E 51 — S4X ; CRLSSI SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 5 HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU A REGIONAL SURVEY by HARRY TSCHOPIK, Jr. 4 Ve ae ice a A Go Ste, @ Agee lis * a2 7 + ah Lo hii Noe 2 P wae yas,” Sh ene en f ee Te a Veg dere ‘a ‘cs. ; ie : - ; ley be , he pam i ok - tte % . Bs, ie os ae : ‘* oe oy nee 7 ‘dn’ ‘ie “Pr -” i 2 " y Z eee ay : 7 ‘ r, “1 ; 4 eae ih. ‘ 7 Rad 4 7 4 rr _ bn ’ , : ius x tale 1 Spee, Pe ne ‘takin Naa x a wes eons : a Sah’ nos — ney e riod cave . une ar? aay ae oF i. a a gl : i os a he - le > Rae ee) Let ata nin ge pe 5 oe er ‘2 ee is oe a =i a ee ; bat a i an) a ) Se a ee ee mye coo mes 2 ‘hidesid - om 7 a wil a yan 7 a 7 Hh we a } an i eae a ao af ee Ba & ee on chee On aa HY oy aS ry baad i a. 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H e Pisco ae + : - cv2aco m eat ¢ : : ABANCAY 4 >] ICR N, *, oe NAZCA ears i SS : PAG lr ic ot \ \ ; ] JULIACA oY OCEAN Soe or "aN ae CHUcuITO® ARE = AREQUIPA a DEPARTMENTS moreno ey ae eeteere => MoQuEGuA/ VISITED DURING SURVEY Se TACNAS \ A Sy oO, \-- © 100 200 300 #00 (° aa Sy SCALE SKI COMET ERS. tee ’ ‘ae m ‘ Map 1.—Peru, showing the area of the survey HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK HUANUCO oor = ° Cc ° > \ t} - c - eee “~ 7-7 ee te Ri ce] PEREN f CHANCHAMAYO NY bob UR ES fs CONCEPCION . , ES sORCOTUNAS aye GERONIMO HUAROCHIAI ~s Steayae ‘Sisal a VJ ‘enupace Denice ‘egos Apy : Sting YAUYOS i ; i ROORIA et ACOBAMBR | HUANTA © © SAN MIGUEL ‘ ‘ ‘ THUANCAVE IAC A ' i wenn i @ SUINGA noe / sAura Liacay/’ \ © canNete 9 BARBARA {44 @ AYACUCHO ; ‘ CHOCLOCOCH Ans cone ‘. CASTROVIRREINA m x \ O / 10) © CHINCHA Le ‘ CANGALLO a = ° 1 ) ' \ ANDAHUAILAS \ Qe is 200 HUAITARA * \ PACT EITC © Puquio OCEAN Pere wae CORACORA © wore RAILWAYS Bacsose DEPART MENTAL BOUNDARIES CHS SCALE: KILOMETERS — Central Peru, showing the towns and villages visited. Map 2 4 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 complete and definitive; many other regions of considerable interest and importance in these Departments were not included for reasons stated below. In terms of economic adaptation and geographical environment, these communities dif- fer widely in their way of life. They range from small, primitive villages, such as Choclococha and Huaychao, located on the high bleak punas, where the altitude and cold make agriculture impossible and where stock breeding is the basis of economy, to the intensively agricultural towns of the productive Jauja Valley and the farming centers of Ayacucho. In terms of the social situation, the conservative Quechua Indian com- munities such as Quinoa and Santa Barbara contrast sharply with the progressive and indus- trious Mestizo towns of Chupaca and Muquiyauyo in the Department of Junin. As stated above, our primary objective was to discover a suitable town for further detailed study, and the original purpose of the survey was simply to familiarize ourselves with the region. A preliminary perusal of the existing literature on the Highlands of Central Peru revealed all too clearly that the descriptive material relating to this area was meager in the extreme, and that nowhere was it possible for the prospective field worker to obtain a clear-cut idea of the types of communities to be expected or encountered. For this reason, and because regional surveys are uncommon in the field of social anthropology, it was felt that our findings, general though they are, might be helpful to future students in depict- ing certain aspects of the contemporary situation and in suggesting some problems for future research. It should be clear, when one considers the size of the area traveled and the shortness of the time devoted to the survey, that our data must of necessity be very general in character. Owing to problems of transportation and to the general lack of accommodations in the smaller towns and villages, the length of our stay in particular com- munities varied considerably; some, such as Chupaca, Muquiyauyo, and Huayllay, were visited for several days, while in others, including Quinoa and Santa Barbara, our time was limited to but a few hours.2 We employed whatever means of transportation were available, including train, automobile, bus, truck, and foot travel. How- ? After the survey was completed, additional materials from Chupaca were obtained during the course of the intensive investigations made at Sicaya. ever, because of tire shortages and difficulty in obtaining spare automobile parts due to wartime conditions, it was frequently impossible to per- suade automobile owners to risk their precious vehicles by venturing out over bad roads and to out-of-the-way places. Hence, although our sur- vey at the outset had been carefully planned, it resulted that the final selection of a town to be visited depended in fact more upon its accessibil- ity and the humor of the local automobile owner than upon any systematic plan. Our selection of informants was even more arbitrary. Whenever possible we interviewed the local officials, school teachers, or storekeepers. In less fortunate in- stances we were limited to a choice of the more friendly citizens; for in such isolated towns as Huaylacucho, the local inhabitants were often reluctant to talk to strangers either because of shyness or for fear that we were tax collectors. A low ebb was reached in Choclococha, where most of the population of the village happened to be away in the hills with the flocks and herds. Our first informant turned out to be a half-wit and the second to be a stranger who was simply passing through the town en route to Huancavelica. Eventually several solid citizens turned up and the day was saved. In order to obtain material which would give general pictures of the towns visited during the course of the survey, a brief questionnaire was prepared covering such categories of features as could be observed and questioned most readily. These categories included, among other considera- tions, general observations (climate, geographical setting, communication facilities, description ot the town and its surroundings); population (dis- tribution of population in towns, barrios, and isolated farms, estimated proportion of Indians, Mestizos, and Whites, classes represented) ; politi- cal organization (local authorities, estimated pro- portion of public offices held by Indians and Mes- tizos, political units within the community such as ayllus, barrios, ete.); and questions relating to education and acculturation (number and types of schools, religious denominations, languages spoken, extent of travel). Economic considerations in- cluded agriculture (crops grown, where these are marketed, prevalence of haciendas, small farms, share cropping); livestock (animals kept, on what scale, how utilized); industrial activities (part or full-time employment in mines, mills, and on plantations); and material culture and trade HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 5 (local industries and manufactures, markets and marketing techniques, principal local imports and exports). It is fully realized that the present paper suffers from a lack of data of a quantitative or statistical nature. In the great majority of cases these simply were not obtainable; unless it is specifically stated to the contrary, such quantita- tive and evaluative statements as appear in the following pages rest upon our own rough estimates. In the geographical discussion which follows, the writer has attempted only in the most general way to describe the areas visited by us and to di- vide the Central Highlands into geographical zones in order that some sort of background may be provided for the descriptions of the present-day communities which are to be presented later. Actually there appears to exist no detailed and systematic description of the region under con- sideration, and such scattered references to alti- tudes and distances, to mountains and rivers, and to tables of figures on temperature, rainfall, and atmospheric pressure as are usually encountered in the standard geographies fail to convey to the reader any clear idea of the types of country with which we are dealing, or to give him a picture of the physical environment in which the highlanders of central Peru live and work. For this reason the writer has supplemented these general con- siderations with a series of first-hand, though admittedly nonscientific, descriptions of the coun- try between the Departmental capitals visited and of the punas, plains, and mountain valleys in which our communities are located. Similarly, it is not the writer’s purpose in the present paper to write the history of central Peru: such an undertaking, presented only in the most summary fashion, would be a task of many months. Even if one were to omit the question of the Inca conquest of the Central Highlands and the incorporation of the Quechua-speaking In- dians of this region into the Inca Empire, the history of Central Peru subsequent to the arrival of the Spaniards embraces a span of four centuries and a colorful succession of varied and involved events. In order to deal in adequate fashion with the problems and phenomena which have re- sulted in the contemporary communities of the Central Sierra, a historical summary would need to include the battles between the Spaniards and Indians and the difficult political situation which accompanied the downfall of the Incas; it would need to mention the explorations of Spanish adventurers and the energetic missionary efforts of Spanish priests and friars. It would be ne- cessary to describe the complex political and eccle- siastical structures of the Viceroyalty with its systematic exploitation of the Indian through taxation and forced labor and to record the foundation of cities and the building of great churches. One would have to analyze the econom- ics of Colonial Peru, the plantations and hacien- das, the encomienda system, the widespread trade, and the feverish mining activities. There would follow the period of decadence and decline of Spanish rule, terminating in the wars of in- dependence and ultimately in the bloody battle on the plains of Ayacucho. One would need to describe the confused days of the early Republic with its new concepts and legal code, and later to allude to the war with Chile which raged around Huancayo and devastated the towns of the Jauja Valley. Finally one would need to analyze the widespread influences set in motion by the impact of modern mechanized civilization upon the Peruvian highlanders as well as the leftist political trends which marked the 1920’s and which have begun to have important effects in the spheres of political and social organization (see Muquiyauyo). For these reasons the writer has alluded to only such outstanding historical events as have directly influenced the lines of develop- ment subsequently followed by the contemporary communities under discussion. In the pages which follow, however, frequent references have been made to the important Colonial record left us by Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, and passages from this source have been quoted at some length. This astute Carmelite friar, who traversed the entire area here considered early in the 17th century (1615-19) has furnished us with a series of vivid and strictly contemporaneous pictures of Central Highland communities during the forma- tive years when European patterns were becoming well established in Peru and before Spanish power had begun to decline. These observations, the writer feels, lend an invaluable perspective to the modern situation. Likewise the increased facilities for communications and the resulting possibilities for commerce and trade have so profoundly affected the Highlands of Central Peru that it has been thought advisable to include a summary description of the growth and change of systems of communication within the area under discussion. 