34 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 



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Figure 19.- 



-Representations of houses in the plates of the 

 "Relacion de Michoacan." 



shelter). The roofs appear to be of straw or 

 palm, in some cases with a very large comb or 

 crest imdoubteilly resulting from the manner of 

 interweaving the palm at the ridge of the roof. 

 In other cases, the roof is pyramidal or conical 

 and is surmounted by something which may be 

 an inverted pottery vessel. This is what may 

 be referred to by Gilberti: "hucahtsiqua, un re- 

 mate que se pone encima de la casa," and "chapitel 

 de casa pajiza, hucahtsiqua."'^ Verandas arc 

 depicted in the plates and references to them 

 are matle in the text. 



It is evident that modern houses do not cor- 

 respond to those of the 16th century. Adobe 

 walls may be pre-Hispanic, but the present 

 methods of construction reveal Spanish ijifluence. 



Tiles are unquestionably Spanish in origin, and 

 the architectural types of the Lake resemble 

 Spanish types more than they tlo the illustra- 

 tions of the "Relacion de Michoacan." 



Wooden houses are not mentioned in the 

 "Relaciones geograficas" (fig. 20). Although the 

 caheceras described in these Relaciones are not in 

 the Sierra, part of their territories are in the Sierra 

 and some subject villages were in the Sierra. For 

 example, the "Relacion de Peribiln" says: "las casas 

 deste dicho pueblo e sus sujetos son pequeiios e de 

 poco susten e muy baxas, son cubiertas de paxa 

 y los cimientos de piedra y las paredcs de adobes 

 e barro". Among the subject towns of Periban 

 M'cre San Francisco, Atapan, Charapan, and San 

 Lorenzo, all villages of the Sierra, as well as others 

 not identificable because the native name is not 

 given, but which, from their description, are 

 evidently in the Sierra. 



The sole motlern construction wliich might 

 have been in existence in the 16th century is 

 the umutakata, for in Gilberti occin-s "tsirimba 

 troje asentado en cuarto jmlos."" The houses of 

 canes and poles (tsu'uidacata of Gilberti) may 

 have been similar, in a general way, to some 

 modern kitchens of a simple type or to shelters. 



The principal historical problem is to deter- 

 mine whether the shake roof and the log wall 

 with interlocking corners is of European or pre- 

 Hispanic American origin. Both elements are 

 well kno\vn in Europe and were introduced in 

 North America, the interlocked log walls being 

 brought by Swedish colonists to the Delaware 

 River. In our case, information is scanty. We 

 do not find references to log houses from before 

 the Conquest or early Colonial times. As to the 

 shakes, the question appears somewhat clearer. 

 The Spanish and Tarascan words for shake 

 (frjamanil, tasamani) are both derived from the 

 Nautl tlaxamanilli, a descriptive word meamng 

 "split thing." Nevertheless, shakes are known 

 in Spaui," and theh Spanish origin in Mexico 

 is confirmed by the Relacion of 1581 on the 

 Taxco region near Michoactin, stating that shakes 

 were used as covering for Spaniards' houses, those 

 of the Indians being thatched.'^ A similar situ- 

 ation is found todav in the Tsotsil region of 



" Hucahtasiqua (in the alpbahet of the "Consojo do Lunguas Iiidlgonas" 

 jukSjSAkua) can be anlayzed as "a thing placed on a summit." 



'* In shepherds' huts of the Basque country. Anales del Museo de 

 Pueblo Espanol, vol, 1, p. 91, pi. 7. 1935. 

 '* Papeles de Nueva Espana, vol G, p. 281. Madrid. 1905. 



