Sacrificer
400–1000
- Medium
- carved bone
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 5.1 cm (2 in.)
- Culture
- Bolivia, Peru or Chile, Southern Highlands, early Tiwanaku style, 400-1000
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Art of the Americas
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Holding an axe in one hand, a human head in the other, this figurine depicts a ritual sacrificer. His fierce mask probably portrays either a puma or a fox. Incised patterns on the figure's body and headdress indicate elaborate tapestry garments. The ancient rituals embodied by this small carving must have been both visually spectacular and emotionally powerful.
