The Huasteca, that part of the coastal plain that extends between northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas, was a territory marked by a high level of ethical integration, capable of developing a cultural style in contrast with its neighbors of the Gulf of Mexico. In spite of this, it is very probable that its cities displayed a significant level of political fragmentation and that its settlements, although very extensive, barely had circular or rectangular land platforms equipped with very simple crafting rooms.
Buildings dedicated to the ritual ball game were particularly important, and their level of connection with ceremonies promoted by the rulers is evident. These were religious practices that were not only essential to preserve the statute of the local political classes, but also a ritual that in the Classic Period is combined with worship of Venus, with the record of its synodic cycles, and when a geometrical relationship is established between the calculation of its sightings as the morning star and the ancient warrior nature that was conferred upon it.
Ball playing was something of singular importance in ancient Mexico because the ritual had the strange capacity to pronounce the future of the local political class and the society as a whole. One shouldn't forget that the ruler was considered the person responsible for the prosperity of his people and - due to his sacred character - as the mediator before the gods. The ruler was the axis of government relations, and a bond of asymmetric reciprocity was established around his person. The people provided the ruler with goods and services while the latter ensured the safety of the people and divine benevolence.
The pieces are ball players, and can be identified by the heavy belt that they wear tight around the body, as well as by the knee pads that are fastened to one of the legs. In both cases they are wearing a headdress like an adorned coping with a bond of feathers that can be seen from a small opening. As is appropriate, they are adorned with earrings and bracelets. One of the figurines still preserves dirt and fragments of bones stuck to it, which reveal their collective participation in a probable burial context. This condition is truly unusual, but serves here to realize the value that is conferred on the burial of the privileged classes of the society.
The Huasteca, that part of the coastal plain that extends between northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas, was a territory marked by a high level of ethical integration, capable of developing a cultural style in contrast with its neighbors of the Gulf of Mexico. In spite of this, it is very probable that its cities displayed a significant level of political fragmentation and that its settlements, although very extensive, barely had circular or rectangular land platforms equipped with very simple crafting rooms.
