In the Gulf Coast the representation of deities or elements associated with them can be found in the field of civil and state orders. The first are usually regional and have particular characteristics such as the Narigudo God of the lower basin of the Jamapa and Cotaxtla rivers; the so-called Smiling Faces of La Mixtequilla, or the San Jose Acateno figurines of North Central Veracruz. These can be found in their thousands, so they can be associated to a local ritual in each area.
In the representations of deities of the state field you can find figures that go beyond the local sphere. In 1964, Miguel Angel Covarrubias had already made an evolutionary comparison of the rain god, but since the classification of the Olmec pantheon by Peter Joralemon in 1971, an evolution of the gods from the Preclassic to the Post-Classic was proposed, of deities that went beyond the limits of a group or a Mesoamerican region.
In this classification, the God VI was identified, which is recurrent in Olmec iconography. The basic characteristics of this figure are maintained over time with changes in their temporal and spatial stylistic adaptation to become Xipe-Totec.
The two pieces have characteristics of Xipe-Totec, although they are variants of the figure. The main characteristic is the double mouth that represents the skinning as a mask of another character.
The piece 52 22 MA FA 57PJ 50 is an anthropomorphic head with the representation of Xipe-Totec with dimensions of 17.5 cm high and 45 cm wide; its body ratio proportion is 1:3 (body-to-head ratio) and the total height of this piece would be around 75 cm if it were found standing. There is a piece associated with the Mexica culture (Late Post-Classic) logged in the National Museum of Anthropology with the same glow in the headdress and circular applications in the headband.
The elaboration technique is molded and modeled with a smooth finish of light brown paste, it is hollow inside with a rectangular hole in the back to allow the heat to excape. This section shows the way it was attached mainly to the sides of the piece, the head is triangular with a slightly round chin; the eyes are semi-oblique in high embossing and the eyelids are closed with vertical incisions in the upper ones. The tear ducts are not observed but the fold in that part of the eye is marked, as well as the mark of the superciliary arches; the nose is wide and round with wide nasal fins where the nostrils were made by punching; the mouth, is very open with thick lips, shows light retrognathism and the subnasal sulcus is not visible. Inside this mouth we see another that is closed and was added as a stopper for the first mouth (from the inside of the piece it is clearly observed how it was added), the lips are thick with the corners turned down and the subnasal sulcus present. Teh features show that the nasolabial grooves are well marked but the ears are not observed.
In the decoration, we can see that the earrings are flat and circular with circular applications on the edge, at least on the left, and in both there are marks from a circular application at the center; however, it no longer has them. The piece has an elaborate sunburst type headdress that is tied to the chin. The headdress is divided by a fold in the center that follows its shape and at the top of the fold there is perhaps a zoomorphic body in the center, but it is broken at its edge so we do not know what kind of animal it is. It even seems that it was attached to the headdress in its upper central part since it is also broken; on the left side of the fold there is a fractured oval application that apparently ed the lower side of the zoomorphic decoration, perhaps it was the lower limb. On the right side only fractures are observed and no remnants of that section of the piece; on the left end there are two knotted vertical strips with a vertical center ribbon. Below the fold there is a band that extends to the temples in which there are circular applications of pastillage (possibly six out of eight), below the headdress you can see the hair of the person which was positions by applications of triangular pastillage with a vertical incision in each. As mentioned, the headdress is tied on the chin by a thick untied band that comes out of the temples. Beneath the left earring there is a fragment of the necklace with two bands of cylindrical ornaments and a rounded tip (only three of them).
