|
HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Veracruz Art : Veracruz Black Basalt Hacha
|
 |
|
|
|
Veracruz Black Basalt Hacha - PF.0537
Origin: Veracruz, Mexico
Circa: 500
AD
to 800
AD
Dimensions:
6.25" (15.9cm) high
Catalogue: V2
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Style: Mayan
Medium: Basalt
$8,600.00
Location: United States
|
|
|
| Photo Gallery |
|
|
| Description |
|
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.
Forcefully carved, with a prominent crest on the
forehead, deep wrinkles, and lips drawn back in
a sneer, this hacha was used as a weight
handicap in the ritual ballgame. The hacha, worn
on a yoke around the waist, may have originated
with human trophy heads--those of sacrificial
victims or prisoners of war. We can believe,
looking at this powerful emaciated visage, that it
has been witness to ritual violence and that it is
in some way associated with death.
- (PF.0537)
|
| |
|