This Green Stone stone head with a stoic face
carries an unusual ambience and weight.
Although the head is depicted with simple
incision lines, one cannot escape its poignant
sense of presence, like that of a real human
head. Estranged from the body, the stone head's
deep-set, stoic closed eyes and mouth create an
esoteric mystery. Because Costa Rica was a tribal
culture, significance of its art is largely unknown.
The mystery of the stone head, then, is up to the
viewers to decipher. The large stone head is
depicted with bold incision lines. Perhaps such
beautiful and yet stern stone sculpture had a
funerary ritual significance, meant to represent
or portray the deceased. Or perhaps such head is
a possible symbol of human sacrificial ritual,
which was a common practice in the ancient
Costa Rica. During this period, people took
trophy heads in battles for human sacrifice
because they believed that such practice was
necessary to maintain the agricultural fertility.
Meso-Americans believed in their humble
position and their duty to offer the best for God's
mercy. The agricultural prosperity depended
upon human sacrifice and this stone head well
indicates the people's desire for God's mercy.
- (PF.3077)
|
