134 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



an offer lower than the final sale price. Even- 

 tually, through much haggling, a price is agreed 

 upon, usually lower than the seller thinks is fair, 

 and higher than the buyer had hoped to go. 

 Very little direct barter takes place; Patzcuaro 

 operates on the basis of a money economy whose 

 function is well understood by all. 



The importance of the market varies through- 

 out the year. During the dry season there is 

 much more activity than during other times; 

 this is the season for fish and ducks, the period 

 of major pottery production, and the time of 

 year when people have most money. During the 

 rainy season, from July through November, 

 activity drops off with the average market day 

 showing perhaps from half to two-thirds as 

 many buyers and sellers. On January 12, Fe- 

 bruary 9, and May 18, 1945, and on July 5, 

 1946, counts were made of the number of vend- 

 ors and lists drawn up of the products offered. 

 On many other occasions over a period of 18 

 months the market was visited to note what new 

 products appeared from time to time, and which 

 were not in season. 



Table 17 shows the numbers of vendors on 

 these four Fridays, grouped according to 

 major categories of merchandise offered and 

 location in the plaza. The July 5 market was 

 an exception to the general rule of fewer rainy- 

 season sellers. Table 18 indicates the seasonal 

 presence or absence of the principal articles 

 which appear in the Patzcuaro market. 



Determining the number of sellers is difficult, 

 since some individuals depart and others take 

 their places, and any precise count undoubt- 

 edly shows a figure far less than reality. For 

 example, one day 20 hat sellers from Jaracua- 

 ro were counted. One of the students, at the 

 time working on the island, told me that two 

 or three times as many had actually come. In 

 all probability, then, the counts given in table 

 17 are much below the actual number of per- 

 sons who sold on the days in question. Correct- 

 ing our data as well as possible, it seems likely 

 that from 1,000 to 1,500 vendors come to the 

 average dry-season market. Total sales in some 

 cases are a peso or less; this is particularly true 

 of many Indians and Mestizos who take ad- 

 vantage of market day to shop, and who take 

 along no more produce than that which they can 

 easily carry. In other cases, particularly the 

 large stands, sales amount to several hundred 



Table 17.- 



-N umber of vendors 

 market 



in Patzcuaro 



ProJuct and 

 location of vendor 



Main Plaza: 

 East side: 



Chiles, dried. . 



Mixed fruits. . 



Mixed vegeta- 

 bles 



Potatoes 



Miscellaneous 

 (jerked beef, 

 garlic, chick- 

 peas, lime, 

 etc.) 



South side: 



Baskets, rope 

 etc 



Beans, dried. . 



Capotes 



Cooked foods. 



Firewood 



Fish, ducks. . . . 



Fruit 



Maize, shelled. 



Mezcal 



Mixed vegeta 

 bles 



Ocote 



Tunas 



Miscell a n e u s 

 (eggs, mush 

 rooms, meta 

 t e s , maize 

 husks, chick- 

 ens) 



1945 



West side: 



Avocados 



Candles 



Capotes 



Capulines 



Coconuts 



Nahuatzen sera- 



pes 



Patzcuaro scra- 



pes 



I^eanuts 



Pineapi'le 



Zapote l)lanco. 

 Miscellaneous. 



North side: 



beef 



Beans. . . . 

 Capulines 

 Cheese. . . 

 Clothing. 

 Flowers. . 

 Fruit. ... 



Hats 



Jerked 



(cecina) 

 Merceria. 

 Mixed ve 



bles 



Rebozos 



Scrapes 



Sugarcane. . . 

 Miscellaneous 



Jan. 12 Feb. 9 



46 



eta 



>-388 



47 



4 

 

 5 

 21 

 7 



.35 



18 



4 



3 



2 



7 

 20 



64 



14 



May 18 



97 



25 



