130 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
close together, complementary and mutually depen- 
dent economic regions have developed in juxtaposi- 
tion. This has stimulated trade, so that markets play 
a major role in the economic and social life of most 
of the larger communities. This seems to have been 
equally true in pre-Columbian time, for Maya and 
Aztec commerce were well established. Plaza and 
church are closely associated, as were market and 
temple in ancient days. 
Acculturation is evident in settlements and settle- 
ment patterns as in other aspects of culture. Not 
only combined Spanish saint and Indian place names, 
but village and town plans as well show the stamp 
of the European veneer over the deep-rooted native 
substratum. A stone church and a square often appear 
among irregularly scattered thatched huts. In larger 
villages and towns there is usually a rectangular street 
pattern; but people of European descent determine 
the nature of town or village in most cases. A large 
number of Indians almost without Ladinos generally 
occupy a village, such as Santiago Atitlan, which is 
almost twice as large in population as the town of 
Solola. The latter has more Ladino than Indian in- 
habitants. 
The municipio (smallest political unit) is ordi- 
narily the area of greatest cultural homogeneity, 
manifested in dress, speech, kinship, and even eco- 
nomic pursuits in many instances. Some of these areas 
are probably modern survivals of colonial reducciones, 
or groupings of Indians into compact settlements. 
They were established by Spanish governors in con- 
junction with the Church, for ease of administration 
of the “heathens.” Similar municipios grouped to- 
gether may formerly have been larger culture areas. 
Much land is privately owned by the Indians, but 
municipios have communal property, which, besides 
woodlots and pastures, contain farm lands that may 
be deeded for life to landless inhabitants. 
Some settlements are clustered, with the population 
compressed into small, compact centers, from which 
the people go out to work their fields, or to trade and 
return home. Other settlements are dispersed, with 
dwellings widely sprinkled over the landscape, and 
a relatively minor village to which the Indians come 
in from market, church, and any official business to 
be conducted. Clustered settlements are best de- 
veloped around the shores of Lake Atitlan, where 
site limitations are extreme. Other nucleating factors 
besides terrain conditions are: Permanent water sup- 
ply; situation with regard to arable lands, markets, 
trade routes, and sources of goods; specialized occu- 
pations, commercial, industrial, or agricultural, which 
may depend in turn upon environmental advantages ; 
availability of remunerative employment; tradition 
or historical precedent. 
Though routes follow natural corridors wherever 
possible, many cross major relief barriers, to which 
the movement of people is often remarkably 
indifferent. 
