Axe
Unknown Artist
c. 250–900 CE
Medium
chipped flint
Dimensions
w. 18 cm, l. 39 cm
Classification
Implements
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1997.170
About this artwork
Axes with stone blades and wooden hafts were used to clear land for planting. This more fragile example, made entirely of chipped flint, is a ceremonial version probably used in rituals before it was deposited in a tomb or an offering. Late Classic Maya vase paintings make the ceremonial associations of axes clear. In these painted scenes, axe-wielding deities dance among skeletons and supernatural animals, or raise the axe to strike a sacrificial victim.