The Classic Veracruz Culture existed in the present-day Mexican state of Veracruz from around 100 to 1000 CE. El Tajin was its major centre, and there were several other important settlements including Nopiloa and Remojadas; these latter two were the source of many of the ceramic objects which characterise the artwork of the Classic Veracruz Culture. The society seems to have been stratified, including an elite ruling class. This is suggested by evidence from burials, architecture, and artwork. The people employed slash-and-burn agriculture in order to produce crops such as maize and cotton, and they are also thought to have eaten dog, deer, other mammals, and seafood.

This standing terracotta figure may represent a warrior. His stance is powerful, with both feet placed firmly on the ground. His body is short with stylised proportions and an oversized head. He appears to be wearing strings of objects, perhaps shells, around his ankles. In each hand he holds an upside-down skull, suspended by some kind of handle. He is wearing a beige garment, contrasting with his red skin, which covers his legs, arms, and chest, and is open at the back but connected by ties. A red loincloth is tied around his waist. He also appears to be wearing something on his head; there is the same colour difference between his neck and his face. His eyes are closed, and his mouth is open, revealing a red protrusion inside. One explanation for the slightly strange appearance of the figure’s face is that he is wearing a mask made of flayed skin. This is a custom depicted in other Veracruz ceramic figures, and would explain the difference in colour as well as the unusual facial expression. It is also possible that the garment the figure is wearing is a flayed skin; this would explain the presence of nipples and the fact that he is wearing a loincloth over it. In later Aztec mythology, the deity Xipe Totec was thought to have flayed himself in order to provide food for humanity, and is often depicted wearing the yellow flayed skin of a sacrificed human victim over his own red skin. This figure has pierced ears, as well as a line of round holes across the top of his head, which could have been intended for the insertion of a headdress or other decoration. There are also several holes of different shapes in the back of his body.