Ballgame Thin Stone Head (Hacha)
Unknown Artist
600–900
Medium
stone
Dimensions
20 × 6.8 × 14.3 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1945.33
About this artwork
This enigmatic head is associated with an ancient ballgame played both for sport and ceremonial purposes on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, in present-day Veracruz. It may represent an elite ballplayer or ballgame patron—the forehead is incised with interlaced designs similar to the so-called mat motif, a Maya symbol for rulership. Such heads are known as hachas (Spanish for “axe”) because they often taper to a thin edge at the front, giving them the appearance of axe heads.