EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



101 



pots placed in line, the bottom of one fitting 

 snuggly in tlie mouth of the next. Breakage is 

 minimized by a liberal use of zacate grass. 

 Comales, stacked like plates, and cazuelas, like 

 bowls, are packed in tlie same manner. 



During the 4 months of heaviest rains, from 

 June through September, pottery production 

 falls to perhaps half that of the remainder of 

 the year. For one thing, many men are busy in 

 their milpas. Also, it is more difficult to dry 

 pots before firing, and breakage is correspond- 

 ingly higher. Curiously, prices paid for pot- 

 tery are lower during this period of reduced 

 production. The demand drops even more 

 sharply than the supply. A majority of the 

 buyers outside of Tzintzuntzan are agricultural 

 people, or depend on the purchases of such per- 

 sons for their own income. But the rainy period 

 is just that of least income for farmers; they 

 must await the ripening of maize in October to 

 have cash. Usually they try to buy all the pot- 

 tery they will need during the dry season when 

 m.oney is more plentiful, and then try to coast 

 through the rains. Pottery prices are off about 

 25 percent during the rains. 



TILE 



An unimportant aspect of the potter's art is 

 tile making, which is practiced on a small scale 

 by several individuals. A wooden frame consist- 

 ing of slats 3 cm. wide and 1 cm. thick, of the 

 length and bi-eadth of the desired tile (fig. 20) 

 is used to mold the tortillas. It is placed on a 

 flat stone, and the roll of clay in the center is 

 patted with a flat stone until it completely fills 

 the mold. Any surplus above the level of the 

 wood is trimmed off with a wire. The tortilla 

 is picked up in the frame and dropped over the 

 mold, a tapering log of wood of the same length 

 as the mold, 14 cm. in diameter at the large 

 end, 12 cm. at the small end, with 8 cm. hand- 

 les. The clay is pushed out of the frame with 

 the hands and smoothed over the mold. A few 

 minutes later the mold is drawn out by the han- 

 dle at the long end. Tile should dry for 4 days 

 before firing. The earth used is a mixture of 

 Panteon and a red earth known as Colorado 

 barrosa found a little farther up the slope of 

 Tariaqueri, which is not satisfactory for pots. 

 If a few tiles only are made they can be fired 



in a pottery kiln. Better, they are placed in a 

 special kiln basically like that used for pottery, 

 but square, and of larger cubic dimensions. 

 When the highway was being constructed large 

 kilns were specially built and fired all night. 

 In smaller tile kilns the same relative heat that 



Figure 20. — Tile-making equipment. Top, Wooden 

 frame for forming clay; bottom, tapered wood- 

 en form to mold the tile. 



is needed for glazing is provided. A good work- 

 er can mix enough earth for 130 tiles in one 

 day, which he molds the next day. In 1945 

 local tiles sold for $115 per 1,000. Allowing 

 time to mine the earth, provide the wood for the 

 firing, and other incidentals, two men working 

 together can be expected to make 1,000 tiles 

 each in three weeks. The rate of return is not 

 far from that of regular pottery making. Tile 

 making is, however, primarily a dry season job 

 because tiles must be left in the sun for a rela- 

 tively long period. They take up so much space 

 that they cannot be kept indoors, as can pots, 

 before firing. Hence, tilemakers turn to agri- 

 culture or straight pottery during the rains. 



FISHING 



Fishing, with 4 full-time and 15 part-time 

 fishermen, is the third most important industry 

 in Tzintzuntzan. All fishermen are Tarascans, 

 and they maintain close cultural and economic 

 ties with the inhabitants of Ichupio and Ojo de 



