800–1400 CE
Unknown Huastec artist, Tampico region, Northern Veracruz, Mexico. Female Ballplayer Figurine, 800–1400 CE. Slip-painted ceramic, 8 x 3 ½ x 1 ½ inches. Denver Art Museum Collection: Marion Hendrie Fund, 1972.399.
Female Figurine
Huastec
About A.D. 800–1400
Mexico, northern Veracruz
Earthenware with slip
Marion Hendrie Fund, 1972.399
This figurine portrays a young woman wearing jewelry, a flowered headband, and a thick belt around her hips. Some scholars interpret the belt as protective padding of the sort worn by ballplayers in many regions of Mesoamerica. The ballgame was more than a sport: the ball was symbolically linked to celestial bodies and deities, and human sacrifice was sometimes performed in association with the game. It is unclear whether women participated in the game as players.