6 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 In the pages which follow, therefore, there will be presented first a brief discussion of the geog- raphy of the region here described. This will be followed by a consideration of certain aspects of the population of the Central Peruvian Highlands. Thirdly the growth and development of com- munications and commerce will be discussed briefly. This will be followed by descriptions of the several towns and communities visited during the survey. It will be important to describe briefly the role played by the capital of each of the four Departments. In general these tend to be the commercial and communications centers as well as the seats of the governmental and administrative systems. They are also the hubs of religious and social activity, and the centers of education. Unless geographical or other factors intervene, the lives of the inhabi- tants of the outlying communities tend in some degree to be oriented toward the life of the Department capital. THE PHYSICAL SETTING The portions of the Departments of Huanca- velica, Ayacucho, Junin, and Pasco included in the present study lie between the mining center of Cerro de Pasco to the north and Castro- virreina to the south, or between lat. 10°40’ and 13°16’ S. In a direct line, the distance between these two towns is some 180 miles. The most easterly point touched by the survey was Aya- cucho, the most westerly Huaychao; this area, then, lies between long. 74°13’ and 76°25’ W. Aside from the fact that most of this region is situated within the drainage of the Mantaro River or its tributaries, in no sense may it be considered a unit area with respect to the physical environment.’ We are dealing with a region of marked contrasts. The favored valleys are under intensive cultivation and produce, in addition to maize, potatoes, and cereals, a variety of garden vegetables and fruits (pl. 1, a-c). Vegetation consists for the most part of guinual (Polylepis racemosa), quishuar (Buddleia incana), peppertrees or molle (Schinus molle), Scotch broom or retama (Spartium junceum), maguey (Agave americana), and numerous introduced eucalyptus trees. In these populated areas, the native fauna, with the exception of wild birds, has been replaced largely by domesticated animals of Old World origin. The valleys are the centers of population and commerce, and farms and villages are numerous. Above and between these fertile valleys rise the high punas, cold, windy, and sparsely populated (pl. 2, a-c). Aside from a few stunted shrubs, the vegetation consists in the main of mosses and lichens and various low graminous plants, ichu grass (Stipa ichu) being especially common. 3 The town of Castrovirreina is located on the Pacific side of the Continental Divide; all the other communities visited lie within the area of the Amazon drainage. In contrast to the cultivated valleys, the fauna of the puna zone is abundant and varied, in- cluding the vicuna, a wild relative of the llama, foxes, pumas, occasional deer and bear, and the viscacha, an Andean rodent. Hawks and condors are occasionally seen, and large flocks of Andean geese, gulls, and wild ducks are plentiful in the vicinity of the highland lakes. On the upland pampas graze large herds of llamas, alpacas, and various hybrid breeds, as well as extensive flocks of sheep. In the puna zone, settlements are few and far between; many of the larger towns are, or were at one time, mining centers. The smaller villages are frequently little more than scattered groups of shepherds’ huts. These punas are vast in their extent; they surround the temperate valleys on all sides and isolate them from one another. Regardless of the direction traveled, whether to the north or south, to the Pacific Coast or to the jungle country of the Montana, one must cross the punas. This fact of isolation has had strong influence in shaping the separate destinies of the contemporary communities. High above the punas rise the peaks and snow fields of the cordillera, today as in the past beyond the range of human habitation (pl. 2, d). TOPOGRAPHY The interior of Peru is traversed from north to south by the gigantic mountain system of the Andes. This system is usually described as a series of parallel chains joined by cross ranges or knots (nudos), with numerous transverse spurs leading off from the major ranges at many angles and in various directions. So complicated have been the forces of upheaval, folding, and erosion, and so confused the resulting physiography, that authorities differ as to the number of ranges that actually appear in the various sections (Dunn, 1925, p. 7). HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK ‘< This statement is particularly true of the Cen- tral Andes. Schematically, according to a stand- ard physical geography, the Andean system to the south of the Nudo de Pasco divides into three chains, the Cordillera Occidental, Cordillera Cen- tral, and Cordillera Oriental; these parallel the Pacific, trending north northwest-south southeast (Pareja Paz Soldén, 1943, p. 44). In general the more recent western range is rugged, angular, and usually dry and free from snow. In contrast, the older eastern chain, which rims the extensive rain forests of the Amazon Basin, displays many peaks covered by fields of perpetual snow. In Central Peru, however, this schematic arrangement of things does not correspond to the reality, and the situation is further complicated by the fact that these cordilleras, or portions of them, are desig- nated by a series of local names. The central cordillera of this region does not constitute a truly independent range, and at many points it joins and becomes confused with the western cordillera (Pareja Paz Soldén, 1943, p. 44). This range appears to have received little or no systematic study, and many of its impressive snow-capped peaks do not appear on the standard maps and have no names other than local ones. Nor does the western cordillera in this area conform rigidly to the usual generalizations. In the southern regions of the Departments of Ayacucho and Huancavelica this range tends to be smooth and rolling, without snow peaks. North as far as the Nudo de Pasco the western cordillera becomes a complex of rugged summits and rocky gorges, and snow fields are not infrequent; snow-covered peaks are seen in the vicinity of the railway pass at Ticlio and to the west of Lake Junin in the neighborhood of Huarén. The eastern cordillera, which eventually becomes involved in the moun- tain complex called the Nudo de Pasco, does not properly come into the area of this study, and, for this reason, further discussion of it is omitted. Of more utility, however, than the division of the central cordillera into its component ranges, is the demarcation of zones based on altitude; for, as we shall see later, altitude is perhaps the most important single factor in the physical environ- ment of the Sierra region and in the influence which this environment exerts on the ways of life of the Highland peoples. Dunn distinguishes four such altitude zones, which may be delimited roughly as follows (Dunn, 1925, p. 9): The first, the quebrada zone, is a region of rugged hills and canyons, in an advanced state of erosion, which extends from the foothills to a level of about 5,000 feet. The second, the Sierra, which les at an elevation of from 5,000 to 12,000 feet, is charac- terized by sharply crested ridges and deeply eroded valleys which frequently have broad, smooth stretches suitable for cultivation. The frigid, treeless zone of the punas ranges from 12,000 to 15,000 feet or higher, and is character- ized, in spite of the elevation, by a topography which is massive and rounded rather than sharp and abrupt. The fourth zone, the cordillera, consists of great uplifted peaks, many of which are covered by perpetual snow. In respect to the region under discussion, all of the communities visited were situated either in the Sierra or in the puna zones, the Jauja Valley towns and those of Ayacucho area within the former and the other communities within the latter.‘ Almost the entire region presently considered is dominated by a single river, the Mantaro, and by its tributaries, the Huancavelica in the Depart- ment of the same name, and the Huarpa in Ayacucho Department. The Mantaro River originates in the heights of the Nudo de Pasco at an altitude of some 13,000 feet above sea level (Pareja Paz Soldéin, 1943, p. 67). In this great mountain complex are located the headwaters of several important rivers including, in addition to the Mantaro, the Maranén, the Huallaga, and the Perené (map 2). From its place of origin in the punas to the northwest of Lake Junin the Mantaro flows in a southeasterly direction past the smelters and railway yards of La Oroya (pl. 15, 6). Here the river flows through a deep, narrow canyon, winding between dry and barren mountains. At the town of Jauja the river emerges onto the plains of the broad, productive Jauja Valley, to be described below, and flows the length of it past the city of Huancayo, at which point it once again becomes confined between the steep slopes of a mountain gorge. At the point of junction with its tributary, the Huarpa, the Mantaro winds sharply to the north; then, turning again and flowing east over rapids and through jungle, it joins the Apurimac to form the Ene River, an important tributary of the Ucayali. 