|
The Classic Veracruz cultures were
small, tightly-
packed city states, all governed by
hereditary
rulers, who sat at the top of highly
stratified
social structures. Economically, it was
based
upon slash and burn agricultural
techniques,
supplemented by exploitation of marine
resources, as well as hunting. The
culture was
fuelled by long- distance trade networks
that ran
throughout Mesoamerica, as evidenced by
the
spread of luxury items and exotic goods.
In this
they strongly resemble the Olmecs, who
preceded them and to whom they owed a
considerable cultural and artistic debt.
Religion
was based upon the Olmec “earth
monster”, as
well as a death god who has been likened
to
Mictlantecuhtli, a deity worshipped by
their
cultural neighbour, the Aztecs. Like the
Aztecs,
they were obsessed with death, sacrifice
and the
Mesoamerican ballgame, another cultural
bequest from the Olmecs. There are
accounts
stating that the losing team was
sacrificed as an
offering to the gods; other chroniclers
suggest
that it might have been used as a
substitute for
warfare. As a result their iconography
is
somewhat sanguineous – with
decapitations,
blood-letting and bound prisoners common
themes – surrounded by extensive and
convoluted banded scrolls that can be
seen both
on monumental architecture and on mobile
art. A
defining characteristic of the Classic
Veracruz
culture is the presence of stone
ballgame gear:
yokes, hachas, and palmas. Yokes are U-
shaped
stones worn about the waist of a
ballplayer, while
the hachas and palmas sit upon the yoke.
These
were probably worn ceremonially by the
victors;
the actual pieces were probably made of
wood
and leather. Interestingly, while hachas
and yokes
are found throughout the range, the
palmas
seem peculiar to what is today northern
Veracruz.
The ball game, perhaps ritually
signifying the
transit of the sun and moon between the
celestial
and terrestrial spheres, was an
important event
in Mesoamerican culture, considered
necessary
to maintain the cosmic cycle. The game
was
played on a large, I- shaped court
enclosed by
high walls that had an astrological
significance in
relation to its alignment. At the
midpoint, two
stone rings were placed high in the air,
about
twenty-seven feet high. Apparently,
scholars
believe that the object of the game was
to get
the hard rubber ball through one of the
hoops
without using your feet or hands, only
your hips.
This is where the yoke comes in. Yokes
made
from cloth were worn around the players’
hips as
protective padding. However, yokes were
also
made from heavy stone, suggesting that
they
were created for ceremonial use instead.
Because
the ballgame was of utmost social and
religious
significance to the Maya, it is believed
that
ceremonial ballgames were played. In the
Popol
Vuh, the most important source of Mayan
mythology, a ball game is described
taking place
between the Hero Twins and the Lords of
the
Underworld. Upon the victory, the Hero
twins,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque, were deified as
the sun
and the moon. Perhaps ritual
reenactments of
this mythological match were performed
in which
“players” acting as the hero twins wore
such
elaborate and impractical equipment. Or
perhaps
this ball game equipment was merely
carved in
such durable materials in order to last
eternally
throughout the afterlife after being
buried
alongside the deceased.
- (CK.0824)
|
