A toad is represented abstractly here on a waist ornament used in the ritual ball game played for nearly three thousand years by the ancient Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs. For ancient Mexicans of the Veracruz coast, this wide-mouthed, bug-eyed marine toad of the Bufo genus symbolized the Earth Dragon, which was associated with the duality of life and death. The spectacular ceremonial competition dramatized through athletics the opposites of good and evil, salvation and sacrifice. Elite players wore the yokes on the hips, with the opening to one side, using them to hit or deflect the solid rubber ball. Other yokes may have functioned as trophies to commemorate victories, or as ancestral heirlooms in burial caches.

This example is finely sculpted, with deep relief and bold contours. The color and shape of the yoke meld gracefully with its subject: a toad with arched brows, elongated almond-shaped eyes, swollen poison-emitting glands behind them, a large nose with open nostrils, and a broad mouth and extended tongue. Close observation reveals a second figure, a jaguar, symbol of royalty, superimposed on the sides. In a Mesoamerican expression of duality, the toad’s front legs fold to create a jaguar profile, while the back legs compose a jaguar skeleton.

Did players actually wear such a heavy object—or is it a commemorative sculpture of a lighter-weight version?