44 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
this type in Yucatan. It probably is to be found in 
parts of the Pacific Lowlands of Guatemala. 
ROOFS 
SHAPE 
Wauchope (1938, p. 40) has described as follows 
the two common types of roofs in the area: 
(1) Hip roof, which is pitched back from all four sides 
... (2) Gable roof, in which the pitch falls in two direc- 
tions from the center of the building ... There is also a 
single-pitch or shed roof, but its use is limited to temporary 
lean-to shelters and penthouses attached to the main house. 
Into the first of the two above-described types fall 
the smaller, apparently more primitive square (pyra- 
mid roof) houses, and nearly square ones. The 
square house is usually crowned with an inverted clay 
bowl (pl. 29). The only material which I have seen 
used on this pointed roof is grass, which seems to 
lend itself especially well to this purpose. Certainly 
tile would not be suitable, as its overlapping elements 
would not easily be adjusted to the rapid taper of the 
peak. 
PITCH 
According to Wauchope (1938, p. 41)— 
practically all Indian roofs fall within the same general class 
of “quarter pitch.” The pitch of Indian roofs throughout 
Central America is very uniform, varying between 42 and 60 
degrees. (Note: end slopes are not included...) ... 
Newer, non-Indian houses (ranchitos) ...*have a pitch 
much less steep. Example: Roof angle of a house at Zacapa 
was only 11 degrees. 
He found the steepest roofs in Guatemala to have a 
pitch of 50 degrees (San Sebastian, Retalhuleu, and 
San Lucas Toliman) and the lowest angle (42°) 
at San Pedro la Laguna and Coban. San Lucas and 
San Pedro are both on Lake Atitlan, and they have 
very similar climates. 
Though the Zacapa low-pitched roof is in a dry 
area, the others show remarkable indifference to rain- 
fall.’ Of the four localities mentioned by Wauchope, 
the first and last (higher and lower pitched, respec- 
tively) are in areas of high annual rainfall (330 and 
242 cm., or 129 and 95 in., respectively), whereas 
the ones on the Lake get about 150 cm. (59 in.) or 
less. The steepest pitch he recorded in the entire 
Maya area was at Lerma, Campeche (50° and 60°). 
Annual rainfall here is about 95 cm., or 37 in. (Ward 
and Brooks, 1936, pt. J, p. 50). All of this evidence 
supports Wauchope’s suggestion (1938, p. 41) that 
“there is apparently little correlation between roof 
pitch and amount of rainfall,” despite Sapper’s note 
to the contrary. 
The effect of wind is probably one of considerable 
significance in determining roof pitch. Western 
Guatemala is a region which for the most part is 
subject to rather frequent high winds, especially in 
the Highlands and during the dry (winter) months. 
MATERIALS 
Roofs above an elevation of about 1,500 m. (4,921 
m.) in the region are of two major materials, grass 
and tile. The latter is a distinct mark of a more 
advanced type, more so than the adobe wall, with 
which tile is frequently, though not necessarily, asso- 
ciated. Adobe-walled houses may be roofed with 
grass or any other kind of cover (pl. 10,0). Some- 
times, as at Solola, a house may be roofed with tile 
on the front slope and grass on the rear slope. Minor 
roofing materials include gasoline tins, corrugated 
iron, boards, and maguey leaves. (Various supple- 
ments of thatch, especially crests, will be mentioned 
later. ) 
Tile.—The making of tiles is a skilled art, and a 
few specialized tilemakers (tejeros) are distributed 
throughout most of the Republic, chiefly in the larger 
centers and in the Highlands. The tiles are the red, 
semicylindrical Mediterranean type, of Spanish in- 
troduction. Though the investment is a more per- 
manent one, the cost of tiles (800 to 1,000 required 
to roof the average house) considerably exceeds that 
of other roof materials. Installing them is also more 
expensive, calling for special builders, whereas grass, 
like all the Lowland thatch (which includes grass), is 
generally put on through the communal, neighborly 
efforts of a large number (often between 20 and 40) 
of friends and relatives of the builder, who makes a 
merry party of it by serving rum and food. (Pls. 3, 
b; 25, a; 39, b. See also Redfield, 1934, pp. 77-78, 
regarding communal labor in house-building in 
Yucatan ; Wisdom, 1940, p. 130; La Farge and Byers, 
1931, p. 40.) 
From Zunil to San Cristébal, from Quezaltenango 
to Totonicapan, a great “X” may be drawn to mark 
tile roofs to the virtual exclusion of other forms. 
Around the periphery, grass appears with increasing 
frequency, predominating in San Martin and Siguila, 
for example, along the more remote western margin 
(map 14). 
Thatch.—Grass.—the most widespread use of 
grass for thatch is found among the isolated com- 
munities of the Lake Atitlan Basin, where (except for 
