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Pre-Columbian Art :
Stone Trophy Heads : Basalt Trophy Head
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Basalt Trophy Head - PF.2968
Origin: Costa Rica
Circa: 100
AD
to 500
AD
Dimensions:
6.5" (16.5cm) high
x 4.5" (11.4cm) wide
x 5.5" (14.0cm) depth
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Basalt
£8,600.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
This basalt stone head is sculpted in a simple
manner with incision lines. Such elegant
simplicity attributes the stone head the crucial
qualities such as a sense of presence and weight.
Estranged from the body, the stone head's stoic
facial features create an esoteric mystery.
Compared to other basalt trophy heads this
sculpted head is smaller--perhaps it is a head of
a young man. The stone head wears a simple flat
cap, which has a small round top at the crown.
Such basalt sculpture of a young man is a
symbol of human sacrifice, which was a common
practice in Ancient Costa Rica. During this
period, people took trophy heads in battles for
human sacrifice to please the God and to
maintain agricultural fertility. Because of the
strong belief in human sacrifice pleasing the
God, conquests and wars became the fight to
obtain victims for human sacrifice. The victims
for the ceremony had to be perfect and flawless,
and often-young boys were selected for their
impeccable appearance and purity. The basalt
sculpture head of a young man, thus, symbolizes
the human offering's unblemished perfection. As
the young man was the sacred and clean subject
of a ritual, the basalt sculpture of his head clearly
reveals a sense of presence and perfection that
was appropriate for the powerful God.
- (PF.2968)
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