form strong teams through the 18th century to represent their interests He defines a strong team as one representative of more than one parish and he is certain that such teams were first assembled in or immediately after 1660 Prior to the English Civil War and the Commonwealth all available evidence concludes that cricket had evolved to the level of village cricket only where teams that are strictly representative of individual parishes compete The strong teams of the postRestoration mark the evolution of cricket and indeed of professional team sport for cricket is the oldest professional team sport from the parish standard to the county standard This was the point of origin for major or firstclass cricket The year 1660 also marks the origin of professional team sport AllEngland cricket teams have played since 1739 A number of the public schools such as Winchester and Eton introduced variants of football and other sports for their pupils These were described at the time as innocent and lawful certainly in comparison with the rougher rural games With urbanization in the 19th century the rural games moved to the new urban centres and came under the influence of the middle and upper classes The rules and regulations devised at English institutions began to be applied to the wider game with governing bodies in England being set up for a number of sports by the end of the 19th century The rising influence of the upper class also produced an emphasis on the amateur and the spirit of fair play The industrial revolution also brought with it increasing mobility and created the opportunity for universities in Britain and elsewhere to compete with one another This sparked increasing attempts to unify and reconcile various games in England leading to the establishment of the Football Association in London the first official governing body in football For sports to become professionalized coaching had to come first It gradually professionalized in the Victorian era and the role was well established by 1914 In the First World War military units sought out the coaches to supervise physical conditioning and develop moralebuilding teamsDave Day Professionals Amateurs and Performance Sports Coaching in England 17891914 2012 Sport became an important part of military life for British servicemen serving around the world The British Empire and postcolonial sports The influence of British sports and their codified rules began to spread across the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries particularly association football A number of major teams elsewhere in the world still show these British origins in their names such as AC Milan in Italy Grêmio FootBall Porto Alegrense in Brazil and Athletic Bilbao in Spain Cricket became popular in several of the nations of the then British Empire such as Australia South Africa India and Pakistan and remain popular in and beyond todays Commonwealth of Nations The revival of the Olympic Games by Baron Pierre de Coubertin was also heavily influenced by the amateur ethos of the English public schoolsHarold Perkin Teaching the nations how to play sport and society in the British empire and Commonwealth The International Journal of the History of Sport 62 1989 145155 The British played a major role in defining amateurism professionalism the tournament system and the concept of fair playSigmund Loland Fair play in sports contestsa moral norm system Sportwissenschaft 212 1991 146162 Some sports developed in England spread to other countries and then lost its popularity in England while remaining actively played in other countries a notable example being bandy which remains popular in Finland Kazakhstan Norway Russia and Sweden European morals and views on empires were embedded in the structure of sports Ideas of social discipline and loyalty were key factors in European empire ettiequte which eventually transferred into sports ettiequte Also ideas of patient and methodical training were enforced to make soldiers stronger and athletes better Diffusion helped with the process of connecting these two concepts and has helped shaped the values of sports as we know it today Sports like baseball football soccer and cricket all came from European influence and all share the same values based on European empires Baseball closely related to English rounders and French la soule and less clearly connected to cricket became established in the urban Northeastern United States with the first rules being codified in the 1840s while American football was very popular in the southeast with baseball spreading to the south and American football spreading to the north after the Civil War There is documented evidence of baseball in England An extract from an 18thcentury diary containing the oldest known reference to baseball is among the items on display in a new exhibition in London exploring the English origins and cricketing connections of Americas national sport While baseball was once claimed to have been invented in the US in the mid19th century recent findings suggest a sport of the same name may have evolved decades earlier alongside cricket crossing the Atlantic with English settlers to the American colonies One notable discovery found in a shed in a village in Surrey southern England in 2008 was a handwritten 18thcentury diary belonging to a local lawyer William Bray Went to Stoke church this morn wrote Bray on Easter Monday in 1755 After dinner went to Miss Jeales to play at base ball with her the 3 Miss Whiteheads Miss Billinghurst Miss Molly Flutter Mr Chandler Mr Ford and H Parsons Drank tea and stayed til 8 In the 1870s the game split between the professionals and amateurs the professional game rapidly gained dominance and marked a shift in the focus from the player to the club The rise of baseball also helped squeeze out other sports such as cricket which had been popular in Philadelphia prior to the rise of baseball American football and gridiron football more generally also has its origins in the English variants of the game with the first set of intercollegiate football rules based directly on the rules of the Football Association in London However Harvard chose to play a game based on the rules of Rugby football Walter Camp would then heavily