

THE TAJIN TOTONAC — PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



199 



hive with a hard, almost black, waxlike substance, 

 known as atakawite (p. 97), not to be confused 

 with ordinary wax. In former times, this prod- 

 uct was lighted with a coal, placed on a clay dish, 

 and allowed to burn; no wick was necessary. 

 "With atakatoite the ancient ones lighted their 

 houses ; it has a nice odor as it burns." 



It is said that years ago the wax of the European 

 bee was made into a ball and burned as described 

 above. Or, slashes were made in the trunk of the 

 chaca tree (No. 228), the liquid collected, pre- 

 sumably allowed to solidify, and the gum burned 

 in a clay dish. 



These forms of illumination now are a thing of 

 the past, and coal oil is burned in commercial lamps 

 in all the houses with which we are acquainted. 

 Kerosene lamps, with glass chimneys, are found 

 in 13 of the 39 households of our census, and there 

 is a total of 16 such lamps among the 13 families. 



A much less elegant type of kerosene lamp is, 

 however, far more popular. It consists of a small 

 tin, filled with fuel. The tight-fitting cover is 

 perforated and through it a wick emerges. There 

 is no chimney ; the lamp is virtually unbreakable, 

 and the flame survives anything short of a really 

 high wind. This type of lamp is quite general 

 in rural Mexico, being used in homes, but most par- 

 ticularly by professional muleteers on their jour- 

 neys. The lamp usually is made by a small town 

 tinsmith from scraps and old tin cans. Every one 

 of the 39 houses of our census has at least one such 

 lamp, and among them there is a total of 83, or a 

 bit more than two per menage. 



In Taj in, there are no gasoline lamps, and our 

 popularity resulted, in large measure, from the 

 fact that we were supplied with them. Since, 

 under ordinary circumstances, an evening festival 

 is literally a very dim affair, we were in consider- 

 able demand, and an invitation generally was ex- 

 tended jointly to us and the lamps. 



Flashlights are reasonably common but by no 

 means universal in Taj in. Candles are used in 

 26 of the 39 houses; but in 22 cases, it is stated 

 specifically that their sole function is religious; 

 "they ai-e for the saints." From time to time, in 

 an emergency, a candle is used to light the house, 

 but the main reliance today is upon the little 

 kerosene apparatus, without chimney. Fuel is 

 bought in Papantla or, at slightly higher price, 

 in the small stores in Tajin. 



FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT 



We have discussed the standard furniture equip- 

 ment of the Tajin dwelling, and the accompany- 

 ing sketches (figs. 32, 33) show how this furniture 

 is arranged in a series of representative homes. 

 The sketches show single rooms, each a separate 

 building, although some have porches or a poultry 

 house adjoining. In figure 34 is given the ar- 

 rangement in a house which is partitioned into 

 two rooms, with storage space and granary 

 adjacent. 



An idea of a menage as a whole is given later, 

 in map 9 (pp. 204-207) which indicates the vari- 

 ous separate buildings occupied by a single family, 

 together with furnishings and patio treatment. 



SUPPLEMENTARY DOMESTIC STRUCTURES 



Supplementary domestic structures include : a 

 sweathouse, an outhouse, a granary, a shelter for 

 pigs, a poultry house, a laundry, and odd roofs, 

 unwalled, which protect various kinds of domestic 

 equipment. No house boasts this entire reper- 

 toire of accessory buildings, but most have a laun- 

 dry, while the other structures are far less fre- 

 quent. Poultry houses have been treated previ- 

 ously (p. 90) ; as a matter of convenience, fences 

 will be described at the end of this section. 



SWEATHOUSE 



The sweathouse (temascal, saqa) is a popular 

 institution in Tajin. Students in our group in- 

 spected 24, and there are at least two others which 

 were not viewed. Four more are in ruins, one 

 having been dismantled so that the stones could 

 be used in building an oven. Accordingly, in re- 

 cent years, there has been a minimum of 30 sweat- 

 houses in the community, and undoubtedly a few 

 in outlying parcels have escaped our attention. 

 It is said that formerly the sweatbath was more 

 popular ; quite generally, the older people prefer 

 it and the younger tend to spurn it. 



The sweathouse is located in the patio of the 

 house, a short distance from the dwelling. We 

 took no measurements, but it is said that a maxi- 

 mum of three bathers can be accommodated; in 

 plate 16, Z>, the individuals give an idea of scale. 



Construction varies considerably, and the de- 

 scription below is based on the 24 structures which 

 were observed in some detail. Of these, half are 



