The Hacha, Decapitation Sacrifice, and Classic Veracruz History

This essay examines the Classic Veracruz hacha, an important sculptural type found along the Mexican Gulf Coast during much of the Classic period (c. 300–900/1000), in order to better define, and perhaps complicate, its role in what we may term the “sacrificial economy” of Classic Veracruz (Fig. 1). The association between the object type and sacrifice is hardly a new one—the hacha has long been associated with decapitation sacrifice. This association grows out of a number of different arguments that will be treated in more detail below, including the insistence on inert heads and the relationship with ballgame equipment. I do not argue against these associations but simply point out that they do not explain the emergence and use of the object type as a prestige item in Classic Veracruz culture.