Look at their appearance: they had square (crate-like), heads that were wide and long. Their hair was painted different colors; some blond, others chile-red. Is was divided into parts. Some say that the men had hair that hung down over their ears, covering them. They left a lock (on the back of the head) and filed their teeth (into points). Their teeth were like pumpkin seeds.
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España, 1975.
The Huasteca is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico; at the time of the Conquest its limits in the north reached the Tamesi River and in the south the basin of the Tuxpan River. The marine coast marks their boundaries toward the east, and the large mountains of the Sierra Madre toward the west. A large part of the territory is formed by the Panuco River basin; in addition to speaking Huasteca (teenek), they spoke other languages such as Nahuatl, Otomi and Tepehua. Although there would be more Huasteca speakers, this relative linguistic uniformity of the territory did not stop them from being fragmented politically. In all, there was a common cultural substrate that is precisely that which now allows us to refer to it in of a cultural sub-area of Mesoamerica.
Effigy cups with representations of human beings delicately modeled in a rich white kaolin clay are one of the material features that identify their cultural development in the Post-Classic. They are exceptional works of art, highly coveted in ancient Mexico. Their formal differences are explained in parallel productions that evolved with certain independence in distinct parts of the territory, particularly in the south of the Huasteca.
This piece has a surprising expressive force. It is a cup intended for ritual use. The front is covered by a cloth that reaches the squinted eyes, a typical feature of these faces. The hole in the ear, the perforation where the polished stone pendants were placed, is seen here as a…vase handle, as described by Sahagun in his Book IX. The teeth seem serrated, and there are cases in which they were intentionally painted black. The designs are red and black arranged on bands, one on the cloth and another on the chest. The plastic solution of the arms and legs is incredibly interesting, the first painted red with the hands outlined in black on the thighs that emerge modeled in the clay from the lower part of the vessel.
Look at their appearance: they had square (crate-like), heads that were wide and long. Their hair was painted different colors; some blond, others chile-red. Is was divided into parts. Some say that the men had hair that hung down over their ears, covering them. They left a lock (on the back of the head) and filed their teeth (into points). Their teeth were like pumpkin seeds.
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España, 1975.
