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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
Piate 41 
a, The vessels, some of them used also in the textile in- 
dustry (pls. 33, c; 34, b, d) are generally of greenish 
and brownish yellow, highly glazed inside and out- 
side (sometimes only upper half outside). For their 
manufacture, here and in Totonicapan, see page 54. 
No comales (tortilla griddles) are to be seen, for 
they are little used in the open valley. Few tortillas 
_ are eaten, since they require much more firewood 
than tamales (p. 10). The deep, wide-mouthed pots 
to the right of the San Cristébal women in the fore- 
ground are colanders (p. 55). 
b, The solid wooden wheel (bottom of picture) is spun 
clockwise by kicking with the ball of the right foot, 
as it is brought backward. This rotates a vertical 
shaft at the top of which is an 8-inch disk. The 
clay is worked on the top disk, starting with a 15- 
inch-high truncated cone (p. 54). 
firing, the vessels are placed as close together as 
possible, the larger ones on the bottom, mouth up, 
smaller ones on top, mouth down. Clay in foreground. 
d, Of the three. men descending the trail, the one in the 
rear has a load of small, blackened San Miguel 
Ixtahuacan pitchers ‘in and around his cacaste (10 
inside and 15 outside). From Santa Maria Chi- 
quimula tinajas (water jars) may be seen on top, 
along with his swyucal (rain cape). The one in the 
center has a more evenly divided load of the two 
types. The front man has mostly black pitchers, 
with tinajas on top and stewing dishes from San 
Cristébal below. No cargo nets are used by these 
merchants. Some carry only tinajas, 18 or 20 neatly 
tied on with maguey cord. They are bought. whole- 
sale at San Francisco for 4 cents each, and sell in 
Mazatenango market for 8 cents. Just beyond them 
are maguey plants, one with flower stalk. The ridge 
in the middle distance is covered with long-leaved 
pine. Directly beyond the ridge, over the men’s 
heads, is San Cristobal on the winding Samala River. 
There is little tree growth in the valley, which is 
largely cultivated to corn and wheat or left in short- 
grass pasture. In the extreme upper right, volcanoes 
Cerro Quemado and Santa Maria may be seen 
through the haze. , 
e, This is part of a group of 18 San Miguel men (2 seated, 
2 standing, right) selling crude yellowish; unglazed 
pitchers, said to be made in their home municipio. 
Note the use of cargo nets around the load of 
pottery. The smaller ones, about 10 inches high, 
sell for 2 cents each at Quezaltenango, San Juan, 
and other markets in this region. They are much 
in demand, and go in quantity to Quezaltenango and 
the municipios around it, from Cantel to San Marcos, 
and into the Lowlands. Comitancillo men also bring 
pottery of this type, especially tinajas, reddish with 
a light glaze (g). With the group shown in the 
picture are three Comitancillo men selling these 
water jars. A San Martin Sacatepequez Indian and 
his wife are standing in the left of the picture, about 
to buy pottery. 
f, Bowls, with lids (foregfound) and without; pitchers, 
mugs, cups, miniature toy dishes, whistles (shaped 
like birds and fish), candlesticks, and sometimes 
incense burners. The larger pieces are yellowish 
and brownish, and the miniature pieces are usually 
green. All are highly glazed, but the glaze is thin 
and brittle, and wears off in a short time. 
g, Totonicapan pottery merchants, after stocking up with 
a variety of goods at San Francisco on Friday, 
walk (d) to Mazatenango for the Sunday market. 
Many small bowls, saucers, and pitchers, all glazed 
Totonicapan ware (f), may be seen in the photograph. 
The larger pitchers and jars, at left, are from San 
Miguel Ixtahuacan. The larger tinajas, at the right, 
are from Comitancillo. The vender is seated at the 
left. In the immediate foreground is his cacaste, 
which is covered with palm matting. The small 
ceramic ware is packed inside, while the larger jars 
and pitchers are tied on the outside. A suyacal is 
rolled up and tied on to the back of the cacaste, 
with heavy maguey twine spiraled around it. 
PLATE 42 
a, These cargoes consist of about 25 pieces each. No 
cacaste is used in such homogeneous cargoes of large 
pottery. A net is passed around them from the 
bottom; sometimes it will not reach, as in the forward 
load; also plate 29, c. Note use of the rodillera over 
long white cotton trousers. 
b, Santiago is one of the best markets for these fine, un- 
glazed tinajas, for it is a large Indian village, all the 
women of which take water from the Lake in these 
jars. The village is built on a lava terrace, with 
no permanent streams to supply water to pilas. The 
kneeling ,woman holds a coin in her outstretched 
hand; she carries money and goods tied up in the 
ends of the zute over her shoulder. 
c, Many of the women take their own tinajas to market, 
most of them going to Guatemala City. This pottery 
is made only by women, and Friday is the big firing 
day, for the market on Saturday (their chief day, 
though there is a big daily market in the capital). 
The Chinautla Indian women are so occupied with 
pottery that they do not weave; their costumes are 
very similar to those of Quezaltenango, whence many 
of their foot-loom-woven huipils come (some also 
from Totonicapan). They also wear the full, pleated 
blue jaspe skirts with draw-strings and 3-inch black- 
and- white belt. Though they carry heavy loads on 
their backs of as many as 10 tinajas, weighing about 
50 pounds, they are barefoot. In the western High- 
lands, women who use the mecapal nearly always 
wear sandals. At the right in the picture is a Solola 
Indian merchant with Panajachel garlic. His stand, 
stacked with onions and garlic, is visible at the 
extreme left. Coban ropes may be seen in the back- 
ground. The two Chinautla women at the right 
are unpacking their cargoes of finajas. 
d, Leather thongs may be seen hanging from a rope above 
the pile of sandals. In Guatemala the making of 
sandals from tires is a specialty of Santa Cruz del 
