62 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 7 
TaBLe 2.—Native crafts in Tarascan villages \—Continued 
Pueblo | 1946, 1841 1822 1789 
TPUPCUBTO: 2 o- ane soon a one = | Stonework: Stonework: Stonework: (?) 
Metates. Metates. Metates. 
| Woodwork: 
Bateas. 
Broom handles. 
| Weaving (cotton): 
Belts. 
Weaving (wool): 
Blankets. 
Capote making, 
Tzintzuntzan ---_- Pottery. Pottery. Pottery. Pottery. 
Urapicho..._.._..._._._.__..-| Hat making: None. None (?). (?) 
Palm leaf. 
Woodwork (1742): 
Saddle frames. 
Uricho-=-=--<- __| Petate weaving. (2) Petate weaving. 
ASCO oneness ates | (2) Weaving (cotton). Weaving (cotton): (?) 
Mantas, Woodwork (1644): 
Bateas. 
Rope making (1664). 
MALOSLO= sone h cca see _...----| Woodwork: Woodwork: Woodwork: Woodwork: 
Bateas (disappeared since Bateas. Bateas (painted). Bateas. 
voleano). Spoons. 
Piloncillo 
molds, 
Weaving (wool): Weaving (cotton)’ Woodwork (1644): 
Blankets. Bateas. 
Rope making (1664). 
! Sources: 1644, Basalenque (1886); 1742, Villasenor y SAnchez (1746-48): 1789, AGN, Historia, vol. 73; 1822, Martinez de Lejarza (1824); 1841, AAM, siglo 
XIX, leg. 704, Memorias Estadisticas, 1841; 1946, Field observation. 
Some industries, important in pre-Conquest 
times, have completely disappeared. The fine 
Tarascan featherwork was nearly extinct by the 
beginning of the 18th century (Escobar, 1924, 
pp. 149-151). Furthermore, the use of the ground 
pith of maize stalks, from which various objects 
(mainly religious) were molded, apparently flared 
in the 17th and 18th centuries, and then dis- 
appeared (Escobar, 1924, p. 144). 
On the other hand, crafts which have persisted 
in some pueblos for the last 160 years may predate 
the Conquest. Witness the leatherwork of 
Nahuatzen, a leather-making center in 1640, where 
both deer and cow hides were tanned (Zavala and 
Castello, 1939-46, vol. 7, pp. 361-362); the many 
towns which still specialize in cotton weaving with 
the belt loom; the petate-making towns around 
the shores of Lake Pitzcuaro. 
CERAMICS 
Clayware is indispensable in most Mexican 
kitchens,’ and tile roofing is used extensively in 
most parts of the country. As in pre-Conquest 
days, the manufacture of clayware in Mexico 
is still a cottage industry in which various towns 
specialize. 
Including Tzintzuntzan (largely mestizo), there 
are nine pottery towns in the present Tarascan 
area: Santa Fé, Comanja, Zipiajo, Hudnsito, 
Santo Tomas, San José, Patamban, and Cocucho. 
With the exception of Cocucho, all are located in 
the Garénda, or clay-soils district north of the 
Sierra, usually near deposits of suitable firing 
clay (map 20). The Cocucho potters have always 
hauled clay from the vicinity of Tangancicuaro 
and San José, for suitable deposits rarely occur in 
the Sierra. Other pottery towns, now mestizo, 
are also located in the northern clay area (Tangan- 
cicuaro, Capula, Villa Morelos, Penicuaro). More- 
over, other Tarascan villages in La Canada 
(Sopoco, Ichaén, Tacuro, Tanaquillo), in the Zacapu 
136 The common clay kitchen utensils include various types of pots (ollas) for 
boiling; the comal, or round, flat piece placed on the hearth for frying, broil- 
ing, and toasting; small saucers (caswelas) for frying and from which food is 
sometimes eaten; water jugs (cAntaros); drinking cups (vasos). 
