Audio guide:
The eleven painted plates of the obverse turned 180° with respect to the obverse, form a single section to be read from right to left. It can be further divided into three subsections:
rituals against harmful animals (pl. 21-24);
rituals related to snails (pl. 25-26);
and rituals related to animals of the bush (pl. 27-31).
In the upper part of each plate, an armed god or goddess is depicted, while the lower part is occupied by a varying number of numerical signs, where a dot corresponds to one unit and a bar corresponds to five. The exact meaning and function of these plates are still debated. Traditionally, it has been assumed that the numerals provided information about the numerical and spatial arrangement of offerings to be made during rituals related to the animals depicted on the sides of the pages. More recently, it has been suggested that the plates of the reverse of Codex Cospi may have been used as surfaces for throwing corn kernels or other objects during divination practices.