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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 13 



to checkerwork. It is worth noting that these 

 basketry stitches are used exclusively by men. 



WICKER BASKETS 



The few baskets of local manufacture are all of 

 wickerwork. At present, only Modesto Gonzalez 

 and Pascual Santes seem to try their hands at this 

 craft. One notably poor bit of wickerwork (pi. 

 22, /) was made as a strainer for maize gruel; 

 such colanders are not in general use, and a loosely 

 woven cotton cloth usually functions as a sieve. 

 The basket in question has warps of split bamboo. 

 The weft of the base is a fiber twine, called 

 camoteca, purchased in Papantla ; that of the walls 

 is the root of a vine known as chdpiso (No. 156). 

 Its slender root is scorched in a corn-husk blaze to 

 permit the removal of the outer skin ; the interior 

 is "very white" and pliable. The other specimen 

 illustrated (pi. 22, b) is likewise of chdpiso, with 

 the handle of bejuco Colorado (No. 131). 



CRADLE 



The cradle (putaju) consists of an oval frame, 

 coil-filled, and suspended from the house beams 

 by four ropes. "Any" liana may be used for the 

 hoop, but chilillo (No. 112) is particularly favored 

 because it resists borers. A length of substantial 

 thickness is cut with the machete and is bent to 

 form an oval, being lashed securely at the overlap. 



The coiled filler may be of liana, sometimes 

 zarza (No. 252), which is said to wear well, de- 

 spite frequent sousing of urine. Bark of jonote 

 (Nos. 25, 100) also is used, but most prefer com- 

 mercial twine for the coil; it is less durable, but 

 simpler to handle, and replacement is easy. 



The man makes the cradle. He holds the oval 

 frame horizontally on his knees and, beginning at 

 the rim, applies the coil without foundation spi- 

 rally, working clockwise. The stitch is known 

 rather aptly as tela de arana ( spider web ) . As the 

 center of the cradle is approached, the interval 

 between stitches is shorter, but none is skipped. 

 Since the form is oval and not circular, there is a 

 gap in the center, which is "laced" together, using 

 the same coiled stitch. 



This cradle is superficially similar to that used 

 by the Popoluca (Foster, 1940, pp. 14-15, fig. 7), 

 although from the photograph of the latter the 

 precise type of filler is not evident. 



HANGING FRAME 



Technically, the hanging frame (hudle) differs 

 little from the cradle, except that it is circular 

 instead of oval and the filler usually is of chdpiso 

 root (No. 156), sometimes of bejuco Colorado (No. 

 131). This swinging frame is an adjunct of al- 

 most every Totonac kitchen and forms a handy 

 shelf on which to store provender. To protect the 

 latter from rodents, a globular gourd is perforated 

 and strung on the cord from which the wheel is 

 suspended. 



Today, these frames are poorly woven. One of 

 the neatest we saw in Taj in (pi. 22, d) was made 

 by a visitor from nearby San Miguel Pericos. His 

 specimen is illustrated in preference to the model 

 we had made, since the latter is a miniature and 

 the filler is, moreover, twine of jonote Colorado, 

 instead of liana or chdpiso root. 



CARRYING FRAME 



It is said that formerly a coil-filled carrying 

 frame (huacal) was used in Taj in. We saw but 

 one fragment, in such an advanced state of dis- 

 integration that we could not be sure whether the 

 filler actually had been coil without foundation. 

 It turned out, in any case, that this particular 

 specimen had been made by someone from Santo 

 Domingo, near Coyutla. 



According to description, the carrying frame 

 consisted of two oval hoops, filled with coil of 

 jonote (No. 25) or of a Philodendron (No. 126). 

 The ovals were joined, by the same stitch, on all 

 but one of the long sides, which was left open. 

 Superficially, the frame must have been similar to 

 those still current in the Villa Juarez area and to 

 those carried today by itinerant traders from the 

 Zacatlan district. 



NETTING 



For good measure, netting may be mentioned 

 here. It has been noted above (p. 79) that three 

 men in Taj in know how to make casting nets. 

 Unfortunately, we did not have opportunity of 

 watching them work, but they are said to employ 

 a diamond-shaped measure of wood and to start 

 work at the "point" or apex of the net. Most nets 

 used in Tajin are purchased in Papantla. 



