Artwork Page for Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)

Details / Information for Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)

Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)

600–900

Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style

(600-1100)
Medium
stone, pigment
Measurements
Overall: 61.6 x 20 x 8.8 cm (24 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 3 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2001.89
Public Domain
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Location
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Print

Description

A tapering headdress, its base formed by a grotesque head with upturned snout, soars above a human face in this elegant thin stone head. Such heads, known as hachas, probably were used in ballgame ceremonies, though how is unclear. Equally obscure are the heads’ identities, perhaps heroic, idealized players, ballgame patrons, or characters from the game’s lore. The large area of red pigment on one side may have been sprinkled onto the head after it was buried in an offering or a tomb.

Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)

600–900

Mexico, Gulf Coast, Classic Veracruz style (600-1100)

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