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The Barakat Collection

Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Pre-Columbian / Basalt Standing Male Figure, 100 CE - 500 CE

Pre-Columbian / Basalt Standing Male Figure, 100 CE - 500 CE

Basalt
25
PF.3037
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This basalt sculpture of a young man stands stoutly, holding an axe and a human head in each hand. It is sculpted in a simple geometric manner with large incision...
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This basalt sculpture of a young man stands stoutly, holding an axe and a human head in each hand. It is sculpted in a simple geometric manner with large incision lines. This simplicity attributes the stone figure the crucial qualities such as a sense of physical presence and weight. The figure's hair is neatly arranged asymmetrically, with left side of hair covering half of the forehead. Such asymmetry beautifully offsets the otherwise evenness of the geometric sculpture. The axe and the human head in the hands of this figure reveal that the figure is perhaps a warrior or a person about to make ritual offering to the god. During this period in Costa Rica, people took trophy heads in battles for human sacrifice to please the god and to maintain agricultural fertility. Because of the strong belief in human sacrifice pleasing the god, conquests and wars became the fight to obtain victims for human sacrifice. Holding the prized head, the young male stands proudly, displaying the honor and pride he has earned.
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