Seated male figure

DateA.D. 550-750

MediumCeramic with traces of pigment

Dimensions4 1/2 × 4 3/4 × 3 7/8 inches (11.4 × 12 × 9.8 cm)

CultureMaya (Mexico)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineAcquired through the Membership Purchase Fund

Terms

Campeche
Ceramics
pigment
Necklaces
Loincloths
Earrings
Earrings
Headdresses
Jewelry
Maya

Object number70.039

Label CopyBRIEF DESCRIPTION This is a small, hollow figurine of a seated man, who might represent a ball player. WHERE WAS IT MADE? This figure was made in Central America. HOW WAS IT MADE? This figure was likely hand modeled from a lump of clay. Details, such as the belt, headdress, collar and ear spools, are made from separate smaller pieces of rolled or modeled clay and attached by scoring the surfaces that will touch and applying slip, a mixture of clay and water that helps to bind the clay together. HOW WAS IT USED? The original function of archaeological figurines found in museum collections is uncertain. Today archeologists carefully record information about the associations between artifacts and the circumstances of their burial as they are unearthed, and we can draw many conclusions about object function. However, very few of the archaeological objects found in museums today were excavated in a careful, scientific manner, so we have fewer clues about their past associations and function. A wide range of people and objects are shown in pre-Columbian pottery. From burials, we know that the variety of jewelry and clothing styles reflect the actual appearance of many of these prehistoric people. Because figurines represent many life stages and ordinary human activities, they likely served to exemplify the usual norms of behavior, to serve as guidelines or rules to help socialize people and integrate them into society. Although obviously decorative, figurines could also have been used to make offerings to supernatural powers, to serve as good luck charms, or to accompany the dead as grave goods. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS? Notice how this hollow figurine is dressed: he wears a broad round collar-like necklace, belt with loincloth, large round ear spools, and elaborate coiffure. The “belt” may represent a ball game yoke, though it is hard to tell if its thickness is intentional or if it might be an artifact or constraint of the modeled and applied clay medium. The thick, horseshoe-shaped belts known as waist yokes are the most characteristic athletic gear worn by players of the Mesoamerican ball game, which also included kneepads. All known ballplayer figures are male, and it appears that only men played this sport. The ball game was extremely important throughout Mesoamerica for many centuries. Successful ball players won great acclaim, while the defeated faced severe punishment and even death. To see two other figures representing ball players in the Johnson Museum’s collection, search for object numbers 70.043 and 97.017.001 in the keyword search box. ABOUT THE MAYA CULTURE: The Maya civilization was one of the premier civilizations of Mesoamerica, achieving great masterpieces of art and architecture, a sophisticated calendrical system, and a formal system of writing that has only been deciphered in the past several decades. A much more detailed view is emerging of the Mayan city-states located in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Belize, and adjacent areas of Guatemala and Honduras. Although the exact details of the Maya collapse in the 800s are still controversial, it appears that excessive warfare and violence, coupled with environmental degradation and the stress of a large population, led to the demise of this once-vibrant culture. Populations crashed, with survivors of the urban centers dispersing to more rural areas.

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