220 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 13 



spread. The occurrences mentioned above are 

 curiously scattered, and it is highly desirable that 

 the complete distribution be known. 



DECORATION 



Most Tajin ceramic ornament is concentrated on 

 candlesticks and incense burners. Both involve a 

 certain amount of modeling. Candlesticks, in par- 

 ticular, have appliqued decoration (fig. 44, c, e) ; 

 incense burners frequently are adorned with 

 punching, engraving, and cut-out work (fig. 45, 

 a-g). Modeling and applique take place at the 

 time the product is formed. Punching, engraving, 

 and cut-out work, made with a nail or small stick, 

 are performed when the specimen is partially dry. 

 The incense burners made for us by Maria Loreto 

 (fig. 45, d, f) actually were decorated by Modesto 

 Gonzalez. 



Painting is relatively infrequent. It is said 

 that sometimes candlesticks and incense burner? 

 are painted with a tepetate (sic) from the arroyo, 

 which turns red when fired. We saw no specimens 

 so decorated and the practice evidently is not 

 common. 



Occasionally, both candlesticks and incense 

 burners have rude ornament in asphalt (chapo- 

 pote; capopot [sic] ) , which is bought in Papantla 

 or Tecolutla. When the specimens are still hot 

 from firing, a bit of asphalt is rubbed over them. 

 We have seen only dribbles and simple stripes 

 (maltitwa), but some claim that lozenges (pem- 

 oles; no Totonac name) and frets (?) (grecas; 

 taskulit) also are used. The practice of decorat- 

 ing with asphalt is said to be ancient. It may be 

 even more ancient than informants realize, for 

 some of the figurines excavated recently by Ing. 

 Jose Garcia Payon, in sixteenth-century "Cem- 

 poala," appear to have received similar treatment. 



One further detail should be mentioned here — 

 that is, the former use, in Talaxca, of a blue vege- 

 table dye, said to have been applied to the exterior 

 walls of pottery jars (p. 244). 



CORDAGE, KNOTS, BRAIDS 

 CORDAGE 



Today the Totonac rely largely upon commer- 

 cial twine and rope, and their own manufactures 

 are limited. 



Cordage of the leaf of the palm-a redonda (No. 

 259) often is used to tie the corn-husk wrapping 



about cakes of sugar. The palm is cut green and, 

 to make it less brittle, is boiled an hour or so in 

 cane sirup, following which it is washed and 

 dried. Later, it is split in strips and twisted. 

 The latter process is performed by Magdaleno 

 Garcia as follows : 



The tips of two strands are passed between the big toe 

 and the succeeding one, of the left foot, and are given a 

 double twist, to secure them. The long end is held in the 

 hands. At the start, the strands are twisted between the 

 Angers, but after a few turns, they are rolled between the 

 palms — the left hand moving away from the body, the 

 right, toward it. As the twisting starts, the strands are 

 passed beneath the big toe of the right foot (fig. 47) to 

 give tension. Once the strands are loosely united, twist- 

 ing ceases. The whole procedure takes place with great 

 dispatch. 



Figure 47. — Making cordage of palma real. See text 

 (p. 220) for details. 



Bark of both the jonote bianco and the jonote 

 Colorado (Nos. 25, 100) serves as cordage. The 

 former is preferred, because it is softer. It is cut 

 from the tree and for a week is allowed to lie in the 

 arroyo, to free the fiber. The latter is removed 

 and dried, then is left outside the house all night, 

 to bleach. We saw a seven-strand braid tump- 

 line model made of jonote bianco. When the 

 braided section was sufficiently long, the loose 

 strands at either end were twisted into cordage. 

 First, the seven strands were divided into two lots, 

 of three and four strands, respectively. The two 

 lots were rolled separately, between the palm and 

 the shin; then both were rolled together (away 

 from the body) , to form a two-strand twine. 



Jonote Colorado requires no retting. The bark 

 is cut from the tree in long, narrow strips, and with 

 the fingers, the inner bark is removed. It is dried 

 in the sun a couple of days, then is ready for use. 



Formerly, the fiber of a bromelia (pita, No. 



