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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



Finally, the loose ends of the leaflets are trimmed. 

 Each tip is doubled longitudinally and is cut diagonally 

 with a knife. Thus, as the leaflet opens, it terminates in 

 a V-shaped notch (pi. 27, a-d). First, the ends of the 

 upper face are trimmed ; next, those on the lower face. 

 The result is a rosettelike figure, highly decorative, es- 

 pecially when bright flowers are inserted about the edge 

 of the woven center (pi. 27, b). 



Rutilio Olmos, originally of Cazuelas, near 

 Papantla, but now a resident of Taj in, follows a 

 slightly different procedure. 



He likewise starts with a foundation of three leaflets, 

 crossed to form a triangle, but he lays them in dif- 

 ferent order (fig. 51, c). Moreover, the fourth leaflet 

 is not inserted directly in the central opening, but from 

 the outside ; it passes through the aperture and emerges 

 at the lower left. The fifth is added from the outside, at 

 the lower right; the sixth, at the lower left, also from 

 the outside. In short, he works clockwise. Leaflets are 

 added until the center is completely filled; the finishing 

 process is identical with that described above. 



Don Rutilio claims to have devised a special 

 technique for producing a variant of the estrella. 

 He is so pleased with his alleged invention that he 

 requested we allow nobody to unravel the speci- 

 men he gave us (pi. 27, c) , for fear they would dis- 

 cover his secret. "They may look, no more." The 

 technique consists in taking a half completed star 

 and of overweaving upon it. He worked so rap- 

 idly and was so interested in having the operation 

 not recorded, that we are unable to give the precise 

 procedure. The result is a heavier, more substan- 

 tial star, with the central portion not simply radial, 

 but overlapping. 



Other palm figures.— Basically, other palm or- 

 naments are variants of the star. 



One, generally known as a sun {sol, cicini?), 

 is called sacrament {sacramento; kinpucinakan) 

 by Don Rutilio. Essentially, this is a double- 

 faced star whose weaving is pulled very tight 

 (pi. 27, /). 



The first step is to make a complete star, as described 

 above, except for the final trimming. Once completed, 

 the ends of all the leaflets of the upper or work face are 

 turned upward and rewoven One from the lower left 

 is carried to the upper right, following which Don Rutilio 

 interleaves the leaflets all around the circle, proceeding 

 counterclockwise. The result is a double-faced star of 

 normal size. But carefully, one by one, the ends of the 

 leaflets are pulled to tighten the weaving. The center 

 shrinks proportionately, until the end result is a tightly 

 woven disk about the size of a tennis ball (pi. 27, /). 



The leaflets of the under face, which have not been in- 

 cluded in the reweaving, now are trimmed to form a re- 



splandor (a series of jagged rays, such as often form 

 the halo in paintings of the Holy Family), and long, slen- 

 der palm veins from which the leaf has been stripped, 

 are inserted in pairs, to emphasize the raylike effect. 

 The figure is laid on the table and the ends of the re- 

 maining leaflets are trimmed, in counterclockwise pro- 

 gression, to coincide with those already cut. 



A sun, used as an altar ornament, is seen at the top 

 center of plate 26, d; another is partially visible at the 

 upper left. 



A further variant is known as a pineapple pina; 

 ma-^at 2 , ma-^a^a). 



This, too, starts as a normal star, with untrimmed ends. 

 All the leaflet ends on the upper or work surface are col- 

 lected, lifted upward, and tied together in a bunch. They 

 outline a sort of hollow, pear-shaped cavity. Next, the 

 ends of the leaflets from the lower face are picked up and 

 are woven diagonally, one by one, with the upper ones, 

 the latter forming the warp. Work proceeds clockwise. 



This operation completed, Don Rutilio unties the bark 

 strand with which the warps have been tied together. He 

 opens the top of the "pineapple," turns the weft ends in- 

 side, and pulls them downward, to emerge through the 

 central aperture of the original star, where they hang 

 like fringe (pi. 27, c). The warps then are cut to uni- 

 form length and are retied in a bunch, with a strand of 

 bark, by which the figure may be hung. 



Still another palm ornament, likewise based on a 

 star, is known as a basket (canasto; aksmul) or 

 gourd {guaje; akstuntu). 



The basic star or estrella is woven, but not trimmed. 

 The ends of all the leaflets of the upper face are turned 

 upward and rewoven, forming what really is a double- 

 faced star. However, the two faces are several centi- 

 meters apart and are connected by ribs, formed by the 

 leaflets of the upper face of the original figure. The work 

 has been so planned that the ends of all these are the tips 

 of the leaflets, and they billow loosely over the outside of 

 the "basket," like a fringe (pi. 27, g). The lower leaflets 

 of the original star all are basal ends, which are trimmed 

 short and are allowed to stick out horizontally for a short 

 distance, about the bottom of the "basket." A strip of 

 jonote bark is affixed to the top, so that the figure may be 

 hung. 



PALM ARCHES 



When the image of a saint is to visit Tajin, 

 special arches of palma real (No. 364) are ar- 

 ranged in honor of the occasion. Along the trail, 

 a pair of leaves may be set, the bases of the petioles 

 in the ground, about a meter apart, and the tips 

 brought together, to form an arch. Or, at points 

 where those who carry the saint are to rest, a 

 canopy of four leaves (pi. 26, /) is erected. 



The leaf segments along the inner side of the 

 simple arch are woven into a sort of selvage (pi. 



