Central Gulf Art
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In this outstanding terracotta sculpture from El Zapotal, the jaguar upon the man's back is very alive. This would suggest that the relationship is mystical, as perhaps the nagual or animal spirit double familiar to ancient and modern Mesoamerica.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
The Twins make up one of the most internationally famous examples of terracotta sculpture from the Gulf Coast if not all of Mesoamerica. The facial detail is uncanny; even modern Totonacs of Central Veracruz retain the facial features depicted in this wonderful piece. They carry a heavy chest between them, possibly pertaining to some ritual significance.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
Dating from the Upper Remojadas I Phase, or 100 BCE - 500 CE, these small ceramic figures come from the Nopiloa/Los Cerros region of Central Veracruz. Almost all of these small standing figures have outstretched arms, with elated expressions all over their faces. The first of three popular theories on these sonriente or "smiling" figures states that this is an expression of a man or woman under a hallucinogenic trance.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
If we accept the idea that these ecstatic people are undergoing hallucinations, a plausible extension would assume that such experiences would be reserved for annual events. For the hundreds of ecstatic faces that have been discovered, only a few have been found intact with the rest of their bodies, those which had not been ritually destroyed. The second popular theory argues, however, that the smiling expression may simply be an expression of fecundity. This figure is outstanding for not only its complete preservation but also its fine articulation. Also notice the Grecian fret upon the headdress: many of these figures have distinct and possibly identifying headdress designs.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
Because of the ritual destruction of so many of these figures, it is no surprise that the number of ceramic heads greatly outnumbers the number of restored bodies. These heads are such examples, and they are now one of the most well-known styles of ancient Veracruz sculpture. The third major theory on these heads is that they are literally fleshed death's heads, with the cheekbones and grin of the skull still pronounced. This can be related to the fact that many of these terracotta heads were found in burial contexts.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
Up until European contact in the sixteenth century, Mesoamerican civilizations had developed into elaborate Stone Age technologies and societies - and in all that time the only known use of the wheel was for toys! These small figures would have been pulled by a string in front, letting the animal-shaped figures wheel along, to the joy of children.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History
This Remojadas-style clay sculpture shows a woman whose head is draped under a long, hooded headpiece. She wears a beaded necklace over her bare chest. The peoples of the Gulf were in some places notorious for their scant clothing and erotic cults, especially the northern Gulf Huaxtecs, whom even the Aztecs thought were indecent for walking around with exposed genitals.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
The Totonacs were prolific with clay pottery. The red centipede, interestingly, has a spiritual association with the goddess Tlahzolteotl. Even the name has a similar-sounding root: pe-tlazo-coatl, which, according to Thelma Sullivan, conceptually relates their ability to thrive in "tlahzolli" filth.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
"Xantil" is a common term for the type of large, usually human-shaped censer shown here. When copal incense was burned inside the hollow body, the smoke must have crept out the mouth - a curious and creepy effect.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
The terracotta figure is life-sized, like many of the famous sculptures from El Zapotal, Veracruz. It portrays a slave, bound and yoked, a rare subject matter for the ceramic sculptures at the University of Xalapa Museum of Anthropology. These life-sized figures are still more remarkable because of their detailed costuming and expressions.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
Upon the mouth of this female figure is a buccal mask made from a thick strip, likely a shred of human skin. I induced that it may be of a thigh because thigh skin is mentioned as an adornment in several Nahuatl prayers, such as in the Song of Macuilxochitl recorded by Bernardino de Sahagún. This clay piece may best be understood within some ritual context.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
Built near the shoreline of Central Veracruz, this extraordinary altar is surrounded in richly colored ritual and mythical scenes. It was part of a temple complex that overlooked the shore, and thus it is fitting that much of its scenery concerns water imagery, including red-faced water goddesses and even a peculiar image of a man swimming near a shark, perhaps in shamanic soul journey. Among the finest details in the murals are the priests' textured clothes. You may also notice some beautifully preserved geometric designs upon some of the platforms.
This life-size replica of the altar shows the successive layers built upon the older murals. The original dates to the Late Classic Period, from 600 to 900.
Xalapa Museum of Anthropology