4The altitudes of Departmental capitals visited are as follows: Huan- eavelica, 12,398 feet; Ayacucho, 9,056 feet; Huancayo, 10,729 feet; Cerro de Pasco, 13,969 feet. 8 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 The largest lake in the area under consideration is Lake Junin, some 25 miles long by 8 to 10 miles wide, situated to the south of the town of Cerro de Pasco at an elevation of approximately 12,200 feet (pl. 2, 6). Other small lakes, fed by the melting snows, lie in the punas to the west and north of Lake Junin. To the south, in Huanca- velica Department, the two small lakes Choclo- cocha and Orcococha are situated on the dreary punas at an altitude of some 14,000 feet. The only lake worthy of mention in the lower regions included in the present study is the lagoon of Paca, which les in a pleasant little tributary valley some 6 miles to the north of the town of Jauja (pl. 14, d). CLIMATE There are but two seasons in the Central High- lands, a dry winter from April to November and a rainy summer from October to May. Winter days are clear and often cloudless, and the heat at midday contrasts sharply with the cold nights, when subfreezing temperatures are frequently ex- perienced. The coldest weather usually comes during the months of June and July. During this season the climate is very dry, and in the cultivated zones the slightest breeze raises clouds of dust from the plowed fields. The summers are usually characterized by heavy rain in the form of thun- derstorms and not infrequent hail, but there may be steady downpours for days at a time. Al- though the nights are warmer than those of the winter season, the days are frequently cold and unpleasant owing to the overcast skies. Com- paratively little snow falls below 14,000 feet, and the line of perpetual snow varies from 15,000 to 17,000 feet (Dunn, 1925, p. 17). As many writers have pointed out, climate in the Andean area is almost entirely dependent upon elevation above sea level, although there may be local variations due to special topographical in- fluences. In general, the Highland valleys tend to have temperate climates, and in these there are good land, abundant water, and a climate favora- ble to agricultural activities. The punas, on the other hand, tend to be chilly and disagreeable throughout the year and are unsuitable for farm- ing because of the altitude and the cold; between these two extremes there is an extensive range of local climates. Indeed Pareja Paz Soldén (1943, p. 55) distinguishes four climatic zones (yunga, hot; quechua, temperate; puna, cold; and glacial or polar) which correspond closely to those, mentioned earlier, based on altitude. Although few statistics are available, there appears to be considerable variation in rainfall throughout the region under discussion. In general the eastern cordillera receives more rain, the western chain less. Morococha, situated in the puna zone on a spur of the Central Railway at an altitude of 14,000 feet, received a mean annual rainfall of 40 inches from 1906 to 1911 (Dunn, W. E., 1925, p. 17). Near Huancayo in the Jauja Valley, the mean annual rainfall between 1923 and 1945 was 29 inches.’ It is unfortunate that similar figures for Ayacucho and Huancavelica Departments are not available. THE JAUJA VALLEY Roughly elliptical in shape, the Jauja Valley is approximately 35 miles long by some 12 miles wide. On either side it is flanked by rolling, eroded red hills, barren during the dry season, but pleasantly green during the rainy months. Here and there, over the hills to the east, rise occasional snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera Central. From the hills on each side, the valley floor descends in two broad, flat terraces to the present flood plain of the Mantaro River. It has been stated that the Jauja Valley is of lacustrine origin, and that the lagoon of Paca, to the north of the the town of Jauja, is a vestige of this former highland lake (Pareja Paz Soldén, 1943, p. 45). The Jauja Valley, which lies within what has been designated as the Sierra zone, is one of the most productive regions of the Central High- lands. The valley floor is under intensive cul- tivation, and there are large fields of barley, wheat, maize, potatoes, and alfalfa, and lesser plots of garden vegetables (pl. 14, 6). Cattle and sheep graze in the fields which lie fallow, and pigs root along the river banks. Horses and trains of burros, laden with farm produce and articles of home manufacture and driven by the enterprising natives, pass up and down the roads, to and from the numerous markets. Few llamas, with the exception of those which have come down from the punas, loaded with upland products, are in evidence in this region. The valley roads are lined with hedges of maguey and cacti, and tall clumps of Scotch broom grow along the river. Extensive stands of eucalyptus 5 Information supplied by Mr. Paul G. Ledig, Observer-in-Charge of the Carnegie Institution magnetic observatory at Huancayo, altitude 11,000 feet. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 9 and qguinual trees border the foothills and irriga- tion ditches, and in places line the river banks (pl. 1, a). That this valley has been important throughout the range of Andean history is evidenced by the numerous archeological remains which, located for the most part in the foothills, rim the valley floor. Indeed Lima was originally founded by Pizarro near the present town of Jauja, although its location was later changed because the region was considered to be too remote from the seacoast (Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, p. 474). Since this time many important events in Peruvian history have been enacted in the Jauja Valley, and on more than one occasion Huancayo has been the temporary capital of the Republic. The Central Railway, with its terminal at Huancayo, and the Central Highway run the length of the valley on the left bank of the Man- taro River. In order, presumably, to conserve the maximum area of the valley floor for agricul- tural purposes, mavy of the numerous towns are built at the edges of the foothills on either side and, for the most part, are located in thick groves of eucalyptus trees. These towns and villages, in general very similar in appearance, are strag- gling collections of adobe farmhouses and out- buildings with tile roofs which cluster around more compact community centers. The cities of Jauja and Huancayo, located one at each end of the valley, serve as the principal market centers as well as important communication hubs. HUANCAYO TO HUANCAVELICA AND CASTROVIRREINA Leaving Huancayo for Huancavelica and Cas- trovureina, the narrow-gage railway travels through the flat, rolling farm country of the south- ern Jauja Valley. The land is under intensive cultivation, and the track passes many small vil- lages and groups of scattered farmhouses, most of which are adobe buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some 15 miles southeast of Huancayo the Jauja Valley comes to an abrupt end, and the railway enters the steep, rocky gorge of the Mantaro River. Since the canyon walls descend abruptly to the river, houses and farms are infrequent, although there are small patches of maize wherever the terrain permits. The river flows rapidly, and boils over large boulders as it winds between precipitous banks. The canyon walls, covered with small green shrubs, tower overhead. Con- tinuing down the Mantaro Canyon the railway passes the little town of Izcuchaca and its ancient Spanish stone bridge which spans the deep, nar- row gorge with a single arch (pl. 1,d). At La Mejorada the line curves almost due south up a tributary of the Mantaro, the Huancavelica River. Similar to the Mantaro gorge, although narrower, the canyon walls are equally abrupt and houses are few. Wherever the ground is sufficiently level there are small patches of maize, while barley is planted up the steep slopes of the canyon walls. The sides of the gorge are green, and here and there are stands of eucalyptus and peppertrees. Climbing sharply, the railway passes Acoria, a small town of tile-roofed adobe houses which straggle from the track down the sheer slope of the hillside to the river’s edge. As the railway climbs from Acoria, the popula- tion becomes even more sparse, trees become less frequent, and cultivation decreases, barley and habas (broadbeans) becoming the principal crops. At Yauli many of the houses have the thatched roofs which are typical of the puna zone, and the Indians, dressed in homespun and wearing knitted caps and stockings and hide slipper-sandals, line the station platform. As the train continues to climb into the punas, agriculture virtually dis- appears except for scattered patches of potatoes. The few scattered house groups consist of the thatched field-stone huts of shepherds. Large herds of llamas, alpacas, and sheep graze on the barren hillsides amid clumps of coarse grass and patches of moss and lichens. Abruptly the hills close in together, steep barren mountains tower on each side, and the track curves around the valley and into Huancavelica. Continuing the trip to Castrovirreina by truck, the road climbs up the steep, rugged canyon of the Huancavelica River; whereas before, cultivation had consisted solely of small potato patches ex- tending up the mountain sides, here agriculture has ceased altogether. Aside from small stands of stunted quinual trees, vegetation consists solely of mosses and ichu grass. Some 19 miles from Huancavelica the flanking mountains diminish in size and the road emerges onto rolling, barren altiplano country (pl. 2, c). Lichens grow on the rugged outcrops of rock, and jagged snow-capped peaks rise along the horizon on each side. The high plain is bitterly cold, and virtually unpopu- lated except for occasional small clusters of thatched shepherds’ huts. Large flocks of llamas. 