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(6 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
a chicken and a squash along with it. Much maize 
is sold locally in the same manner. 
Most kinds of beans may be grown in the Low- 
lands, but the quality is poor and insect pests are 
numerous. Lima beans, most of which are red and 
black, and may be flat or round, are rare in any 
market, usually being confined to the Lowlands 
where they are grown. I have seen two or three 
vendors in the smaller markets of Guatemala City 
with 20 to 50 pounds of lima beans from San Rai- 
mundo and San Pedro Ayamptc; generally they are 
kept in baskets behind the counter in an obscure 
place. Green beans like most perishable green plant 
foods, are generally sold in local markets only. 
Large, colored butter beans and broadbeans are 
grown in quantity in the zone above the ordinary 
kidney beans, between 2,000 and 3,000 m. The main 
producing area for broadbeans is the Quezaltenango— 
Totonicapan Valley, which supplies most of the 
western Lowlands. Broadbeans are generally sold 
toasted in small quantities, along with other produce, 
especially eggs. In one Friday market at Solola, in 
May 1936, there were 50 Totonicapan (mostly 
Argueta) women selling more toasted broadbeans 
than anything else. An almost identical observation 
had been made there in 1932 (see map 22). 
Chickpeas.—Chickpeas (garbanzos) are of ex- 
tremely limited seasonal as well as regional distribu- 
tion in trade. The only places where they are grown 
in quantity is San Pedro la Laguna and San Juan 
see pp. 28, 101). The harvest is from January through 
March. Pedranos, seldom over 10 at a time, take 
quantities of chickpeas on mules to many markets, 
from February through May. March and April are 
peak months, for garbanzos are made into special 
Lenten fare. They are in greatest demand during 
Holy Week, when they are used for festive sweets. 
San Pedro men in their distinctive dress (pl. 7, 7) 
station themselves separately to sell chickpeas at 
prominent corners of the plaza in Quezaltenango, 
Totonicapan, San Cristobal Totonicapan, and other 
Highland towns, and in Mazatenango, Retalhuleu, 
Cuyotenango, and elsewhere in the Lowlands. 
Potatoes.—Potatoes are a specialty of certain 
Highland regions, mostly above about 2,000 m. 
(6,562 ft.) (map 9). Large white and red “Irish” 
potatoes of imported stock (North American) are 
produced in Totonicapan, Chiantla, Concepcion Chi- 
quirichapa, San Martin Sacatepequez, and are sold 
in markets of Highlands and Lowlands. Some of 
these localities also produce for the market small red 
“native” potatoes (probably originally South Ameri- 
can, possibly of pre-Conquest introduction; see p. 
140). The small potatoes are grown for local consump- 
Todos Santos is 
the only community which produces then in quantity, 
however, for distant markets. Though little red pota- 
toes, ranging in size from that of marbles to that of 
walnuts, are seldom eaten by Ladinos, they are much 
in demand by Indians, owing in part to their low 
price. Packed in large grass-lined cargo nets, about 
75 pounds in each, they are transported on mules. 
Crowds of Indian women gather round the Todos 
Santeros with their large netloads of potatoes, so that 
they become the center of attention, and sometimes 
police have to maintain order (see p. 140). From 
April through June and November, Todos Santos 
men, usually 10 every Friday, sell potatoes at San 
Francisco el Alto. A few of them also sell in the 
other markets of that vicinity. Huehuetenango is a 
potato market of special importance. Mostly from 
November to March, potatoes are handled there in 
wholesale quantities. On Sunday there may be over 
200 vendors, 40 or 50 of whom come from Chiantla 
and 10 or 15 from Todos Santos, bringing 400 to 
600 pounds each on mules. Local merchants of 
Huehuetenango buy most of these potatoes to resell 
elsewhere. Truckloads of them are shipped to Guate- 
mala City, Quezaltenango, and Lowland markets. 
Wheat.—Wheat, producing best above 2,000 m., 
is generally sold to flour mills, in the larger towns 
(see p. 28), and reaches the plazas in the form of 
bread (for Highland baking centers, see p. 57, map 
9). Occasionally it is sold in markets for the making 
of large wheat tortillas, as in Aguacatan, San Fran- 
cisco el Alto, and elsewhere in the western Highlands. 
Anise.—Aniseed, a specialty of San Andrés Seme- 
tebaj Ladinos and San Antonio Palopé Indians, 
reaches the markets almost solely from those two 
municipios. 
Fruits.—Apples and peaches are exotic Highland 
fruits grown in abundance in Argueta and Chichicas- 
tenango (map 9). Important native fruits which 
enter the markets in quantity from special centers are 
avocados and jocotes (pl. 19, c). Though varieties 
of both of these grow also in the Lowlands, they are 
of inferior quality. Optimum elevations for these 
fruits range between 1,500 and 2,000 m. (4,921 and 
6,562 ft.). Lake Atitlan villages, especially those of 
the north shore, supply the markets with both, Lake 
avocados going into the Lowlands as far as Maza- 
tenango. 
tion in many Highland municipios. 
Concepcion, east of Solola, is especially 
