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Portfolios%3D%22569%22%20and%20Disp_Obj_Type%3D%22Stonework%22%20and%20Period%3D%22Precolumbian%22
Stonework
Palma: Eagle Attacking a Skull
Veracruz artist, (active )
Veracruz artist
Mexico
10 7/16 x 4 3/4 x 6 11/16 in. (26.5 x 12 x 17 cm)
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overall
overall
Limestone
Limestone
Veracruz; made in Mexico
300-900
300
900
Meso-American ballgame, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America, sculpture, Vera Cruz
Stonework
In the Mesoamerican ballgame, players on the losing team were sometimes sacrificed by decapitation in rituals following the game. Skull racks displaying decapitated heads were often located adjacent to ball courts. This ceremonial stone palma (a stone version of a piece of the ballplayer’s equipment) depicts an eagle attacking a human skull. This is a common motif in ballgame imagery and may reference the flesh-eating birds that gorged themselves on the bodies of the sacrificed victims.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1944.66
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
44.66SL1
slide
full
2 x 2
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glossy
8x10
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neg
8x10
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3x2
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glossy
3x2
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44.66DI1
digital image
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/44.66_A1.jpg
44.66DI#2
digital image
Three-quarter
5/12/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/44.66_A2.jpg
44.66DI#3
digital image
Three-quarter
5/12/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/44.66_A3.jpg
44.66DI#4
digital image
Back
5/12/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/44.66_A4.jpg