At the beginning of our era the first large states of the region were forming in the tropical forests of Veracruz, marked by well-defined territories on the foundation of a highly stratified society. The land would have guaranteed sustenance to a predominantly agricultural population and surplus production would have been set aside to maintain the governing elite and the privileged social classes.
Commerce played a decisive role in the formation of the first states, becoming the axis for their development. The foundation of these new government centers would have been preceded by the formidable task of leveling the land, which can only be explained within the context of a hierarchical society. Works such as these were carried out once the following came about: social recognition of leadership, control over a specific territory, and an economy capable of generating sufficient surplus to maintain a population involved in these tasks.
On the other hand, the ideological factor was no less important in the rise of these states, which would be in the hands of a dominant class, and where the belief system made the new type of authority emanating from highly centralized government structures acceptable to the majority of the population. At this time the cult of the ruler emerged and was quickly added to the complex ball game rituals.
In the context of the Gulf of Mexico civilization, it inherently implied human sacrifice. Perhaps its introduction into northern Veracruz can be linked to a series of trade routes that flowed from southern Mexico, crossing the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. In the mid-fourth century A.D., practically all of the coastal plain was under Teotihuacan's commercial influence. Indeed, this significant change in the course of the coastal civilization is marked by an elite that would have chosen to recreate a foreign cultural model that would facilitate its full participation in "modern" Mesoamerica.
A taste for what was from Teotihuacan, for cultural activities from central Mexico, meant that the form of the objects required by the high levels of society were not indiscriminately modified. Cylindrical tripod vessels with solid rectangular s, as well as "vases," "candlestick holders" with one cavity, and ceramic figurines in the style of Teotihuacan pottery were produced at that time by local artisans; this imitation was encouraged by the groups in power.
This is the case for the piece that represents a ball player with a "yoke," a heavy belt, and knee pads, which protect him from being grazed by the hard rubber balls. What truly distinguishes it is the face, particularly its proportions, which come from the Teotihuacan models that would have been arriving to Mexico's Gulf coast at this time. Therefore, this figure brings together the two great cultural traditions that were part of the configuration of the coastal plain's civilization during the Classic period. That is to say, the elements that southern Mexico acquired during its early period, such as the ball game ritual and the blood sacrifices that are associated with it, and all of the other new elements, that would have been aligned with the civilization from the Central Mexican Plateau.
