Although they are believed to have been different, the ancient cultures of central Veracruz are mostly regional expressions of the same cultural background. Their ruins reveal local identities that must have emerged from the political fragmentation of the territory. No one doubts that the cultural production of the Mixteca at the end of the Classic period and during the early Post-Classic period was very different from what can be seen for the same period in the basins of the Blanco and Papaloapan rivers.
However, the clay sculptures at the archaeological site of Piedras Negras, in the Veracruz municipality of Tlalixcoyan illustrate an ancient symbiosis of cultural elements, some local and others definitely from the mountains of Puebla and Oaxaca. The role played by the Mixtecs in this part of central Veracruz was really important. The region of El Zapotal, known as "La Mixtequilla" at least since the nineteenth century, warns of its obvious link, first with the Oaxacan area and then with Cholula.
The codex type ceramics -identified as Mixtec culture- would become very popular in the Papaloapan basin after the Late Classic period. These are objects reserved for ceremonies and decorated -over the black background of the vessels- with orange drawings with very similar features to those exhibited in these documents painted on skins or tree bark. Alternatively, the introduction of different cultural objects characteristic from certain parts of Puebla and the mountain of Oaxaca do not, by themselves, define this unique moment in the Pre-Columbian history of central Veracruz.
In Madereros, Mixtec arts mixed with Veracruzan pottery tradition, the result was large clay sculptures incorporating iconographic elements of the same Mixteca. It is likely that from this part of the coastal plain of the Gulf the modeled head in clay of what was formerly a full body figure dressed in warrior's fashion emerged. Covered with a helmet that resembles the head of an eagle, it shows a face with big eyes, a half-opened mouth, and a decorated nose with a ceremonial bar that crosses it. The ear flaps were circular, one still survives, and the entire figure may have been covered with a fine lime plaster upon which vivid colors were originally applied.
If we compare this piece with examples from the Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa we can imagine the way in which the body position was resolved. These are usually large seated figures, close to a meter in height, with their legs bent and arms resting on their knees. The torso does not show details and usually contains a necklace of large beads and what appears to be an overturned vessel from which the extremities suddenly emerge. In the latter, the potters would pay more attention and turn out bracelets or sandals of various shapes and sizes.
Although they are believed to have been different, the ancient cultures of central Veracruz are mostly regional expressions of the same cultural background. Their ruins reveal local identities that must have emerged from the political fragmentation of the territory. No one doubts that the cultural production of the Mixteca at the end of the Classic period and during the early Post-Classic period was very different from what can be seen for the same period in the basins of the Blanco and Papaloapan rivers.