10 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 pacos (a small llama), and alpacas graze on the short grass, and wild life is abundant, consisting in the main of vicufias, viscachas, and red foxes. Extensive flocks of Andean geese wade in the shallow streams of the upland meadows. Some 30 miles from Huancavelica the road climbs sharply to cross the Continental Divide at Chonta. Descending onto the Pacific watershed through bleak puna country, the road winds past several lakes fed by the melting snows of the nearby rocky peaks; the largest of these lakes are Choclococha and Orcococha, between which the mine of Santa Inés is situated. Continuing down the grade, past scattered groups of vicufa, across the dreary altiplano, between rocky hills devoid of vegetation, the road descends to the head- waters of the Pisco River and to Castrovirreina. HUANCAYO TO AYACUCHO The automobile road from Huancayo to Aya- cucho climbs out of the southern Jauja Valley following the Seco River, a small tributary of the Mantaro River. Winding through rolling hills, cultivated almost to their summits with fields of wheat and barley, the highway passes scattered clusters of thatched or tile-roofed farmhouses. As the road continues to climb, the fields of barley become more extensive, and extend up the hill- sides as far as the eye can see. Here and there, near the occasional farmhouses, there are small plots planted with potatoes. Near the summit of the pass between the Jauja Valley and the gorge of the Mantaro River evidences of cultivation become less frequent and the terrain is flatter and covered with coarse grass; the temperature drops noticeably and house groups and livestock become more scarce. Past the summit, cultivation begins almost immediately with appearance of the three typical upland crops: barley, quinoa, and_ potatoes. There are occasional small villages composed of some 50 adobe brick huts with thatched roofs, and the landscape, while still barren, becomes greener as the road descends toward Acostambo. Passing this town the highway winds down into the canyon of the Mantaro River, and parallels the track of the Huancavelica railway as far as the town of Izcuchaca. Between Izcuchaca and the point of juncture of the Mantaro and Huarpa Rivers the country is semiarid and thinly populated. Clumps of retama grow along the banks of the river, and the valley bottom is covered with cacti of many kinds, thorny shrubs, and stunted peppertrees. In sharp contrast to this semiarid vegetation, scat- tered hamlets along the river flats are surrounded by patches in which grow maize, sugarcane, and bananas. Here and there among the dusty algarroba trees there are small groups of wattle- and-daub huts, and small flocks of sheep and goats and oceasional burros take refuge from the heat in the shade afforded by thatched four- posted shelters. As the road turns almost due south and climbs, following the course of the Huarpa River, the rolling valley broadens and is filled with large stands of algarroba and peppertrees. Huanta, a small, Spanish Colonial town with narrow cobbled streets and tiled roofs, is situated in this semiarid valley. The town, famous for its fruit and wines, is surrounded by irrigated fields of sugarcane, maize, and by extensive vineyards. The outlying farms are shaded by guinda and fig trees, and the paths and roads are lined with hedges of tuna cacti. Leaving Huanta, the road climbs through hot, dry, rolling hills, thinly populated and sporadically farmed. It then descends, through a series of small, narrow, steep-sided valleys, green with cultivated fields and filled with groves of pepper- trees, to the city of Ayacucho. LA OROYA TO CERRO DE PASCO AND HUARON En route to Cerro de Pasco from the metallur- gical center of La Oroya the railway climbs sharply between rocky, desolate mountains, jagged in form and stained with the smoke from the smelters. The hillsides are barren, and almost devoid of vegetation. Here there are no houses, no livestock, no traces of human habitation. For 6 miles the railway travels up the rugged gorge of the Mantaro River—at this point a swift-flowing mountain stream—and then turns off up a steep, tributary canyon past cascading streams and lush, green meadows. Near the summit at La Cima the terrain becomes rolling grassland with rocky outcrops, and large flocks of sheep and llamas graze on the slopes. Imper- ceptibly the mountains recede toward the horizon, and the rolling hills give way to the pampas of the central altiplano. The puna of Bombén, as this broad upland plateau region is sometimes HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 1] called, is characterized by undulating grassland, cold and bleak, and rimmed on all sides by barren hills. Above these, in the far distance, occasional snow peaks glisten. Crossing the pampa to the town of Junin the railway passes the battlefield where, in 1824, Bolivar defeated the army of the Viceroy. Beyond the historic town, the line approaches a broad, marshy tract of meandering streams and ponds which mark the southern edge of Lake Junin. The lake proper is so extensive that its western shore is barely visible from the train which skirts thick growths of totora reeds bordering the open water (pl. 2, 6). Countless waterfowl—ducks, grebes, and geese—feed in these marshes while ibis and occasional flamingo wade in the shallows at the lake edge. The meadows surrounding Lake Junin afford pasturage to large flocks of llamas and sheep, and the entire pampa is dotted with corrals and scattered groups of round, low huts which have conical thatched roofs (pl. 16, 0). Beyond the railway junction of Shelby to the north of Lake Junin, the main line continues across the pampa to Ricrdin where the track once again climbs through stony, treeless hills. Here evidences of mining activities are apparent on every side. Winding past dumps, shafts, and old workings, the railway passes the old smelter site at La Fundicién and arrives at the Cerro de Pasco terminal. At Shelby station, a branch railway and motor road lead off to the west in the direction of Huarén, headquarters of the French mining company, Compagnie des Mines de Huarén. En route to these mines the road continues across the pampa past large flocks of grazing livestock, clusters of shepherds’ huts, and numerous corrals. Grad- ually the pampa gives way to barren, rolling hills, covered with ichu grass, mosses, and lichens. To the north of the road the hills are crowned by great, weathered pillars of basalt which rise in the distance like castles. A few kilometers beyond, and surrounded by rocky, treeless hills, are located the company’s smelters and concentrators at San José. Continuing to climb through the dreary puna, the road then descends to a small glacial lake on the shores of which are situated the principal copper mines of Huarén. THE POPULATION INDIAN AND MESTIZO It is impossible to write a paper of this nature without making frequent use of the words “Indian” and “Mestizo,” or their equivalents, with refer- ence to segments of the populations of the com- munities visited during the course of the survey.® It should be made clear at the outset, however, that these terms, as applied to so large and diversified an area as that under consideration, are used only in a very general sense and in fact represent abstractions of a high order. The writer is aware of the dangers inherent in an over-simplification of the problems relating to classes and to class structure; nevertheless, some 6 In general in Peru ‘‘cholo”’ is used rather than ‘‘Mestizo’”’ to mean “‘half- breed.”” The usage of this word, however, is complex. The few whites of Puno refer to the half-breeds of that city as ‘‘cholos,” while the Mestizo upper class of such a village as Chucuito employ the word when speaking of the Indians. In the Highlands of Central Peru the word is often usedina derogatory sense and as an insult as well as to mean “‘servant’’ from the Point of view of the employer. For these reasons ‘‘Mestizo,”’ since it carries fewer emotional connotations and overtones and is less ambiguous in mean- ing, has been employed throughout the present paper. conceptual scheme is necessary if only for purposes of description. Itseems advisable, then, to preface the descriptions of the present-day communities with a few very general remarks about the question of class in the Highlands of Peru.’ As elsewhere in Latin America, the problems in Peru relating to class structure are at once both extremely complex and of considerable interest to the present-day inhabitants of the country. And again, as in other parts of Hispanic America, these problems may be resolved into three principal aspects: race, language, and culture. The 1940 Peruvian census gives the total popu- lation of the country as an estimated 7,000,000 (actually counted 6,200,000) inhabitants, of which some 2,850,000 are listed as Indians while 3,300,000 7 At a later date we hope to document the analysis of these problem smore fully with the field materials from Sicaya and with the writer’s unpublished field data on Chucuito, a small and predominantly Aymara Indian village in the Department of Puno in southern Peru. In addition to the data obtained in these two towns, it should be stated that Escobar is a native of Cuzco, Muelle of Lima, and the writer has resided in Arequipa for 24 years. The following remarks about class, therefore, represent the inductions from our collective experiences. 12 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 are Mestizos and Whites.’ Cultural criteria, how- ever, were not employed in any systematic way in the original compilation of these data; had they been, the writer believes, a higher balance prob- ably would have resulted in favor of the Mestizo segment, particularly in Junin Department. For after more than four centuries of race mixture and interbreeding between Whites and Indians, the distinction in every case of the full-blooded Indian as opposed to the Mestizo on purely biological grounds would tax the abilities of a highly trained physical anthropologist. The identification of the Indian, then, is one of the most perplexing prob- lems in the whole Indian-Mestizo question. The crux of this matter has been stated capably by Steward: ‘When Indians have adopted the Span- ish language, European clothing, and other na- tional traits, so that they are no longer conspicu- ously different from other people, they are classed as mestizos, though racially they may be pure Indian” (Steward, 1945, p. 283). The question, however, is an academic one in any event, since prejudice based on purely racial grounds seems of as little importance in Highland Peru as it is in Mexico (Gémio, 1945, p. 409).° As in Brazil, in the Highlands of Peru, antogonisms are directed at cultural rather than racial differences. In Chucuito an apparently full-blooded Aymara Indian was generally considered a Mestizo be- cause he had learned ‘city ways” in Arequipa and had later married a Mestiza; his full sisters, however, were classed as Indians. A member of the upper class in Sicaya, when asked to list the Indian residents of the town, invariably selects those with Quechua surnames; “Of course they 8 Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, p.1x, table5. This census (pp. XLV- XLV, table 24) gives the proportions of Indians and Mestizos (including Whites) in the Departments visited during the survey as follows: Huancavelica Department: Number Percent SATAN SS sha 8 = en eee 5 Serincacnnsene 192, 441 78. 68 Mestizos___- 51, 673 21.18 Avacucho Department: Une: (ER ee 272, 605 75. 94 INES Aa eo oe ee 85, 572 23, 84 Junin Department: ONO LATS eee pe ee ea eeeeeaRece 208, 179 61.5 IVE OS tis. OSt eateries ace 2 soos S 4 oo 128, 294 37.9 Pasco Department: Dae | CNT [Seepage Se ep ee 52, 796 58. 43 IMVGS1IZ OS: aot fee a8 ae coca ces a2ed 37, 419 41, 41 At the time when the 1940 census was made, Pasco Department was the Province of Pasco in Junin Department. ® On the Coast of Peru, which has special race problems not encountered in the Highlands, race prejudices tend to assume more importance. 