126 
sticks, and dolls.183_ These are secondary, however, 
to the big surplus of maize, which is the chief source 
of income. This is not always apparent in the various 
neighboring Indian markets, however, for most of 
the maize is taken out in quantity, by mule train ;1** 
it is grown by Ladinos with large estates. 
ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS OF SETTLE- 
MENTS AWAY FROM LAKE ATITLAN 
Settlements and communities in other parts of 
Guatemala may be analyzed in the same manner 
in which the Lake villages have been considered 
above, and with certain similar results. Nowhere 
will there be found, probably, such a degree of local 
diversity, both physical and cultural, as exists about 
the shores of Lake Atitlan. As to the general dis- 
tribution of villages and towns in southern Guate- 
mala, it can be summed up by saying that, between 
350 m. and 2,600 m. elevations, there are numerous 
small towns and villages in which the Indian element 
is high, but for the most part the Indians are rural, 
living out in the fields and woods (monte). That the 
concentration of their numbers into compact settle- 
ments is often a result of relief conditions is evidenced 
not only by the Lake centers, but by such villages 
as Almolonga, Zunil, and Santa Maria, in the deep 
gorge along the Samala River. And yet, that site 
restriction is not essential to agglomeration is clearly 
shown in such open-valley towns and villages as 
San Andrés Xecul, San Juan Ostuncalco, and Con- 
cepcién Chiquirichapa; and even the larger towns, 
Quezaltenango and Totonicapan, Though they had 
a wide valley from which to choose their town sites, 
nearly all have concentrated upon the piedmont of 
one side or the other. There are several reasons 
for this, as will be brought out in the following pages. 
QUEZALTENANGO—TOTONICAPAN VALLEY 
REGION 
Abundance of water is a major basis for piedmont 
locations, where streams and springs are numerous 
and rapid. Most of the upper Samala Valley settle- 
ments are at the foot of the mountains, abundantly 
supplied with water. The water system (see map 21; 
also McBryde, 1933, p. 65) depends upon streams 
183 The last two are from Tax, Ms. 1935. 
4% Though Indians from San Andrés, Patziim, and Tecpan sell 
maize in big sacks at Panajachel on Sunday (on one occasion, October 
25, 1936, I walked along the trail with six Tecpdn men, each having a 
mule loaded with 120 1b. of maize, all of which was sold in Panajachel, 
with no return cargo), they are little in evidence at Solol4, among the 
rows of maize vendors. Ladino mule-shippers, usually two or three at 
a time, with five or six mules each, seem to handle this almost entirely. 
INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
of good gradient for the small, slightly elevated 
reservoirs, to which water is conducted for redistribu- 
tion to pilas. These are open watering places on the 
streets and in parks, patios, and buildings (pl. 10, d). 
Though I have as yet no record of their first estab- 
lishment, they are certainly colonial, and probably 
were built at the time when the towns were founded. 
Even though the Ladino town of Salcaja appears 
to be a notable exception, out on the Rio Samala, 
it is fairly near the mountains, and there are tribu- 
tary springs flowing into the river here. Ruins near — 
Salcaja indicate a pre-Columbian beginning, as do — 
early accounts for Quezaltenango (ancient Xelahu; 
see p. 10). 
Another important consideration here regarding 
bases for settlements is the matter of land diversity 
in supplying various needs of the community. Since 
trees are almost lacking from the valley, each settle- 
ment looks to the hills behind it for firewood. One 
of the unique features of this region is the appear- 
ance of firewood as a commodity in the market 
place (pl. 38, c), besides its usual role as a peddler’s 
vendible. In this valley, as is often the case else- 
where, woodlot, pasture, and field converge at the 
piedmont. 
The situation of Quezaltenango on the southern 
edge of the valley, centrally located with respect to 
the settlements of the region, gives it an excellent 
trade position. It is on the crossway of two 
important automobile roads and routes of native 
commerce ; the north-south road from coastal Mazate- 
nango to Huehuetenango and the Cuchumatanes (the 
southern part is by far the busiest transverse traffic 
line through the Altos of the Southwest) ;?° and 
the east-west Altos road—the national highway that 
leads to the capital—affords a well-traveled route 
to Totonicapan in the east and San Marcos in the 
west (map 1). The daily market of Quezaltenango 
is large and crowded with as many vendors in a 
day as some of the big Altos centers have in a week 
(map 24). It is within easy access by open, level 
trails and roads, to all the numerous surrounding 
villages of the Valley. And, since this is a region 
of crafts, manufactured goods of all sorts fill the 
stalls of the large, enclosed market place. Pottery 
pours in from the eastern ceramic area of Totoni- 
capan-San Cristébal-Santa Maria Chiquimula (map 
“485 This is such an important trade route that the Guatemala Gov- 
ernment spent eight million dollars in the construction of an electric 
railway from Lowland San Felipe to Quezaltenango. It was soon 
abandoned, however, for the grade was too steep and traffic was 
insufficient to repay high operating and maintenance costs. The line 
was in operation for only 31% years (1930-33). 
