Yokes or Ball Game Belts?

Abstract

The peculiar U-shaped stones called yokes, found in large quantities in the State of Veracruz, and adjacent parts of Mexico, and in smaller numbers and of less sumptuous quality through the Central American highlands, have long been the subject of much discussion. It has been claimed that on Pipil (Mexican) sculptures at Santa Lucia Cozumahualpa, on the Pacific slope of Guatemala, individuals, all of whom raise one hand or gaze up at a deity who looks down from the sky, actually wear yokes around their waists. A typical representation of one of these individuals is shown in Fig. 33 a. Dr. S. K. Lothrop considered that there could be no doubt that the pottery vessel from the neighborhood of El Quiche, Guatemala, shown in Fig. 33 b, actually represented a person wearing a stone yoke around his waist, and thereby was strengthened in his belief that the Santa Lucia Cozumahualpa figures are actually portrayed as wearing stone yokes.