Gulf Coast

After the Olmec, three main cultures, the Totonac, that of El Tajín, and the Huastec, found, in the feracious natural plenitude of the central zone and the coastal strip of the nowadays State of Veracruz and in part of Tamaulipas, a propitious environment for their development.

In the three appear, permanent symbol and expression of the cosmogonic concept that unifies the ancient Mexican culture, the combined image of the human being and the two serpents.

It is found manifest, among the Totonacs, in the mural paintings of Las Higueras, in the feminine figures called Cihuateteo, and the grand earth altars of El Zapotal; in El Tajín, sculpted in stellae and panels, in temples and ball games, and in the stone yokes, axes and palms; in the representations of Tajín, always in profile, under the straight nose, the upper jaw reveals, in protruding ascent, given the fangs that often are added to it, its ophidian nature; the Huastecs always show it relating the serpents to things human in the headdresses and belts, or surrounding human faces; they represented it also in their shell pectorals.

In what pertains to the four elemental symbols, these, with particular forms of representation, are found in all the aforementioned areas. They are evident in the headbands and skirts of the Totonac smiling figures and in the great stone sculptures of the Huastecs.

They form, in El Tajín, part of the developments in volute, and practically occupy the whole set of plastic compositions.