PREFACE 



XI 



ing the 1947 season, the State of Veracruz contrib- 

 uted $500.00 pesos, to defray costs of photography 

 and of horse transportation ; it likewise paid the 

 living expenses in the field of Miss Alvarez, who, 

 at that time, held a State scholarship. 



Through the kindness of Petroleos Mexicanos, 

 and especially of Ing. Manuel Alvarez, Jr., and of 

 Ing. Salvador Alvarez Cabanas, we were permitted 

 to use large-scale land maps of the Tajin zone. 

 Don Rafael de la Fuente, of Papantla, also loaned 

 a useful local map, and the Oficina de Hacienda, 

 in Papantla, generously permitted inspection of 

 its land records. In Mexico City, the Direccion 

 General de Estadistica suffered us underfoot 

 literally for months ; to its staff, particularly Don 

 Enrique Miranda, we are much indebted. Prof. 

 Jose Luis Melgarejo, of Jalapa, generously pro- 

 vided letters of introduction to several of his 

 friends in Papantla. My aide of many years, 

 Don Jose Maria Corona, served as camp manager 

 and cook during both seasons ; without his minis- 

 trations, we should have been far less comfortable 

 in the field. In his spare time, he worked in- 

 formally as investigator and accumulated useful 

 information which was added to our general fund 

 of knowledge. 



On the score of professional assistance, our 

 obligations are many. Dr. Edgar Anderson has 

 examined maize specimens; Dr. Hugh Cutler, 

 beans and cucurbits; Dr. J. B. Hutchinson, cot- 

 ton ; Dr. Charles Heiser, Jr., chili. A number of 

 the 1948 herbarium specimens were identified by 

 Prof. Maximino Martinez, but for most of the 

 determination of both seasons, we are indebted to 

 Dr. Harold Emery Moore, Jr. Mr. William E. 

 Stone generously took charge of the fumigation 

 and drying of both crop and herbarium specimens. 

 To the staff of the local Rockefeller Foundation 

 office, and particularly to Dr. Dorothy Parker, we 

 are indebted for assistance and advice on several 

 matters connected with agriculture and diet. Dur- 

 ing a recent visit to Mexico, Dr. Carl Sauer not 

 only took time to study our catalog of Tajin 

 plants, but also read parts of the agricultural 

 section of the manuscript. The chapter on diet 

 has been read by Dr. Robert S. Harris ; that on leg- 

 endary history, by Mr. Robert Barlow and Prof. 

 Wigberto Jimenez Moreno. 



Water-supply problems were discussed with Mr. 

 Richard Greeley. Dr. Starker Leopold has sug- 



gested identification of a series of local birds, on 

 the basis of descriptions provided by informants ; 

 and Mr. Milton J. Lindner has provided identifica- 

 tion of a number of fish and crustaceans. 



For photographs, we are indebted to Don Gabriel 

 Ospina for plates 3, a-d, 4 &, c, e, 9, e, d, 16, 5, e, 18, 

 &, d, and 25, e, g; to Miss Bertha Harris, for plates 

 8, 5, c, /, 11, g, 16, a, /, 18, a, 19, 5, and 20, d; and to 

 Mr. George Smisor, for plate 1, a. The photo- 

 graphs of plate 29 were taken by the staff of the 

 local Microfilm Laboratory of the Library of Con- 

 gress. Sketches of embroidery motifs shown in 

 figures 63 to 67 have been loaned by Don Mateo 

 Saldana, who also drew most of the maps and text 

 figures ; some, however, are by Don Felix Diaz and 

 Don Roman Pina Chan. 



Last, but not least, thanks go to our many friends 

 in Tajin. Our greatest debt is to Don Modesto 

 Gonzalez, caretaker of the archeological site for 

 close to 30 years, and our chief informant during 

 both seasons. In addition, particular thanks are 

 due Ana Mendez, Maria Loreto, Mercedes Morales, 

 Elena A. de Xochigua, Santiago Simbron, Juan 

 Castro, Nemesio Martinez, Agapito Perez, Cecilio 

 Ramirez, Pablo Gonzalez, Rutilio Olmos, Magda- 

 leno and Zenon Mendez, Tirso Gonzalez, Lorenzo 

 Xochigua, Donato Santes, Francisco Villanueva, 

 Antonio Bautista, and Manuel de la Luz. 



These friends, and many others, have given us 

 a feeling of genuine affection for Tajin. Such 

 affection does not result automatically, but is the 

 outgrowth of the friendliness, hospitality, and 

 cooperation which we received on all sides. These 

 endearing traits ameliorate the grimmer aspects 

 of life in Tajin, Avhere there are bickerings and 

 feuds, both within families and between families, 

 and where homicide is almost as frequent as is 

 death from natural causes. In any case, for better 

 or worse, these friends have made possible the 

 description of life in Tajin, presented herein and 

 in companion publications. 



As is inevitable in Mexico, Totonac culture is a 

 fusion of the old and the new, but as such, it is 

 a living culture. Consequently, data come as much 

 from observation and casual conversation as from 

 direct questioning of informants; and in Tajin, 

 it is not necessary to seek the aged, the lame, the 

 halt, and the blind, for interrogation concerning 

 their mode of life in the past. During both sea- 

 sons, we had one regular, paid informant, Modesto 