10 Pierson states of Brazil: ‘‘There are no castes based on race; there are only classes. This does not mean that there is nothing which might be properly called prejudice but that such prejudice as does exist is class rather than caste prejudice’’ (Pierson, 1942, p. 331). are Indians,’”’ he says, “they have Indian names.” In southern Peru the members of the aristocracy frequently berate the Indians for chewing coca, for speaking no Spanish, or for going about bare- foot, but rarely is the Indian condemned on purely racial grounds. Hence, as the Mexicans have discovered and have utilized to their advantage in obtaining census materials, race as such is of little use in the identification of social groups; for these reasons—and because of the difficulty in handling them—the racial criteria were not employed in the present survey. Nor are linguistic criteria of primary importance in delimiting the segments of the population of Highland Peru according to class lines. The 1940 Peruvian census states that of a total of some 5,200,000 individuals over 5 years of age within the Republic, approximately 1,810,000 speak only native languages (Quechua or Aymara), some 864,000 are bilingual (i. e., speak a native language and Spanish), while about 2,440,000 inhabitants speak Spanish only." It is clear, then, that the number of inhabitants speaking Quechua or Ay- mara, including bilingual persons, is about equal to that of the Spanish-speaking inhabitants. Those who speak only Spanish are in general con- centrated mainly along the Coast. Yet a closer inspection of the linguistic situa- tion in Peru reveals that the figures quoted above are not to be taken at their face value; unless additional nonlinguistic factors are taken into consideration, any interpretations based on the above-mentioned statistics must of necessity be 11 Estado de la Instruccién ... , 1942, These data were adapted from the table facing page 24. In addition, it is stated in this work that in the Departments included in the present survey, the following numbers of in- dividuals speak Quechua or Spanish only, or are bilingual: Huancavelica: Number — Percent Spanish.onlye. 2022-5 ao eee nee eee eee 2, 541 1, 25 Quechts only =i 25 -2oo so ee ee 160, 153 78. 84 Bilingual < 325. aucsten. Seon Seek eee eee eeee 40, 434 19, 91 Total 22<-2netacdeenteavhos. Seer ea eeeeeeee 203, 128 poe Ayacucho: Spanish only 22 38-2 eet ee 2, 880 . 96 Quechua only. 26-25 see nee eee 246, 947 82. 38 (Dilingiial..24. Ses eee ee Senn 49, 942 16. 66 Wotdl os. 22250522225 eee eee 2995769" ieeea. ——— == Junin: Spanish only. o2.ce-5 sasonns se eee eee 79, 560 21.98 Quechua only __ --- 112,397 31. 06 Bilingual. <2. 2 2.2 satve =. eben sew ane eeeeeeees 169, 921 46. 96 Totale 223s oo csc keen eee eee ene 361,878) .-22c2 The figures for Junin Department include the present Department of Pasco. It will be noted that the Aymara language is not spoken in the region under consideration. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 13 misleading. It must not be assumed, for example, that those individuals who habitually speak native languages are necessarily Indians. Both in the Ayacucho region and in the Jauja Valley there are many individuals, principally women, it is true, who on cultural as well as racial grounds must be considered Mestizos, yet who are more proficient in Quechua than in Spanish and char- acteristically speak the native language in their homes. Most Mestizos of Chucuito in Puno Department are less proficient in Spanish than in Aymara and frequently speak the latter language among themselves; yet in their way of life there is a vast difference from that of the Indians of the same town. Although, as Mishkin (1946, p. 413) has prop- erly pointed out, “proficiency in handling Span- ish and one of the Indian languages is often taken to be the mark of a Mestizo,’’ many Indians in the Departments of Puno and Cuzco and in the Highlands of Central Peru speak Spanish well and yet continue to live culturally on the Indian level. It seems unlikely, however, that many individuals who speak Spanish alone follow the Indian way of life. Hence, while languages are of some limited utility in breaking down the Sierra of Peru into its rough social-cultural com- ponents, the writer is inclined to agree with Gaémio (1945, p. 411), who states: ‘The utiliza- tion of cultural data . is probably the most practicable way properly to identify individuals and social groups.” * From the foregoing it should be clear that in the Sierra of Peru the problems relating to social definition and identification are primarily of a cultural, rather than of a racial or linguistic, nature. Yet the inevitable processes of culture growth and change have served to obliterate the distinctive characteristics of what were, at the time of the Conquest, two discrete cultural heri- tages, Indian and Spanish. After four centuries of intensive and sustained contact between these two groups, it is idle to look for “pure” Indian culture in the Highlands of Peru. Elements of the Roman Catholic religion, iron implements and tools, articles of European-type clothing, beliefs and customs of Spanish origin, and Old World species of cultivated plants and domestica- 12 Regarding the language problem in Mexico, he writes, ‘Linguistic data, generally applied in the census, obviously cannot lead to correct estimates when they exclude a million people who do not speak a native language but are Indian racially and culturally.” The writer is not aware that this situa- tion is encountered commonly in the Highlands of Peru. ted animals have penetrated into the most remote mountain valleys and deep into the jungle-covered canyons of the east-Andean slopes.’ But al- though the civilization of the Inca is long since extinct, one may still speak properly of ‘Indian culture” in the Peruvian Highlands, and in many regions, particularly in the southern Depart- ments, the Indian elements heavily outweigh the Spanish in the mode of life of these present-day communities. '4 Nor is it to be assumed that in the cultural give and take which followed the Conquest the Indian heritage always received and the Spanish always gave. One finds many elements of Indian origin in the culture of such a typical contemporary Mestizo town as Sicaya, in the Jauja Valley. Many cultivated plants grown in this town (maize, potatoes, ocas, ollucos, and quinoa), the ways in which these foods are prepared, and much of the domestic equipment (grinding stones, pottery ves- sels, wooden bowls and ladles, gourd dishes) are of Indian origin. So are the domestic guinea pigs, the custom of chewing coca on ritual occasions, and such articles of clothing as the hand-woven belt, shawl, and carrying cloth. The doctors, or curan- deros, employ some aboriginal techniques in effect- ing cures; the reciprocal exchange of labor between relatives and friends, wyay, is probably Indian, as are various folk tales and beliefs.!° Indeed some elements of Indian culture have even found their way to Lima, and into all but the highest circles of the Capital. Cases of witchcraft have reached the courts of law and some enterprising curanderos advertise the effectiveness of their cures in the leading Lima newspapers. As Mishkin (1946, p. 413) has pointed out, ‘‘Whatever distinctions are made between Mestizo and Indian must depend for their validity upon the object of such distinc- tions. In reality, the two groups merge.” In describing and comparing certain present- day communities of the Central Peruvian High- 13 It is not the writer’s purpose in the present paper to describe the ways in which Spanish and Western European elements generally have become integrated in Indian culture, nor to inquire into the functions and meanings of these elements. Yet it must be pointed out that after 400 years of culture contact, the borrowed Spunish elements have become so much a part of the contemporary Indian cultural heritage that it is difficult to abstract them even for purposes of description without doing great violence to the facts. The ox-drawn plow and the gasoline tin are just as real and meaningful to the present-day Aymara of Chucuito as the digging stick and the pottery olla, and wine is as acceptable an offering to the spirits as maize chicha. 4 For brief descriptions of contemporary Quechua and Aymara Indian communities which preserve many aboriginal-type patterns, see Mishkin, 1946, and Tschopik, 1946. 1S The general situation in the Highlands of Peru is strikingly like that described by Redfield for Yucatan. See Redfield, 1941, especially chs, 3 and 4, 14 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 lands, which is the purpose of the present paper, it is necessary on the descriptive level to dif- ferentiate between the social classes encountered in each; such differentiation will be based on cul- tural criteria which we are assuming reflect the strength of the Indian or Spanish heritage.” Yet a difficulty in the handling of cultural criteria for the purpose of identifying social groups is appar ent immediately when one attempts to apply these criteria uniformly to an area as extensive as the Sierra of Peru. An individual in Quinoa whose way of life must be considered Indian chews coca; a resident of Sicaya, who clearly must be con- sidered a Mestizo on other cultural grounds, also chews coca. An Indian in Chucuito farms his own land, while the Mestizos of this town are above manual labor; yet the farmers of Arequipa and Chupaca are Mestizos. The Indian women of the Cuzco region go barefoot and transport bundles in carrying cloths on their backs; some Mestizas of the Jauja Valley also go barefoot and employ the same technique in transporting bundles. It is safe to assume that many culture traits, selected at random and employed singly as insignia of class, will apply to Indians in one region of the Peruvian Sierra and to Mestizos in another. What is significant for our present purpose is the proportion of, and emphasis ac- corded to, Indian or Spanish elements in the cultural content of the various contemporary communities described later. Hence when we designate a particular class in a given town as “Indian” we mean that this class exhibits a predominance of characteristics which are Indian in origin; a ‘““Mestizo’’ class or a ‘““Mestizo” town will be one in which Spanish or modern Western European culture predominates. There remains but to make a few very general re- marks regarding the nature of these classes in the Peruvian Highlands. Linton has pomted out that in most class-structured societies of the world the classes had reached a condition of satisfactory adjustment and that each of the classes really con- stituted a society in itself; he adds, “Classes can 16 A basic assumption, of course, is our ability to distinguish in all cases between the Indian and Spanish elements. It would