128 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
markets (pl. 13, c, inset). From there come the great 
piles of salt; truckloads of panela (crude block cane 
sugar) and, sometimes during Lowland harvests, 
maize. Most of the enormous sacks of dried red 
chile are from the desiccated lands of the east, around 
Asuncion Mita, being sometimes trucked in, especially 
for fiestas. 
Though there probably are not many more vendors 
at San Francisco than at Solola, there are more 
SUMMARY AND 
Physically, Southwest Guatemala is highly diversi- 
fied. The Pacific Coastal Plain is low and hot, with 
rain falling only during the summer half year (here 
called winter, as in many other countries of the Latin 
American Tropics). Trees are usually scattered ex- 
cept along stream courses, and there is much good 
savanna grass for pastures. Soils are of rich alluvium 
derived mainly from volcanic ash and lava. Popula- 
tion is sparse and nearly all are Ladinos (culturally 
non-Indians) or Ladinized Indians, except along the 
inner plain, where there are towns and plantations 
(fincas) on or near the railroad. At the inner edge 
the Lowlands rise steadily to the foot of the vol- 
canic range, a straight row of high cones with long, 
steep slopes extending seaward. Warm, very rainy 
almost all year, and clothed with lush monsoon 
forest except where cleared for coffee plantations, 
this piedmont zone (to 1,500 m. or 4,921 ft. eleva- 
tion) is well peopled. Indian laborers predominate— 
partly Ladinized permanent colonists of Highland 
origin and seasonal migrants coming down for the 
clearing and harvest. Climate and soil are ideal for 
coffee, which covers much of the piedmont. As in 
other crops, the quality is best near the upper limit 
of cultivation. 
The Continental Divide is formed by an older 
volcanic range, mostly inland from and parallel to 
the file of young cones. Immense canyons have re- 
sulted where the larger streams rising at the Divide 
flow between high volcanoes to the Pacific. The 
volcanic Highlands, where most of the independent 
Indians live, are wooded in large part, oak and pine 
predominating. Much of the region has been re- 
peatedly cleared for maize, so that it is covered only 
with grass or scrub. The Quezaltenango—San Cris- 
tobal-Totonicapan Valley is almost without trees. 
The climate is cool, with rain coming during the 
summer 6 months as in the Lowlands. Soils are 
wholesalers, with a greater variety of goods, and more 
commercial merchants. Here, near the Continental 
Divide, is a major meeting place of north and south, 
where streams of people flow to and from the weekly 
market. Apparently, this divide location, with 
accessibility to diversified products on all sides, con- 
stitutes the chief basis for the commercial importance 
of San Francisco el Alto (p. 82). 
CONCLUSIONS 
fertile, derived mainly from volcanic ash and lava. 
The east-west deep interior valleys—structural de- 
pressions through which large rivers flow—are hot 
and dry (only a little rain coming during the sum- 
mer), covered with scattered thornbush, cactus, and 
brush, with scrub oaks and pines coming in at higher 
levels on the mountains. This region, like the lofty 
Cuchumatanes Mountains to the north, is essentially 
nonvolcanic, consisting largely of limestone. 
About 65 percent of the population of Guatemala 
is Indian, predominantly of Maya linguistic stock. 
Most of the rest are native-born whites and Mestizos 
of European culture (listed in the census as Lad- 
inos), who control the political and economic affairs 
of the Republic. There are a few foreigners and 
fewer Negroes. The densest population in Guate- 
mala is found in the cool southwestern Highlands, 
where most of the Indians reside. Here—besides 
climate—favorable terrain, good water supply, and 
natural routeways stimulate concentrations of popula- 
tion. In the Quezaltenango-Totonicapan area, 
densities range well over 300 per square mile, with 
as high as 97 percent Indian. Lowland agricultural 
colonies of Highland Indians are sometimes still 
maintained as was done on a much larger scale in 
pre-Columbian times. In speech and in dress, es- 
pecially, Indians have become Ladinized in regions 
of greatest ease of intercommunication where many 
Ladinos live in fairly close contact with them, and 
where Indians go far to trade and must speak 
Spanish. With isolation, the cultural individuality 
of the Indians is best preserved. Ladinos are for 
the most part town dwellers, whereas Indians usually 
live on the outskirts, or in small villages, or scat- 
tered over the countryside. 
The economy is basically agricultural, with maize 
by far the most important staple, supplying possibly 
as much as 80 percent of the food consumed in the 
