Axe

Unknown

10th–15th century · Stone · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

This stone, axe handle-shaped figure may have been a ceremonial scepter created by Taíno peoples, the diverse societies that inhabited the Antilles archipelago before European contact. The most numerous category of polished stone sculpture emerging from the Taíno world of the ancestral Caribbean islands are ceremonial axes and blades, which take many forms and may have been an important medium of exchange. Axes feature abstract zoomorphic forms in stone, or consisted of wooden handles with stone blades hafted to them. Ceremonial blades made of different types of greenstone, both local and imported, have been recovered in large numbers. These axes, known as petaloid celts for their resemblance to flower petals, could have served as dedicatory offerings, which have a long history on the Caribbean mainland in Mesoamerica.

Artist

Unknown

Date

10th–15th century

Medium

Stone

Culture

Taíno

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979