be well for those who attempt historical reconstructions based on materials from highly accultu- rated Latin American communities to keep this assumption in mind since numerous parallels appear to have existed between 16th century Spanish culture and the cultures of various advanced groups of Middle American Indians. Some of the pitfalls of this sorting-out process have been pointed out by Redfield (1941, pp. 87-88) and by Parsons (1936, pp. 479-544). scarcely be said to exist within any society until the individuals who exist at different social or economic levels have become conscious of their common interests and organized themselves” (Linton, 1936, p. 110). In southern Peru the socie- ties tend to be organized along rigid classlines. The most common situation in the smaller towns and vil- lagesappears to bea two-class structure with a small Mestizo “aristocracy” and a large Indian peasant population.” The Mestizo class in Chucuito, and elsewhere, exhibits a strong sense of class conscious- ness and solidarity, and considers itself set apart from the Indian population, which, indeed, itis. The Indians, although not so conscious of class as the Mestizos, are united by a common cultural heri- tage and by a complex of sociopolitical and social patterns. One might almost speak of the two classes in Chucuito as separate cultures, or at least subcultures; certainly they represent separate societies. In this type of class structure the status of the individual tends to be rigidly fixed and there is little social mobility. It might not be improper to speak of such a structure as a caste system. Nevertheless, these two classes have, through living together for many years, become mutually adjusted to each other and live in har- mony, if, perhaps, without affection. Sicaya, on the other hand (and presumably other towns in the Jauja Valley), is essentially a classless community, and social status within the town is based primarily on wealth and to a lesser degree on education and ‘background.’ ’’ The classes here are merely aggregates of individuals whose common interests arise out of a similar background and economic status. Although in Sicaya the peon, a landless day laborer, tends to form a group apart, he is given the opportunity to find his place in the social structure through his own initiative, to marry a local woman, and to improve his status generally. Historical data from Sicaya indicate that at one time the class structure was more rigid. One may venture the tentative hypothesis that the present social trend in Highland Peru is away from “caste” and in the direction of ‘class.’ In the Peruvian Sierra the rigidity of the social structure appears to depend principally upon the presence of a large 17 This is also the situation encountered in Quinoa (see pp.) 31-34 18 In the present paper the class structure of Chupaca, which is virtually identical with that of Sicaya, is described at some length (see Chupaca, pp. 37-41). HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 15 peasant population which continues to follow the Indian way of life. DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY The 1940 Peruvian census estimates the popu- lations of the four Departments visited during the survey as follows: Ayacucho, 414,208; Junin, 403,212; Huancavelica, 265,557; Pasco, 96,949." On the basis of these estimates, the density of population for each of the four Departments is as follows: Ayacucho, 8.8 per square kilometer; Junin 13.9; Huancavelica, 12.4; Pasco, 3.27° Al- though portions of each of these Departments lie within the jungle, or selva, zone of the Montana, the fact that in each case the majority of the in- habitants live in the Highlands is clearly indi- 19 Extracto Estadistico del Peri, 1940, table No. 24, pp. xly-xlvi. This table also gives the following figures for the populations of these Departments as they were actually counted: Ayacucho, 358,991; Junin, 338,502; Huancavelica, 244,595; Pasco, 90,353. ® Extracto Estadistico del Perfi, 1940, pp. 10, 45. Calculations based on figures given in this work (pp. 45-46) for the density of population according to the numbers actually counted are as follows: Ayacucho, 7.6 per square kilometer; Junin, 11.7; Huancavelica, 11.4; Pasco, 3.0. According to the same source (p. 4) the areas of these Departments in square kilometers are: Ayacucho, 47,111; Junin, 28,921; Huancavelica, 21,496; Pasco, 30,184. cated by the following tabulation adapted from that prepared by Arca Parré:# Sierra: Population Sq. km. Density Ayacucho. -_-__-- 397, 193 38, 162 10. 4 Huancavelica___ 279, 508 20, 046 13.9 Dunne 486, 071 16, 800 28. 9 Selva: Avacucho- ___-- 45, 904 8, 945 5, 1 Huaneavelica__. 5, 783 1, 450 4.0 VUNINE ase ses 48, 601 42, 305 .9 Throughout the area under consideration, the population is predominantly rural, a fact brought out clearly in the following tabulation :” A yacu cho: Number Percent (Ut bane eee eee 92, 489 23. 8 re See a see ee 295, 391 76. 1 Huancavelica: (Oir a apeeree ere re ee 40, 888 155.5) RAD allege eee yee A oe 223, 391 84. 5 Junin: Urbane = eee ee eee = 181, 102 39. 0 Rural -430 22% 2226582 o4ee 282, 264 60. 9 21 Arca Parré, 1945, p. 30. It will be noted that in this and in the following tabulation, Junin Department includes the present Department of Pasco. 22 Arca Parré, 1945, p. 34. This work gives the populations of the Depart- ment capitals as follows: Ayacucho, 19,548; Huancavelica, 8,742; Huancayo (Junin Department), 30,657. The population of Cerro de Pasco, capital of Pasco Department, is 19,187 (ibid., p. 1010). THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMERCE It is scarcely possible to overemphasize the importance of the role played by communications in the historical development of the Highland communities of Central Peru. Indeed, after topography and climate, one gets the impression that degree of isolation is the factor which has been most influential in affecting the lines of development subsequently followed by the various towns and villages here considered. In order to understand more fully, therefore, how these con- temporary communities came to be what they are today, it is necessary for us to examine the his- torical development of the communication systems of Central Peru in some detail. It will be apparent that the rugged and difficult terrain of the Gentral Highlands, as well as the level of techn, *»gical development of the inhabitants of Peru at... jus ; F re . Tish’ periods in their history, has played a sig "ant part in the growth and change of communications. THE INCA SYSTEM The justly famous road system of the Inca Empire tended, by and large, to extend in a north-south direction, following the inter-Andean valleys and the coast. Spurs of these roads, descending the forest-covered canyons of the east- Andean slopes, touched the fringes of the Amazon jungles while others, winding down rocky gorges, emerged onto the fertile plains of the Coastal valleys. While this network of secondary roads, extending in an east-west direction, connected the Coast with the Sierra and the Sierra with the Montafia, one gets the impression that the princi- pal Inca highway was located in the Highlands, paralleling the Andean chains. Vazquez de Espi- nosa, who traveled this route early in the 17th century, wrote of it as follows: . . . Between these Cordilleras runs the King’s Highway, named after the Incas, from Pasto [in Colombia] to Chile, which is over 1,000 leagues. The paved road is over 20 feet wide and climbs over passes which look impossible; and along the whole way every 3 leagues there are Royal Apartments, where the Inca kings lodged, and about them many others for the servants and impedimenta, and for storehouses and granaries to contain corn, potatoes, and other food for their people, both in time of peace and war. ... Most of these Royal Apartments serve at present as 16 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 inns for travelers; they are like roadhouses or taverns, at which travelers stop. As for those not in use, their ruins indicate the grandeur and majesty which prevailed in those days. . . . [V4zquez de Espinosa, 1942, p. 387.]% A second Inca highway extended along the Coast of Peru from the present Ecuadorian border to the Chilean frontier; that it had been allowed to fall into disuse in early Colonial times is clearly indicated by the following passage from Vazquez de Espinosa: The other King’s Highway ran along the plains parallel with the coast within sight of the sea. This was over 24 feet wide and was like a very straight avenue, built be- tween two adobe walls, strongly and carefully made, so that even today a considerable part of them remain stand- ing, and I have seen them on most of the plains of that Kingdom. This road runs from Tumbes and passes where the city of San Miguel de Piura stands and along all the valleys of that kingdom to the Kingdom of Chile, where the Plains Road and the Sierra Road come together. In all the plains valleys it had royal houses and apartments built with great pains; a large part of them remain standing and their ruins show what extensive and haughty buildings they were; but all has decayed with time. This King’s Highway for the plains was walled in where the rivers run down to the sea; but for long remote stretches and on the uninhabitable sand dunes, where they could not succeed in road construction, they laid out and marked off the road with rocks and stakes driven into the dunes; and as it does not rain in those regions, traces of them can be seen and remain standing in many localities. [Vdzquez de Espinosa, 1942, p. 388.] 74 In Inca times travel was exclusively by foot and goods were transported on human backs and by means of llamas; hence these roads, in some regions precipitous and in others consisting of steps and staircases, at times clinging to vertical cliff faces and at others climbing steep gradients, were con- structed along such direct routes as only man and the llama can follow.2 Much has been written concerning the relay system of post runners, or chasqui, and the tambos, or wayside inns, which were located at intervals along the highways and which served to accommodate those who traveled 23 Means (1942, p. 329) states that this Sierra highway extended from Pasto in Colombia to Cuzco, passing through Quito (in Ecuador), Ayavaca, Ca- jamarca, Huards, Jauja, Ayacucho, Vilcas (near modern Cangallo), and Abancay (see maps 1 and 2). From Cuzco the highway continued, via Juliaca and Puno, through Bolivia to Chile. For a summary description of the Inca communications system, see Rowe, 1946, pp. 229-233. 2 According to Means (1942, p. 329) the Coastal highway followed the Coast from Tumbes only as far as Nazca. Here it went inland to join the Sierra highway at Vilcas (near modern Cangallo). From Cuzco the high- way returned to the Coast via Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, and Arica, and so down into northern Chile. 