CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 101 
after the Conquest, the Indians were gathered into 
towns.1° The fine old church at Santiago is even 
without a resident priest; he comes from Solola to 
minister during fiestas. The settlements of San 
Lucas and Cerro de Oro (in the municipio of San- 
tiago) are much smaller and more scattered than the 
village of Santiago. Natural advantages in setting 
as described above probably account for the greater 
growth and development of the latter village. 
The Atitecos are the most impressive cultural unit 
on the Lake. Their municipio and village are the 
largest among the Lake-shore settlements, having the 
only big daily market?* in the region, and it is the 
only one regularly attended by Indians from seven 
shore communities (western half of the Lake, includ- 
ing Cerro de Oro). Santiago merchants are almost 
without competition in their particular line; the men 
carrying special products in quantity between High- 
land and Lowland markets, the women dealing in 
local produce, on a small scale, in their own market 
(see p. 82, itn. 116). Their leadership in navigation, 
their significance as a corn-producing center, and 
their industries, though relatively minor, have already 
been mentioned. 
It is for these reasons, as well as for obvious en- 
vironmental relationships, that I have taken up the 
physical analysis of this community in more detail 
than any of the others. 
183 The Cakchiquel historian (Xahila) wrote: ‘One hundred and six 
days after they had really begun to teach us the word of God, then 
they commenced to gather together the houses in groups, by order of 
the ruler, Juan Roser, and the people came forth from their caves and 
ravines” (Brinton, 1885, p. 191). 
One of the best discussions of the reducciones and town-building 
activities brought about by the Conquest is to be found in the Memorias 
of Garcia Pelaez, drawing upon the earlier writings of Remesal, Las 
Casas, Herrera, Vazquez, and others. ‘By decree of June 10, [15]40, 
sent to the governor and to the bishop of Guatemala, they took charge 
of the consolidation of small communities into towns, at the same time 
exempting the Indians from tribute for a year or more. . . . the 
towns of Comalapa, Solola, Alotenango, Quezaltenango, Totonicapan, 
and others, [like] San Anton, San Bartolomé, San Miguel, Chalxcua, 
San Pedro Xocopila, and Cunen, all were formed from many 
small towns, and where most were brought together was in San 
Andrés, : 
“The procedure followed in moving the towns was this. First, the 
chiefs and elders looked over and evaluated the new site, and if any 
of the elders cared to group others with him, this was done. To begin 
with, the milpas were planted next to the new town-site. While the 
corn grew and matured, they built their houses; the grain dried, and 
when the fields were ready for harvesting, on an appointed day every- 
one moved to the new place, with much dancing and festivals which 
lasted several days in order to make all the people forget their old 
homes” (Garcia Pelaez, 1851-52, vol. 1, pp. 173-174). 
154Tt expands on Saturdays and Mondays as it feels the pulse of 
trade between the Highlands (Solola, Friday and Tuesday) and the 
Lowlands (towns and fincas, Saturday night, Sunday and Thursday; 
see p. 82, ftn. 116, and map 19). 
SAN LUCAS, SAN PEDRO, AND SAN JUAN 
Of the other south shore villages with settings 
somewhat similar to that of Santiago (map 20; pls. 
45, a; 46, d, e, f), the following generalizations with 
regard to nucleating factors may be made. 
Water supply.—All of them lack permanent 
streams and depend upon Lake water; hence all of 
necessity have a littoral location. 
Surface features.—They are built upon small 
lava-flow terrace sites, for the most part 10 to 40 m. 
(33 to 131 ft.) above the Lake (to escape inundation 
by rising Lake water as well as by swollen streams; 
p. 120), and from one-fourth to three-fourths of a 
square kilometer in area, these being in some cases, as 
at San Pedro, the largest available in the vicinity. 
Alluvial surfaces are generally avoided for home 
sites, not, I think, to keep them clear for crops, as 
suggested by both Atwood (1933, p. 66) and Lothrop 
(1933, pp. 17, 70), whose studies were made in the 
dry season, but rather for the more compelling reason 
of escaping the rain-flood hazard. During my Sep- 
tember—October stay in Santiago, I saw such small 
gullies as Xechiboy (south edge of Santiago) fill and 
overflow quickly after a hard shower. Such rains, 
common from May through October, endanger much 
of the alluvial land either through flooding or isolat- 
ing it from the villages. 
Situation.—They are located on or near trade- 
route nodes or intersections (San Lucas is favored 
most in this regard, and San Pedro 15 and San Juan 
least) and almost equidistant from Solola and from 
Lowland markets (the two western centers are 
favored least also in the latter respect). 
Specialized occupations.—San Pedro and fewer 
San Juan inhabitants are active traders, though they 
have no home market; they make rope, soap, and 
some stick-loom textiles, while they engage also in 
diversified agriculture, with a specialty in chickpeas 
(see pp. 28, 76), whereas San Lucas depends more 
upon its coffee (pl. 46, e). 
Available employment.—Though Pedranos and 
Juaneros seldom seek employment on coffee planta- 
tions (San Pedro has its own Lowland colony of 
Cutzan), many San Lucas Indians work part of the 
year on Lowland fincas. 
155 Though they use canoes in traveling to Santiago and Solola (as 
far as Jaibal), Pedranos depend more upon land travel than do Atitecos. 
It is probably for this reason that so many of the Pedranos employ 
mules in trade journeys, while the latter use them almost solely for 
local burden bearing. The ‘‘Ladino” tendencies of the Pedranos, re- 
ported to have much white blood, and looking as if they did, may have 
something to do with this also, however. 
