Grey color; abrasions on both surfaces

light brown, double-sided; almost square except it's missing BL corner

Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Stone yoke or commemorative belt with carved images of a human skeleton, human heads, and a frog's head. Associated with the ball game. Condition: good.

Frank L. Babbott Fund

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Frank L. Babbott Fund

Gift of Julius Loester

The importance of maize (corn) and chocolate, two of the many plants native to the Americas, is exemplified by these Aztec sculptures.

The relief panel of the maize goddess Chicomecóatl may have been set into an altar. Chicomecóatl controlled the positive and negative powers of growth and famine. Her elaborate headdress is topped by two ears of corn. In her right hand, she holds a snake-shaped rattle staff, used to penetrate and fertilize the soil.

The man carrying a cacao pod may represent one of the merchants who brought cacao beans from the tropical coastal lowlands to the Valley of Mexico. Chocolate, made from the beans of the cacao pod, was a popular drink in Aztec society.

Gift of Mrs. Minor C. Keith in memory of her husband