38 This mode of travel has persisted to the present day essentially without change in such primitive villages as Huaychao, Huaylacucho, and Choclo- cocha. on official journeys.” So well, indeed, did this system operate, that both post runners and tambos survived the Conquest and functioned well into Colonial times (Means, 1932, pp. 226-228). Most of the important Inca towns and cities were located in the Sierra and many of those of the Central Highlands appear to have been founded primarily to serve as tambos.” It is well to bear in mind that, although Inca roads and communications were highly developed and complex, the system was designed primarily for political purposes, with the view of knitting together an empire. As Means (1942, p. 337) has pointed out, the highways were reserved exclu- sively for official uses and for officially approved journeys by armies, couriers, colonists, and by representatives of the state. Hence the great, highways did not necessarily affect the lives of the masses of the people, and even the post runner— since he spent his time of service passing back and forth shuttlewise between his own post and those next to it on each side—saw but little of any given road. THE COLONIAL SYSTEM The advent of the Spaniards and of the horse created important changes in the Inca system of foot transportation. Whereas man and the llama could travel the more direct routes, the horse, less sure-footed than the lama, had to make detours. In addition, while the Hama is able to find fodder almost anywhere in the high valleys and punas of the upland regions, the need for fodder and grain to feed horses and mules made it necessary to change the locations of many of the former Inca tambos (Romero, 1944, p. 68.) Sev- eral towns, such as Huancayo and Ayacucho, which appear to have been founded by the Spaniards principally as convenient wayside sta- tions for travelers, have grown subsequently into cities. In general, the Spanish system of com- munications was, wherever feasible, superimposed upop +hat employed by the Incas; in adapting it a “High own uses, the Spaniards did not improve it, dit: the pipe ines of horses and mules for Ww aetiined runners did not speed things up. (Means, 1932, p. 227). 26 These aspects of the Inca communications system are described by Means, 1942, pp. 332-337. Also see Rowe, 1946, pp. 231-232. 27 In this connection, modern place names which contain the Quechua word ‘‘tambo” or “tampu,” as Limatambo (near Cuzco), Acostambo, Jau- jatambo, and Paucartambo (near Lake Junin), probably reflect some of the routes traveled in Inca times. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK by / It is a significant fact that Spanish communica- tion patterns, which came into being early in Colonial times, persisted in general virtually without change late into the 19th century, or until the construction of the railways. Vazquez de Espinosa (1942, p. 463), who traveled the established route from Lima to Ayacucho and thence to Cuzco about the year 1616, lists 24 posts of the Peruvian Courier Stage, the distance between any two of which represented a day’s journey by horse. From Lima the road passed to Jauja by way of Chirillos and Huarochirf, and from this place, via Huancayo, to Acos (or Acostambo). From Acos a secondary route led to Huancavelica and to Castrovirreina. Although Indians and llama pack trains traveled from this point to the Coast at Pisco, following the steep gorge of the river of the same name, this route does not appear to have been of primary importance during the early 17th century (Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, p. 530). From Acos, the road continued to Ayacucho (then called Huamanga). From this city, the road passed through Tambillo, Andahuailas, Abancay, Curahuasi, Limatambo, and from this town to Cuzco. Squier (1877, pp. 533-568) who traveled from Cuzco to Ayacucho and thence to the coast at Pisco in the 1860's, followed virtually the same route as that traversed by Vazquez de Espinosa some 250 years earlier. As in Inca times, most of the great Colonial cities, with the notable exception of Lima and Trujillo, from Bogoté in Colombia to Potosi in Bolivia, were situated in the Highlands; in most instances, the rise in importance of the coastal cities postdates the construction of the railways. At the time when the inter-Andean valleys were the chief routes of communication, Ayacucho was an important commercial center; roads joined it with Cuzco, with the mines of Huancavelica, and with the coastal towns of Ica and Pisco, which served as its principal outlets to the sea. Huan- cayo functioned, although to a far lesser extent, during the Colonial period as a trading and com- munications hub, while Huancavelica flourished chiefly because of its rich mercury mines. Al- though extensive silver mines were worked in the Cerro de Pasco region during Colonial times, this fact seems not to have given rise to important 23 The highland King’s Highway continued north to Quito in Ecuador, passing through Hudnuco and Cajamarca. (See Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 400, 486.) towns, and the nearest large cities appear to have been Hudnuco to the north and Tarma to the southeast. Although many Highland products, particularly minerals, wool and woolen articles, and livestock, were transported to Lima, and articles of Euro- pean manufacture as well as Coastal products were brought up to the Sierra, Colonial commerce appears to have been far more local and regional in character than is true today (Valega, 1939, pp. 455-460). Owing to the great distances which had to be traveled, to the difficulties in- volved in transporting perishable goods on animal back, and to other factors relating to the complex economic organization of the Viceroyalty, local fairs and native markets thrived and the larger cities tended to be important regional economic, as well as administrative and religious, centers to a far greater degree than is true at the present time. During the Colonial period, merchandise con- tinued to be transported overland by pack animals, and, because they were able to carry heavier loads, mules, horses, and burros began to replace Hamas as beasts of burden. Colonial commerce was carried on chiefly by arrieros, or professional mule- teers, who, by means of their extensive trains of pack animals, transported goods and merchandise from one region to another. During the 18th century, these individuals, financed by local busi- nessmen or by the wealthy merchants of Lima, made trips to the Coast or to other Highland towns to sell the local products. In Lima they purchased articles of European manufacture, wines and liq- uors, and other Coastal products and returned to sell these in the principal cities of the Highlands. These cities in turn supplied the neighboring towns and villages (Valega, 1939, p. 457). The arriero commercial system survives to the present day in some towns, remote from the railways, such as Carmen Alto in Ayacucho Department. RAILWAYS AND HIGHWAYS The construction of the railways completely changed the organization of communications in the 2? Means (1932, p. 223) states that merchandise going from Spain to the Peruvian markets consisted chiefly of such woven fabrics as linens, silks, and metallic stuffs; luxury articles such as watches, firearms, glassware; and also iron and steel, general hardware, wines, drugs, and fine olive oil. The return cargoes consisted, first and foremost, of precious metals, and secondly of such raw materials as vicuna wool, tobacco, cacao, sugar, quinine, coca, hides, dyewoods, and cotton. 30 For a discussion of the survival of the arriero system, see Castro Pozo 1924, pp. 491-498. 18 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 Highlands of Peru; the railways signed the death warrants of some towns and increased the impor- tance of others. For commerce, which had for centuries passed up and down the length of the inter-Andean valleys, was now directed chiefly in an east-west direction, from the Sierra to the Coast. Seaports assumed a new importance and coastwise shipping largely took over the functions of the King’s Highway. The first railway to be built in Peru was the short line, completed in 1851, from the port of Callao to Lima. Plans for the construction of the Central and Southern Railways were not made until some 17 years later. By 1876 the Southern Railway, which was begun first, had been extended from the port of Mollendo to the city of Puno on Lake Titicaca in the heart of the southern Peru- vian Highlands.** While the Southern Railway was being built, work on the Central Railway was begun. The strain, however, on national finances caused by the simultaneous construction of two major lines brought operations to a standstill in 1876, and railway construction was further inter- rupted by the war with Chile. In 1890 a corpo- ration was formed in London to take over the chief Government railways in return for the cancel- lation of a debt owing to British creditors. Raul- way building operations were resumed, and the Central line to La Oroya was completed in 1893, while the Southern line from Puno to Cuzco was finished in 1908 Railway construction in Central Peru was ac- companied at every stage by the development and expansion of mining activities. The Cerro de Pasco Copper Corp., organized first as the Cerro de Pasco Mining Co., entered the field in 1902, and other mining companies followed shortly afterward. At the time when La Oroya was the Highland terminal of the Central Railway, this smelter town functioned as a ‘terrestrial port” into which flowed the mineral riches of Cerro de Pasco, Morococha, and Yauli (Romero, 1944, pp. 73-74). The mines, which form the principal nuclei of industrial activity in the Central High- land region, expanded radially as the railway pushed forward, deeper into the Sierra zone. By 1907 the Cerro de Pasco Mining Co. had con- structed its line from La Oroya to Cerro de Pasco, and a year later the Central Railway from La Oroya to Huancayo was opened to traffic. In 31 Material on the construction of the Peruvian railways has been taken chiefly from Dunn, 1925, pp. 47-78. turn the towns of Cerro de Pasco and Huancayo each became ‘terrestrial ports,’ and networks of roads spread out from these centers to the punas and to the jungles of the Montana. The con- struction of a narrow gage railway from Huancayo to Huancavelica revived in the latter Department the mining activities which had declined greatly in late Colonial times. At the present time the Central Railway dominates not only the valleys of Lima Department but also the central Sierra between Cerro de Pasco and Huancavelica. By extension, through a connecting