Mesoamerica: Did you mean...?

A basalt colossal head from the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica. Provenance: Veracruz, Mexico, 1200-900 BCE. The significance of the heads is disputed but as no two heads are alike and each headdress has distinctive designs they may represent...

A mask of jadeite from the Olmec civilization of the Gulf coast, Mesoamerica, 900-500 BCE. Provenance: Rio Pesquero, Mexico. (Dallas Museum of Art)

The ball court of the Mayan city of Copan. The game was popular across Mesoamerica and the objective was to put a rubber ball through a hoop placed on the side walls.

One of the goals of the ball court at the Maya-Toltec city of Chichen Itza. The objective of the ball game, popular across Mesoamerica, was to strike a rubber ball through the hoop using any part of the body except the hands.

A map showing the principal settlements of the Olmec civilization in Mesoamerica (modern-day Mexico) which flourished from c. 1200-300 BCE.

A diagram of the sacred precinct at Tollan (Tula), the capital of the Toltec civilization (10-12th century CE) in Mesoamerica. The site includes two step pyramids, colonnades, a palace structure and two ball-courts.

The Classic Period ball court of Monte Alban (150-650 CE). The ball game was popular across Mesoamerica and the objective was to put a rubber ball through a hoop placed high on each wall. Any part of the body could be used except the hands.

The Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico, c. 100 CE. Teotihuacan was the largest, most influential, and certainly most revered city in the history of the New World, and it flourished in Mesoamerica's Golden Age, the Classic Period of the...

The distinctive pyramid structures of the Tarascan capital Tzintzuntzan, Late Post-Classical period (1350-1520 CE). These structures, known as yacata, are unique in Mesoamerica and combine rectangular and circular stepped pyramids on a large...

A life-size ceramic 'baby' figurine from the Olmec civilization of Mexico, Mesoamerica, 12th-9th century BCE. The significance of these figures, often depicting infantile gestures, is not clear. They may represent deities or royalty. Provenance...