Fragment of a Ceremonial Ballgame Yoke
Veracruz, Classic (El Tajín and vicinity, northern Veracruz, Mexico)
700–800
- Medium
- Stone
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 11.5 × 38.6 cm (4 1/2 × 15 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- El Tajín
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Gift of Ethel and Julian Goldsmith
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Played throughout Mesoamerica, the ceremonial ballgame was a sport as well as a ritual substitute for war in which sacrifice was often the final outcome. Players were required to propel a heavy rubber ball with their hips, thighs, shoulders, and lower arms. A yoke, made of padded leather or wood, was worn at mid-body to protect the torso and direct the ball. Carved stone yokes were intended as ceremonial emblems or trophies and were not used in actual play. At least eleven ballcourts have been discovered at El Tajín, suggesting that the city may have been a sort of Olympic center as well as a ruling capital.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
