Stone ceremonial belt

The ballgame had ritual and political associations and was played by pre-Columbian peoples (Mayana, Aztecs etc) since at least 1650 BCE. In the most popular form of the sport the players hit the ball with their hips. To protect their bodies from the solid rubber ball, they wore elaborate costumes and thick belts (yokes).

Stone yokes, like this one, were not used in games but in ritual practices, as trophies or as funerary offerings. It is carved in the abstract form of a toad, symbolising death, transformation, and regeneration.