Ballgame Stone Head (Hacha)
450–550 CE
- Medium
- gray volcanic stone
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 21.1 x 15.3 x 16.2 cm (8 5/16 x 6 x 6 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- Mesoamerica, Classic Veracruz style
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Art of the Americas
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wise
- 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 Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Little can be said about this head’s identity and meaning, although the deep, dramatic furrows that line the face suggest age and the crest that curves across the top of the head has been compared to that of a bird. Such heads were one element of the regalia used in an ancient ballgame associated with complex mythology and equally elaborate art production on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, in present-day Veracruz.
