[Aztlan] Classic Maya Unit of Length

[Hube Smith]

Just another series of quick notes on this fascinating topic.

First, at least in modern times, the Comisario Ejidal will have allocated so 
many hectareas to him before he makes his brecha or "opening" in the forest.

Secondly, the mecate unit serves various purposes. For one, it determines 
how much seed (maize, beans, squash) will
be allocated to the entire planting enterprise. It also serves as a gauge 
for determining the success of the burn and also
the percentage of good soil versus rockier areas. The harvest is also 
expressed in "so many sacks" per mecate. Forgive
me but my notes are buried and maybe someone can help us out with measures 
of volume--almudes, cuartillos, etc.

Perhaps most importantly, the mecate is vital for calculating financial 
issues. For example, a man working outside the village will pay others to 
fell forest, or plant, or weed, etc. at XX pesos per mecate--the rates 
varying for each task. Moreover, there is some form of crop insurance as 
well as fertilizer allocations (by the government) and these perks are
measured by the mecate.

In this manner, if a guy asks for and is granted X number of hectareas in 
such and such a location, he will either measure, fell, burn, and plant in 
its entirety or a portion. If he bites off more than he can chew (there is a 
fascinating calculus involved having to do with experience, greed, "making 
up" for a bad previous year) and intends to draw more fertilizer than he has 
corn to feed, I gather someone checks up on him--not his peers, of course, 
because the Maya will take anything they can get out of a government they 
feel screws them at every turn.

Likewise with insurance. If XX number of mecates fail due to lack of 
moisture, pests, poor seed stock, etc., the amount the man is due is 
calculated by the mecate unit.

However, and I stress this, the Yucatec Maya devotion to certainty (in a 
highly uncertain life) impresses me the most. The idea of literally laying a 
precise grid over the crappy land God gave them at such terrible physical 
expense just makes my head spin.

BTW, Don Florentino once explained this to me by saying the First Maya was 
planting his milpa when Jesus walked by and asked, "What are you doing?"

The First Maya thought this was such a stupid question he answered, 
"Planting stones."

Jesus replied, "So be it," and the Yucatan has grown rocks ever since.






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Hixson" <aztlandave at yahoo.com>
To: "John B. Carlson" <Tlaloc at umd.edu>; "Bob Patten" 
<knapperbob at idcomm.com>; "Lawrence Lo" <lorentz at cs.stanford.edu>; 
<aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 6:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Classic Maya Unit of Length


> Here's brief quote by Redfield and Villa Rojas from
> their study of Chan Kom, Yucatan, relating the
> measuring of land for milpa (be sure to read all the
> way down to the last footnote):
>
> "When the site has been selected, the land to be
> cleared is measured(1) in mecates (kaan), each a
> square, 20 meters to a side.(2)  The mecates are
> measured with a stick, or with a piece of string.(3)
> The milpero takes a meter as the distance from the tip
> of his middle finger to the outer margin of his
> breastbone.(4)  Around the contemplated field a narrow
> little path is cut and a stone or a little heap of
> stones is placed to mark each mecate corner (xuuk).
> The milpero sights down these markers to make sure
> that they are aligned."
>
> Footnotes:
> (1) One does not measure more land than one is sure
> one is going to clear, so as not to offend the dieties
> that protect the trees.
> (2) Sometimes mecates are measured 21 meters to a side
> "because of what the birds take"
> (3) "Kaan. Medida de un codel con que los indios miden
> sus milpas, llamado mecate entre espanoles." Motul
> Dictionary.
> (4) This distance from the fingertip to the middle of
> the breastbone is a vara.  In somewhat more
> sophisticated villages meter-rods are used.  In
> measuring (cloth, for example) four other measures are
> used:
> -The span (cuarta; naab);
> -The distance from the end of the thumb to the end of
> the index finger (jeme; chinaab);
> -The width of the closed fist with the thumb extended
> (coto; kok);
> -The cubit (codo; cuc).  The cubit is regarded as half
> a vara.
>
> [In that last footnote, the first word in parentheses
> is always spanish, the second is Maya]
>
> -Dave
>
> __________________________________________________
> David R. Hixson
> Aztlan Moderator &
> Doctoral Candidate
> Tulane University
> Dept. of Anthropology
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