178 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



Number of MATERIALS 

 families 



Unoccupied l Materials are gathered well in advance. Months 



Bnkery — 1 



Originally built a"s a shelter for swine; now rented to ahead of time, a prospective house builder shops 



another Totonac family as a dwelling 1 for suitable house posts — either used posts from an 



Bedroom exclusively 3 abandoned house, or trees which can be converted 



Originally a granary; now a single, all-purpose i nto new posts> jje selects hardwoods, 10 which 



dwelling, occupied by a recently married son ^1 wi]J resist ^ and borerg . beamg geReral]y are of 



7 the same durable woods. In addition, a builder 



„,, , , , , .,i • i -, t i .i i- must have an adequate supply of somewhat lighter, 



The household with lour buildings has them di- , , i , , , . ., . » ,, -, 



,. . ... & ni but durable poles for the roof frame, 11 and a great 



vided thus : living room ; kitchen ; and two separate { of wkhes and ^ „ Mor hfi must 



houses, each of which is a bedroom. The family aa8emble thatch ( lgl _ 183) for the roof and 



is numerous. The daughters sleep on woven mats either bamboo op upright poleg 13 for the waDs 



spread at night on the living-room floor : the head Few peop]e can draw exclusively on their own 



of the family and his wife sleep in a separate bed- lands f or all the neC essary materials, and some 



room house, which also serves as a granary; the f t h e basic supplies usually are acquired through 



sons, in another, which at times likewise is used as a series of small-scale commercial transactions. In 



a supplementary granary. any case, materials must be cut and hauled to the 



house site, and a considerable amount of prelim- 



THE NATIVE HOUSE inary labor and planning are involved. 



In Spanish, the native house is called casa de frame 

 palma (palm house) ; in Totonac, any house with 



thatched roof is known as akst AqA I Wllen the actual building starts, a light stick is 



The house is either square or rectangular, usually cut a vara m length, to serve as a measure. With 



the latter, with gabled roof. The gable end is not the metai coa i excavations are made, generally 3 



vertical, but inclines slightly, thus forming a short varas a P art > and about 1 in de Pth, to receive the 

 shed at either end of the structure (pi. 9, a). In 



10 Posts generally are of cedro, zapote chico, moral, copaliUo, 



rare cases, not all the area covered by the roof is chijoi, escoiin, or aUsaprima (Nos. 219, 191, 324, 205, 176, 338, 



walled, and the unwalled extension serves as a ?°f; re ?r cti ! ely) ;* In m< f * ""^ TT- '*'"? ta a "^ t0 ' ast 



better than do other woods, provided it is cut and set green ; 



porch. Often, a lean-tO is attached to the house however, "in sandy soil, it rots at once. - ' Chijoi is the most 



/10\V>+V.'11 ,1 1 , , . , 1 enduring of all woods and lasts close to 50 years: zapote chico 



(pi. J, e), Out, Dasicaiiy, me latter is rectangular, and mora i bave an expectable ute of 35 to 40 years, in view of 



with four sheds. this longevity, no Totonac spurns such timbers second-hand, and 



n ill * ne same posts may be used by the second, and even the third 



IlOUSe dimensions generally are reckoned by generation of builders. A further wood, quince (no specimen), 



varas (yards) rather than by meters. With all als0 is suitable - " Jt does not s row taU - and onl y one P° st ooraes 



, . from a tree." In addition to the above-mentioned woods, house 



the materials at hand, it is Said that two men are beams sometimes are of palo de rosa, caoba, tabaquillo, and 



able to erect a house 3 by 6 varas in the course of 2 *— %£ ££*?£»£ roof poles s pata ae vaea> 



full days. As a matter of fact, much of the WOrk capulin, coj6n de gato, zapote chico, frijoUllo, caoba, copaliUo, 



...... . . . n i i giiai/abillo, tabaquillo, palo de lodo, hucsillo, and giiasimilla (Xos. 



of building a house can be handled by one man— 69> 85> 138? 191j 193i 194] 2 05, 208, 241, 287, 330, 337). in 



except for raising the beams and the Scissorlike addition, a species of Prunua (No. 322) and a tree called 



. guacimtn (no specimen) are acceptable, 



poles which Support the l'ldge. It IS far handier, u Withes are laid horizontally on the roof frame and to them 



however, to have at least two men work on a house, ** e th ** ch * lasll ,t „ w , u ' les *T* a ' ™ °, f 7 two ki ? ds of cap ""'! 



' _ _ (Nos. 21, 85) ; clnhllo (No. 112) ; an Abutilon and a species of 



and generally a house builder invites numerous auatteria (Nos. 17, 321). 



.£_:„_ j„ a • i. o „ • 1 • 1 u xi The preferred liana for house lashings is bejuco real (No. 



friends to assist. Some are paid 111 cash, by the 133) . sometimes be)uco colorado (No . 131) is substituted, at 



day; others come with the understanding that their least - f0T ty in s r00f P° les . thatch, and the uprights which form 



day Of labor will be repaid in kind, at Some future a Formerly, zapote chico saplings were favored for house walls, 



date. All workers are given at least their noon but the s,,pply is pretty ™ u exhausted - Today, the following 



are most popular: palo de volador, laurel, palo de lodo (Nos. 28, 



meal by the host. 130, 287), and a species of Podacliaenium (No. 188). ' 



