54 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 
PODTERY 
Ceramic ware produced today by the Indians in 
Guatemala is more utilitarian than artistic, or even 
finely finished, with the exception of the graceful, 
well-made and durable water jars (tiajas) of 
Chinautla, just north of Guatemala City (pls. 21, c; 
42, b,c). Virtually all of the pottery used in South- 
west Guatemala is produced in 15 centers (map 
15), widely distributed throughout the Highlands, 
where suitable clay is locally available. Thirteen of 
these are in the Southwest, and two, Chinautla and 
Antigua, are in south central Guatemala. The ap- 
parent dearth or unavailability of good clay in the 
alluvial Lowlands and in the region of lava and ash in 
the young volcanic range seems to be a determining 
factor in accounting for the absence of pottery mak- 
ing from these regions (map 5). Fine clay is abun- 
dant throughout the eluvial surfaces of the old vol- 
canic and ancient igneous provinces, and it is in these 
that the pottery centers are distributed. At San 
Cristébal it was said that most pottery clay was 
bought in nearby San Francisco el Alto, at about 30 
cents per vara (32 X 32 in.), the best clay being 
between about 5 and 10 inches below the surface. 
Communal clay pits were reported at Santa Maria 
Chiquimula. 
Pottery makers obtain clay from pits dug into the 
subsoil to a depth of 1 to 3 feet (30 to 90 cm.), 
usually within a radius of a few miles of their homes. 
Dried balls of clay are ground on a metate to render 
the particles finer. When needed, a mass of it is 
moistened to the desired consistency and small flat 
pieces are worked bit by bit into the sides of a vessel, 
as in the following example. The base of a Chinautla 
water jar is made from a disk of clay 14 inches thick 
and 10 inches in diameter; this is fashioned into a 
thick saucer which is allowed to dry for one day, then 
is scraped out with a piece of round tree calabash 
(morro). Small slabs of clay are added to build up 
the sides of the jar, and neck and handles are affixed 
after the rest is dry. Six or eight jars are worked 
through the same stages together. This technique is 
used also at San Cristébal Totonicapan and else- 
where. The only implements ordinarily used by In- 
dian potters are a piece of leather or cloth for rubbing 
smooth the sides and edges of the vessel, which is 
doused freely with water before the clay has hardened, 
and a piece of sharp metal, split cane, or flat polished 
stone for smoothing pottery after it has dried. The 
final polishing of pottery at San Pedro Jocopilas, be- 
fore setting it to dry in the shade, is often performed 
by rubbing it with a large, smooth quartz pebble. 
The potter’s wheel is used for finer, glazed ware 
of European design, such as cups and saucers made 
by Ladinos in Totonicapan, Antigua, Huehuetenango 
(pl. 41, b), and other craft centers, but apparently 
the wheel is little utilized by Indians (a number of 
Totonicapan Indian men use it). At San Pedro 
Jocopilas, I saw the antithesis of the potter’s wheel 
when a woman smoothed the still wet mouth of a 
heavy dye jar 2 feet (60 cm.) high by walking round 
and round while pressing a piece of cloth against the 
brim to smooth and shape it. The large vessel re- 
mained stationary while the potter herself rotated 
around it. 
As in the molding, so in the low-temperature firing, 
only the simplest techniques are employed. A large 
number of pots which have been allowed to dry in the 
shade (often requiring several days) are stacked up 
and burned with bunchgrass and firewood.§*? At San 
Cristobal Totonicapan I saw this done in every in- 
stance in open yards next to the potter’s dwelling 
(pl. 41, c). Pottery was fired continuously through 
one full day. Chinautla women usually fire only 
about a dozen jars at once, for a half hour with a hot 
fire. Women are the chief workers in clay through- 
out the region, though some men also participate. At 
Totonicapan the percentage of male potters seems to 
be higher, but men generally employ the wheel 
(ordinarily Ladinos). 
The chief producing area, as well as the approxi- 
mate geographical center of pottery making in South- 
west Guatemala, is that of the municipio of Toto- 
nicapan (map 15). The adjoining municipio of San 
Cristobal Totonicapan §§ is also important, but to a 
lesser degree. 
In both communities the emphasis is upon large, 
coarse, heavy ware, having an average size of perhaps 
a foot in diameter, usually with globular base and 
cylindrical neck. Mostly open-mouthed jars used as 
cooking utensils, pots and vats for dyeing, washing, 
and storage, they include also water jars, pitchers, 
platters, stewing-dishes, and comales (broad, shallow 
87 Dried cattle dung is used as fuel for firing frequently in some sec- 
tions, such as Chinautla and parts of the Cuchumatanes region. Pine 
bark is also important at Chinautla and elsewhere when available. 
88 Local estimates put the number of potters’ families in San Cristébal 
as between 40 and 50, mostly in the northeast section of the town. 
