Nude Man Peg-base Figure. AD 800-1522. Fashioned from clastic andesite tuff, this statue was formed using a combination of drilling, sawing, pecking, and grinding techniques.. Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer. 1995.428.

height: 34 in, 86.3600 cm; width: 12 7/8 in, 32.7025 cm; depth: 7 3/4 in, 19.6850 cm

Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas

Arts of the Ancient Americas

Nude Man Peg-base Figure
About A.D. 1000–1550
Costa Rica, Diquís region
Volcanic stone (clastic andesite tuff)
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1995.428

This rigidly frontal sculpture likely once stood atop a chiefly house mound or in the plaza of a town in the Diquís region of southern Pacific Costa Rica. Both male and female figures, always nude, were carved and displayed. Archaeologist Michael Snarskis believed that this example represents a prisoner destined for sacrifice. If so, the sculpture was likely commissioned by a victorious chief and displayed as a symbol of dominance. Stone sphere sculptures carved of hard volcanic stone also served to mark architectural spaces in Diquís sites.

• "Pre-Columbian Art of Costa Rica: From the Collection of Jan and Frederick R. Mayer"— Clara A. Hatton Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2 (?)/1977-3/4/1977
• Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque, NM, 10/12/1977-5/30/1978
• "Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast" — Denver Museum of Natural History, 6/23/1990-5/31/1991