Stone heads played a crucial role in the cult rituals of ancient Costa Rica civilizations. Made of solid stone, they were an ominous force and even today, they seem to have a general foreboding quality. This stone sculpture of a skull shows the marvelous Mesoamerican talent for rendering human likeness while simultaneously demonstrating their high regard for the dead. The skull, once used in important places of worship such as the temple, is thought to be a representation of the god of the underworld, protector of the dead. This skull would have been used on occasions to remember this god and the ancestors of the worshippers. This representation shows the artist's reverence for the gods as well as the dead, due to the anatomically correct representation of their facial features. This artist depicts the Mesoamerican belief of the continuation of life, and the eternal spirit through the artistic choice to use this hard stone, because it is indestructible and everlasting. The Mesoamerican artist has magnificently carved this hard stone, and the realistic depiction of the god of the underworld reflects this culture and their reverence for the dead.