Palma with Figure. Culture: Veracruz. Dimensions: H. 18 7/8 x W. 7 x D. 4 3/4 in. (47.9 x 17.8 x 12.1 cm). Date: 7th-10th century.Palmas, named for their palm frond shape, were one element of the elaborate regalia worn by Mesoamerican ballplayers. Resting atop the yoke worn around the player's hips, they extended up the middle of the ballplayer's chest to protect major organs from the impact of the hard rubber ball used in the game. While hachas are more widely distributed in Mesoamerica, palmas appear to have been a Veracruz innovation. Ballplayers wearing palmas are depicted on the relief sculptures of El Tajn, the largest city in classic-period Veracruz.In sculpting this palma, the artist has combined low and high relief to depict a human figure surrounded and overlapped by a pattern of scrolls. These are loosely drawn, breaking with the regularity usually found in the sculpted or drawn double-edges scrolls common in Classic Veracruz art and may