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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 13 



pipe of clay, formerly manufactured by the 

 women, but smoked by both sexes. The mouth- 

 piece was made from the steam of any of several 

 different plants (Nos. 201, 271, 336) ; another 

 plant, not represented by a specimen, is called 

 cuerno de venado (sakalao kajuki?). Cane (No. 

 336) was least desirable, since it heated as the pipe 

 was smoked and turned brittle with use. 



The other pipe (fig. 18, a) was ingeniously fash- 

 ioned from the nut of the coy 61 palm (No. 362) . A 

 large fruit was selected; the point, not the butt, 

 was sliced off with the machete ; and the oily meat 

 was removed. At the base there are three small 

 depressions; one either is connected by a channel 

 with the interior, or is separated from the latter 

 by a very thin skin. This natural cavity was 

 opened somewhat, with a knife, and the central 

 aperture of the nut likewise enlarged. The stem, 

 of the same materials mentioned above, then was 

 fitted into the small natural cavity at the butt. 

 The palm nut bowl sometimes was ornamented 

 with commercial ink — "the kind used for writing." 



We know no Totonac who chew tobacco, but 

 allegedly this custom is found among a few ; "there 

 even are some who chew cigarette butts and who 

 eat cigarette ash." 



HOUSING 7 



At the time of the Conquest, the Totonac of 

 "Cempoala" are credited with houses "of adobe 

 and others of masonry" (Torquemada 1 : 396) ; it 

 is these which gave rise to the old, familiar story 

 of the Spaniard who mistook their white plaster 

 for silver (Diaz del Castillo 1 : 170; Las Casas, p. 

 129 ; Torquemada 1 : 396) . Further reports indi- 

 cate that floors and patios were plastered and 

 painted (Las Casas, p. 129) ; there is, moreover, 

 mention of streets, and each house is said to have 

 had water at hand (Torquemada 1:396) and an 

 orchard or garden adjacent. These idyllic de- 

 scriptions evidently apply to the houses of the 

 "principal people," and the bulk of the population 

 presumably lived in houses similar to the native 

 type found today in Taj in. 



As a matter of fact, a specific statement from the 

 late sixteenth century reports that the governor 

 and "some of the principal people" of Jonotla lived 



in masonry houses with plaster walls, while the re- 

 maining inhabitants occupied houses "fenced with 

 sticks and covered with straw" (Paso y Troncoso 

 5: 130). About the same time, the Misantla To- 

 tonac house is described as fenced with cane and 

 roofed with straw ; earth and stone did not enter 

 into the construction (Relacion de Misantla). 

 Presumably, these houses were similar to the type 

 which still prevails in Taj in. 8 



The typical Totonac house (pi. 9, a, 5, e) today is 

 simple and is ingeniously constructed of local ma- 

 terials. On the whole, it is well suited to local 

 needs, although it is more comfortable in warm 

 weather than during the chill winter months. 



Invariably the ground plan is rectangular or 

 square ; the apsidal form 9 is unknown. The roof 

 of four sheds is thatched, with palm, grass, or 

 leaves. It rests on a framework of poles, sup- 

 ported by uprights set in the ground and connected 

 by stringers. The walls, generally added after 

 the roof is fiinished, are of slender upright poles 

 or bamboos, which do not support any of the weight 

 of the roof. Characteristically, the structure is 

 windowless, but light and air enter and smoke 

 escapes through the interstices between the wall 

 poles. Doors, generally in the long side of the 

 rectangular house, are skillfully made of split 

 bamboo. 



This appeal's to be the aboriginal type of dwell- 

 ing. Ordinarily, it is built of materials found in 

 the monte and requires no nails or other introduced 

 refinements. The frame is lashed together with 

 liana, and the same material is used to affix thatch 

 and wall poles to the frame. Sometimes the up- 

 right poles of the wall are plastered with mud. 

 giving the superficial impression of an abode 

 structure (pi. 3, a). 



7 A number in parentheses, following the name of a plant, 

 refers to the herbarium catalog, which is published in Ap- 

 pendix C. 



8 At present, two main masonry structures are in use in Tajin. 

 both constructed by professional masons from Papantla. One, 

 of stone, is the school : the other, of brick, is at the archeological 

 site, and was built to house the caretaker and, on his occasional 

 visits, the Government archeologist. In addition, the ruins of a 

 stone house, intended as a dwelling, stand on one of the lots of 

 the fiaido legal (map 7, lot No. 10). These few masonry buildings 

 have been excluded from the current discussions ; sweathouses, 

 which often involve rough masonry, are treated separately (pp. 

 199, 201-202). 



9 The apsidal house, with rounded ends, is common among the 

 Maya of Yucatan and also is found among some of their neigh- 

 bors (Wauchope, pp. 16-19). It is to be seen occasionally in 

 the Huasteca. 



Starr, (p. 26S, and photograph facing p. 272) describes and 

 illustrates a house in Pantepee, whose "corners . . . are 

 rounded." However, neither his description nor his illustration 

 appears to apply to an apsidal house. 



