Axe

Cleveland Museum of Art

Axe

Date
c. 250–900 CE
Medium
chipped flint
Culture
Mexico or Central America, Maya
Department
Art of the Americas
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
159867

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Axes with stone blades and wooden hafts were used to clear land for planting. This more fragile example, made entirely of chipped flint, is a ceremonial version probably used in rituals before it was deposited in a tomb or an offering. Late Classic Maya vase paintings make the ceremonial associations of axes clear. In these painted scenes, axe-wielding deities dance among skeletons and supernatural animals, or raise the axe to strike a sacrificial victim.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
John L. Severance Fund

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