Social Structure
Burials, monumental sculpture, relief carvings, and the distribution of architecture within the regional centers all point to a stratification of Classic Veracruz society, including the presence of an elite rank as well as craft specialization. Elite hereditary rulers held sway over these small- to medium-sized regional centers, none over 2000 km², maintaining their rule through political and religious control of far-flung trade networks and legitimizing it through typical Mesoamerican rites such as bloodletting, human sacrifice, warfare, and use of exotic goods. Much or most of the population, however, lived in isolated homesteads, hamlets, or villages.
Like the Epi-Olmec and Olmec cultures before it, Classic Veracruz culture was based on swidden, or slash-and-burn, agriculture, with maize an important component of the diet, supplemented with domestic dog, wild deer and other mammals, and fish and shellfish. Cotton was also an important crop.
The Classic Veracruz culture venerated many common Mesoamerican deities, in particular a death god (very prominent at El Tajin and often associated with the Aztec Mictlantecuhtli) and an earth monster (likely inherited from the Olmec culture).
Read more about this topic: Classic Veracruz Culture
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