Various authors in the past have speculated on the epoch and culture to which the so-called “Laughing Faces” belonged. But with only a small number of sporadic finds they have not been able to explain satisfactorily their origin, cultural epoch, symbolism, or typological evolution. There exist, however, some useful works on the subject, such as those by Phillip Drucker, C. W. Weiant, J. L. Melgarejo, Vladimiro Rosado Ojeda, Alfonso Medellin Zenil, and Fredrick Peterson.

In the fall of 1952 the antiquity market of Mexico City was suddenly flooded with sculptured pieces of which the “Laughing Faces,” or “Smiling Heads,” formed the chief part. Their source was made known when the Presidente Municipal (Mayor) of the village of Joachin, in the municipality of Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, denounced illegal excavations in his territory. The looting of the archaeological zones had taken place in the small communities of Los Cerros and Dicha Tuerta.