CulturePottery of Amatenango del ValleSan Cristobal de las Casas

Amatenango del Valle or the town of the pottery is located on a small hill overlooking a fertile valley covered with crops 35 kilometers southeast of San Cristobal de las Casas.

This village is known for its culture, traditions, customs, and above all by its craftswomen which use pre-Hispanic methods in the process of making pottery:  molded by hand, the mud is collected in the city, painted with stones from the river, and then they are baked outdoors thanks to the pine wood cut by the men of the house.

Pots, jugs, jars, pigeons, doves, lamps, ceramic plates, suns, turtles, iguanas, and some zoomorphic incense products are the most common representations of this ancient tradition.  In the act of mixing soil and water and molding it into, drying it and the baking it, the original act of creation in the Mayan worldview is re-enacted in everyday life. 

In 1999, a group of 52 Tzotzil indigenous women created a Social Solidarity Society, Women Artisans of the Valle Amatenango of The New Star, located on Las Casas street, one block from the Church of Amatenango del Valle.

Its members create, process, and sell their crafts in the shop which also has an exhibition center.