Anthropomorphic head "Dios viejo"

In the various Mesoamerican cultures, the religion was polytheistic and it was linked to politics, forming theocratic governments in many cases. There was a large number of deities, and they were linked to natural elements like rain, water, thunder, fire, drought, sun, moon, stars, constellations, mountains, animals (jaguar, serpent and eagle) and plants (corn). The Gods’ qualities and attributes changed over time, due to the cultural influence of other groups. An important feature in the religion of Mesoamerican groups is the dualism or confrontation between opposite poles. The positive pole was identified with the light, masculinity, strength, war, sun, etc. and the negative pole was associated with the dark, female, sedentary lifestyle, peace, moon, etc.. The anthropomorphic (human), zoomorphic (animal) and anthropozoomorphic (with human and animal features) representations of these deities appear in vessels, sculptures, low-relief, mural painting and codices.