Stone Yoke with Human Faces and Skulls

Stone Yoke with Human Faces and Skulls

A.D. 600-900
Culture
Veracruz
Locale
Veracruz
Country
Mexico
Style/Tradition
Veracruz
Object
yoke
Medium
Carved volcanic stone.
Accession Number
1991.500
Credit Line
Gift in memory of L.K. Land
Stone Yoke with Human Faces and Skulls. A.D. 600-900. Carved volcanic stone.. Gift in memory of L.K. Land. 1991.500.
Dimensions
height: 4 1/4 in, 10.7950 cm; width: 14 1/2 in, 36.8300 cm; depth: 16 in, 40.6400 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas
Collection
Arts of the Ancient Americas

Stone Yoke with Human Faces and Skulls
Veracruz
About A.D. 600-900
Mexico, Veracruz
Carved volcanic stone
Gift in memory of L. K. Land, 1991.500

This curving stone object (called a "yoke") represents the padded, u-shaped belt used to protect the abdomen of ballplayers during ballgame rites. Although some authors have contended that these heavy stone objects were worn by ballplayers, their weight along would make this impractical. These and other examples more likely represent carved stone effigies of the yokes actually worn in play, which were likely made of lighter weight, perishable materials, like wood and leather (for depictions of yokes in Maya art, see 1985.635 and 1986.617).

Elegant in its simplicity, the majority of this object's surface is smooth and plain. Each end, however, is carved with a frontal depiction of a human face with slanted, slit-shaped eyes and a lifeless, open mouth. The figures' headdresses extend over the upper face of the yoke and are comprised of a knotted headband below a row of leaves or feathers. These bear some resemblance to the vegetal headdress of the god of pulque (this alcoholic beverage and the maguey plant from which it is derived were popular subjects in Classic Veracruz art). Outward-facing human skulls ornament the yoke's two terminal faces.

The way in which the slack-mouthed faces and skulls are arranged gives the sense that the sculptor sought to present viewers with an X-ray view. In other words, the faces are likely meant to be read as severed heads, with the skulls either depicting their inner skeletal structure or their future defleshed use upon skull racks. Decapitation was an important aspect of ballgame rituals in ancient Mesoamerica. There was, for instance, a complex symbolic overlap among heads, seeds, maize, the rubber ball, and the sun. The act of decapitation itself soaked the earth with fertilizing blood, while the head, like a seed or maize kernel, was seen as a generative force, capable of regrowth and renewal.

The ballgame is one of the most frequently depicted subjects in Classic Veracruz art. At the ancient center of El Tajín, for instance, narrative sculpted scenes show ballplayers during elaborate ceremonies involving human sacrifice and the consumption of pulque. The ballgame, a ritualized sport replete with metaphorical allusions to solar and agricultural cycles, appears to have played a key role in the ceremonial and religious life of nearly all ancient Mesoamerican populations. Victory ensured that the earth's cycles would continue: agricultural crops would flourish each year and the sun would rise each day.

-Lucia R. Henderson, 2016

Known Provenance
Gifted 28 May 1991 in memory of L. K. Land, to the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.
Exhibition History
  • "The Ballgame"-- Denver Museum of Natural History, 3/17/1995-7/1995.

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