Palma with Maize God
Receiving a Human Sacrifice

250-950; Vera Cruz; Basalt; height 48 cm (19 in.); City of Detroit Purchase; 47.180

This Palma is a replica in stone of a piece of palm worn as protective gear around the waist of the players in a ritual ball game played between the two teams representing the dualistic cosmic forces of the universe. The captain of the losing team was killed as a sacrifice to placate the gods and to assure the continuing fertility of the land. Here a monkey-headed god stands on the chest of a sacrificial victim. Behind him are stalks of corn, the staple food of ancient Mexico.

All the cultures of the Americas incorporated ball games as an important part of solemn religious rituals. Columbus took a rubber ball back to Europe as an exotic novelty from the New World and thus introduced ball games to European cultures, where they became merely athletic events.

JPEG, 43K