34 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



ties. Neither are descriptions of dress or house 

 use entirely appropriate under the heading of 

 manufacturing processes. Nevertheless, there 

 is a certain cultural or associative logic involved 

 which would be violated by too rigid adherence 

 to the literal meaning of categories. 



CERAMICS 



No native ceramic industry exists in Cheran. 

 Pottery is not made, but in 1940 two men, both 

 non-Tarascans, made roofing tile and brick. 



FlfUiRE 5. — Tilemaker's implements, n, Perspective 

 view of the mold. /), Direct view of the mold to 

 show proportions and the shape, which is narrower 

 at one end than the other, c, Wooden chisel or 

 knife used to loosen clay from mold if necessary 

 (length about 18 inches with other artifacts in 

 proportion), d, Outline of the form for tiles, e, 

 Perspective view of the form for tiles. The mold 

 is filled with clay and the top smoothed. The 

 mold is then lifted up, leaving the clay on a bench 

 top. The clay is then slid onto the form to receive 

 the curved shape of the tile. After a few minutes 

 drying, the unfired tile is slipped off the form onto 

 the floor to complete the drying process. 



Both men had arrived with the highway con- 

 struction crews ; neither was making what he 

 regarded as a satisfactory living and both hoped 

 to leave. 



Tile and brick are made in an old chapel 

 and surrounding grounds, formerly part of the 

 citrato or curacy. Ten percent of the finished 

 tile or brick is given to the municipio as rent 

 for the buildings and for the right to dig clay 

 on public lands. 



A grayish clay is brought to the factory in 

 sacks by mules. It is mixed with water and 

 manure in a board-lined pit in the patio, where 

 it is turned with spades and hoes and trodden 

 with bare feet. The mixed clay is pressed into 

 a trapezoidal wooden form laid flat on a table 

 (fig. 5). The top is smoothed carefully with 

 the wet hand. The clay is then slipped off the 

 table onto a wooden form resembling half of a 

 truncated cone, but with a handle. After a few 

 moments, the clay, now in the shape of a tile, 

 is slipped off on the floor. When fairly well 

 dried, the tile is moved outdoors for further 

 drying. 



Bricks are made in the same fashion but with 

 a different wooden form. Both brick and tile 

 are fired in a wood-fired kiln in the patio. The 

 wood is cut and hauled by the brickmakers and 

 tilemakers. The time required to make a thou- 

 sand brick or tile is about 9 days, as follows: 



Days 



Getting and mixing clay 2 



Cutting and hauling wood 1 



Shaping 1,000 brick or tile 5 



Loading kiln 1 



Total 9 



TEXTILES 



Mats. — Most sleeping mats used in Cheran 

 are imported, but at least three women make 

 them locally. The mats are made of tules im- 

 ported on burros from Erongaricuaro on Lake 

 Patzcuaro. The mats are made in twilled tech- 

 nique, usually treating two tules as a single 

 weaving element. The only tool observed was 

 a stone fist hatchet for severing tules. 



Hut making. — About four men manufacture 

 men's hats of palm straw braid, although pro- 

 duction does not meet the local demand. The 

 activity involves complex trading arrange- 

 ments, for palms do not grow in Tarascan terri- 