modify this variant in the 1880s with the modifications also heavily influencing the rules of Canadian football Worldwide the British influence includes many different football codes lawn bowls lawn tennis and other sports The major impetus for this was the patenting of the worlds first lawn mower in 1830 This allowed for the preparation of modern ovals playing fields pitches grass courts etcAustralian Broadcasting Corporations Radio National Ockhams Razor first broadcast 6 June 2010 United States Most sports in the United States evolved out of European practices However basketballvolleyball skateboarding and snowboarding are North American inventions some of which have become popular in other countries However Lacrosse and surfing in particular arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contactElliott J Gorn A Brief History of American Sports 2004 SW Pope ed The new American sport history recent approaches and perspectives U of Illinois Press 1997 Around the world The 21st century has seen a move towards adventure sports as a form of individual escapism transcending the routines of life Examples include white water rafting paragliding canyoning base jumping and more genteelly orienteering Womens sport history Womens competition in sports has been frowned upon by many societies in the past The English publicschool background of organized sport in the 19th and early 20th century led to a paternalism that tended to discourage womens involvement in sports with for example no women officially competing in the 1896 Olympic Games The 20th century saw major advances in the participation of women in sports due to a growing womens sports movement in Europe and North America This led to the initiation of the Womens Olympiad held three times 1921 1922 and 1923 and the Womens World Games held four times 1922 1926 1930 and 1934 In 1924 the 1924 Womens Olympiad was held in London The increase in girls and womens participation in sport has been partly influenced by the womens rights and feminist movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries respectively In the United States female students participation in sports was significantly boosted by the Title IX Act in 1972 which forbade gender discrimination in all aspects of any educational environment that uses federal financial aidBritt M Timmerman M Title IX and Higher Education The Implications for the 21st Century in Franklin Business and Law Journal Vol 2014 No 1 March 2014 pp 8386 leading to increased fundingReinbrecht E Northwestern University and Title IX One Step Forward for Football Players Two Steps Back for Female Student Athletes in University of Toledo Law Review Vol 47 No 1 September 2015 pp 243277 and support to develop female athletes Pressure from sports funding bodies has also improved gender equality in sports For example the Marylebone Cricket Club MCC and the Leander Club for rowing in England had both been maleonly establishments since their founding in 1787 and 1818 respectively but both opened their doors to female members at the end of the 20th century at least partially due to the requirements of the United Kingdom Lottery Sports Fund The 21st century has seen womens participation in sport at its alltime highest At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing women competed in 27 sports over 137 events compared to 28 mens sports in 175 eventsPfister G Outsiders Muslim Women and Olympic Games Barriers and Opportunities in The International Journal of the History of Sport Vol 27 Nos 1618 NovemberDecember 2010 pp 29252957 Several national womens professional sports leagues have been founded and are in competition and womens international sporting events such as the FIFA Womens World Cup Womens Rugby World Cup and Womens Hockey World Cup continue to grow Stadia through the ages ImageStadio Amrit 12jpgPhoenician Stadium north of Amrit Syria FileStadio Olimpia 2007JPGThe Olympia stadium ImageDelphi_stadium_DSC06305jpgStadium at the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi Greece FileColosseo 2020jpgThe Colosseum in Rome Italy FileAmphitheater XantenjpgReconstructed Roman amphitheatre in Xanten Germany FileTogyuWPjpgTōgyū arena in Okinawa Japan FileWorldSeries1903640jpgThe Huntington Avenue Grounds during the 1903 World Series United States FileRogers Centre open and closedjpgRogers Centre the first functional retractableroof stadium Canada ImageOlympic Stadium London 16 April 2012jpgLondon Olympic Stadium United Kingdom FileJuego de pelota chichen itzajpgThe Grand Ballcourt of Chichen Itza 參見 Sport in the United Kingdom History Sport in England History of physical training and fitness History of sport in Australia History of sports in Canada History of sport in the United States Nationalism and sport Sociology of sport 參考文獻 書單 Day Dave Professionals Amateurs and Performance Sports Coaching in England 17891914 2012 Gorn Elliott J A Brief History of American Sports 2004 Womens Sports A History Columbia University Press 1992 Guttmann Allen Games and Empires Modern Sports and Cultural Imperialism Columbia Univ Press 1996 Guttmann Allen The Olympics A History of the Modern Games 2002 Holt Richard Sport and Society in Modern France 1981 Holt Richard Sport and the British A Modern History 1990 excerpt Howell Colin Blood Sweat and Cheers Sport and the Making of Modern Canada 2001 Maurer Michael Vom Mutterland des Sports zum Kontinent Der Transfer des englischen Sports im 19 Jahrhundert European History Online Mainz 2011 retrieved 25 February 2012 Morrow Don and Kevin B Wamsley Sport in Canada A History 2009 Murray Bill The Worlds Game A History of Soccer 1998 Polley Martin Sports History a practical guide Palgrave 2007 Scott AGM Crawford Hrg Serious sport JA Mangans contribution to the history of sport Portland OR Frank Cass 2004 Pope SW ed The new American sport history recent approaches and perspectives Univ of Illinois Press 1997 期刊 online article from The Sports Historian 19932001 European Studies in Sport History The International Journal of the History of Sport Journal of Sport History Sport History Journal Sport in History STADION International Journal of Sport History Sport History Review 外部連結 European Committee for Sports History CESH Category 體育史 Category 各學科的科學史