Thursday's Child: Artisans of Guatemala

The potter's house

Totonicapan, Guatemala is known as a city of skilled artisans. It was our pleasure to visit two such craftsmen, to hear them talk about their artistry and watch them each create one of their pieces.

We began by meeting Julio, a third-generation potter who worked in a small, open-air studio. He explained that he uses a lower temperature to bake his ceramics (and even hopes to patent this idea). Unlike many local artisans, he uses lead-free glazes on his products so they can safely be used to serve food.

From the pottery studio, it was a short distance to visit Miguel Hernandez, a weaver. Miguel works with two looms. The first is a traditional Mayan loom built by his grandfather, which he uses to produce traditional patterns and simple modern pieces. He built the second fifteen years ago, and that one allows him to create more intricate designs.

Miguel graciously let me try weaving. If it looks like I'm working painstakingly slowly, you are correct.

Miguel worked a little faster than I did

Miguel's wife Rachel served us a wonderful lunch of chicken, potatoes, and carrot soup. Just like the farmhouse meal we ate in Xetonox, this simple fare was one of the best meals of our trip.

Artisan at work

My finished design

Local musicians performing in the town square

Thursday's Child: Tak'alik Ab'aj, Guatemala

Tak’alik Ab’aj is a pre-Columbian archaeological site situated near the Pacific coast of Guatemala. In the local Kiche Maya language, it means “Place of the Standing Stone”.

Tak’alik Ab’aj was a major centre of culture and trade, first rising in power around the 9th century BCE, and lasting until 200 AD or later. It’s particularly important among Central American archeological sites because it documents the transition between the early Guatemalan Olmec people and the Mayan civilization. 

Several hundred stone monuments have been unearthed on the ten terraces that cover the 1600-acre property. Some feature the Olmec style with enormous heads and potbellied figures, or the man-jaguar. Many others feature Mayan hieroglyphics and the representation of important figures, often depicted in profile.

It’s intriguing that both styles co-exist. The Olmec style statues don’t stop suddenly and give way to a Mayan style. Nor were they destroyed when the Mayan sculptures were erected. This suggests a shifting of cultural influences and a sharing of artistic styles rather than domination due to one group conquering the other.

Tak’alik Ab’aj was part of a trading route that stretched from Mexico in the north to El Salvador in the south. It has been suggested that as traders moved from one area to another, they brought with them cultural inspirations that influenced the artwork of the settlements.

A royal tomb was discovered in 2002, perhaps belonging to the city's last Mayan king.

Excavations are still underway.