system of auto- mobile roads, all Highland Peru between Hudnuco and Ayacucho lies within the sphere of influence of the Central Railway, and most of the commerce of this region centers upon the port of Callao which is its Coastal terminal. Road construction on an extensive scale in Peru is a recent development; roads were formerly considered of less importance than railways. In fact, a definite policy regarding the building of roads may be said to have been formulated as recently as 1916, at which time a special corps of highway engineers was created by the Peruvian Government. Dunn (1925, pp. 85-87), writing during the 1920’s, states that Sierra roads were chiefly ‘mule trails,” but that ‘cart roads,’ most of which were designed for future motor traffic, were contemplated. However late road construc- tion began, the various regions of Highland Peru which were formerly remote and inaccessible are today knit together by an admirable system of highways and roads which, taken together with the railways, have already begun to effect pro- found changes in the lives of the Highland peoples. The rapid and recent increase in means of com- munication has had sweeping effects on the popu- lation of all Peru. During the past century the population tended to be static in a geographical sense, and the country was characterized by a municipal organization which tended to be strongly local in character, and by a regional economy (Romero, 1944, pp. 61-62). This was followed by extensive movements of population which depopulated certain regions and greatly increased the populations of others. With an increase in means of communication and a subse- quent increase in industrial and commercial activities, there has been a general movement of population toward the centers best situated for commerce. The rapidly growing populations of Lima, Trujillo, and Arequipa bear witness to this HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 19 fact. There is also a notable movement of people from the Highland valleys to the Coast and of others from the punas and other backward areas into the valleys. Within the Central Sierra region proper, im- proved means of communication have created marked changes. Before roads were built to it, Ayacucho was quite literally squeezed to death between two railway terminals, Huancayo and Cuzco, to neither of which did it have access. In general most towns remote from the railways and roads have changed remarkably little. Huancayo, on the other hand, was converted almost over- night, from a small native market town into a thriving commercial city; the system of barter which formerly prevailed in the surrounding 32 This phenomenon will be dealt with in some detail in the forthcoming report on the Jauja Valley town of Sicaya by Tschopik, H., Jr., Muelle J., and Escobar, G. HUANCAVELICA HUANCAVELICA The most important event by far in the post- Conquest history of Huancavelica, an event which in fact led to the founding of the city and largely determined the lines along which the surrounding region subsequently developed, was the discovery during the late 16th century of rich, mercury- bearing ores in the high, bleak mountains of the upper Huancavelica River.** The discovery of these mercury mines was, indeed, of such outstand- ing importance—not only for Huancavelica but for all Colonial Peru—that Means wrote as fol- lows: “The mercury mines at Huancavelica were the prime source of both Royal and private wealth in Peru; for, without the mercury produced there, the silver mines at Potosi and elsewhere could not be worked profitably . . .”’ (Means, 1932, p. 189). Vazquez de Espmosa, who visited the city some 45 years after its founding in 1572—at which time it was called Villarica de Oropesa—has left us a vivid description of the discovery of quicksilver and of this Colonial mining town at the height of its boom. He states (1942, pp. 538-539) that although the Indians had at an earlier date mined the cinnabar ore to use as red pigment for paint, they made no further use of it because they were 33 For a summary account of the outstanding events in the history of Huancavelica Department, see Gavilan, 1941, pp. 18-32. towns has today been almost entirely replaced by a money economy. Cerro de Pasco, which began its existence as a mining camp, is now the com- mercial center for a vast area of the puna region. The Jauja Valley towns, which were once largely self-sufficient communities, now depend upon many manufactured articles from the outside and, in addition, produce cash crops for the Lima market. As a consequence, local markets and fairs have decreased in importance, and trains and trucks have made the arrieros obsolete in many regions. Increased facilities for travel are tending to break down local institutions and to obliterate local differences in custom. In the areas most closely affected by the railway and by the principal roads, the processes of acculturation have been enormously stepped up in recent times, and the inhabitants of these regions are at present experiencing rapid culture change. DEPARTMENT ignorant of the properties of mercury.** He con- tinues: The Spaniards also never arrived at this realization for a long time, not until 1567, when Licentiate Lope Garcia de Castro had succeeded the Conde de Nieva after his death, as Governor. A Portuguese named Enrrique Garces, who was an expert in such matters, saw this red ore, or vermilion, and recognized it and knowing that it was always associated with quicksilver, went up to the mines with this idea, tested the ore and got quicksilver from his assay. That was how quicksilver was discovered here; immediately there was a rush from many quarters to ex- ploit it for export to Mexico, where they used quicksilver in all their mining processes (for up to that time the process was not known in Pert) and many got rich from it; and at the report of such wealth, many flocked in from all sides [Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, p. 539]. And so at the rumor of the rich deposits of mereury in the days of Don Francisco de Toledo, in the years 1570 and 1571, they started the construction of the town of Huancavalica de Oropesa in a pleasant valley at the foot of the range. It will contain 400 Spanish residents, as well as many temporary shops of dealers in merchandise and groceries, heads of trading houses, and transients, for the town has a lively commerce. It has a parish church with vicar and curate, a Dominican convent, and a Royal Hospital under the Brethren of San Juan de Didés for the care of the sick, especially Indians on the range; it has a chaplain with a salary of 800 assay pesos con- tributed by His Majesty; he is curate of the parish of San Sebastiin de Indios, for the Indians who have come to work in the mines and who have settled down there. 4 He explains elsewhere (ibid., pp. 530-531) that the Spaniards used mer- cury in the refining of silver ore, and gives a detailed description of the process. 20 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 There is another parish on the other side of the town, known as Santa Ana, and administered by Dominican friars. Every 2 months His Majesty sends by the regular courier from Lima 60,000 pesos to pay for the mita * of the Indians, for the crews are changed every 2 months, so that merely for the Indian mita payment [in my under- standing of it] 360,000 pesos are sent from Lima every year, not to speak of much besides, which all crosses at his risk that cold and desolate mountain country which is the puna and has nothing on it but llama ranches. Up on the range there are 3,000 or 4,000 Indians work- ing in the mine; it is colder up there than in the town, since it is higher. The mine where the mercury is lo- cated, is a large layer which they keep following down- ward. When I was in that town (which was in the year 1616) I went up on the range and down into the mine, which at that time was considerably more than [100] 130 stades [1 stade equals 1.85 yards] deep. The ore was very rich black flint, and the excavation so extensive that it held more than 3,000 Indians working away hard with picks and hammers, breaking up that flint ore; and when they have filled their little sacks, the poor fellows, loaded down with ore, climb up those ladders or rigging, some like masts and others like cables, and so trying and distressing that a man empty-handed can hardly get up them. That is the way they work in this mine, with many lights and the loud noise of the pounding and great confusion .... [Ibid., 1942, pp. 542-543.] It is clear, then, that the tradition of mining has a respectable antiquity in Huancavelica Depart- ment, and although at the present time mining continues to be one of the principal economic activities, the Department now ranks ninth in the Republic in the production of minerals (Pareja Paz Soldaén, 1943, p. 377). Owing to a series of complicated factors which attended the collapse of Colonial Peru, the War of Independence, and the abolition of the mita system, the decline in im- portance of mining, which began toward the end of the 17th century, became accentuated during the 18th century, and continued in great part into the early 19th century (ibid., p. 376).% Modern scientific mechanized mining, which had its origin in Peru in the 1880’s, does not in any sense stem from Colonial techniques, and has only recently begun to affect Huancavelica Depart- ment; the demands for minerals created by World War II have tended to focus attention once again on the mines of Huancavelica, and have enlivened commercial activity generally. 85 The system of mita, or forced labor for which the Indians received nomi- nal and often absurdly small payment, is discussed in detail by Valega, 1939, pp. 185-203. Also see Rowe, 1946, pp. 267-268, and Kubler, 1946, pp. 371-373. 36 Since, throughout Colonial times, mercury was utilized primarily in connection with the refining of silver, the decline in the price of silver (see section on Cerro de Pasco, pp. 49-50) was accompanied by a parallel decline in mercury mining (E] Peri en Marcha, 1941, p. 281). In the present-day city of Huancavelica, the re- mains of Colonial splendor and of Colonial min- ing activities are in evidence on every side. The red dumps of abandoned mercury mines extend to the very outskirts of the city. Everywhere there are indications of long-continued isolation from the outside world. Shut in on all sides by high mountains, the town, which stretches along both banks of the river, consists in the main of stone buildings with tiled roofs (pl. 3, a,b). Many of these, in the vicinity of the principal plaza, are two-storied and have carved wooden balconies and the elaborately carved stone doorframes of the Colonial period (pl. 3, c). The two principal churches and several of the lesser ones have baroque stone facades, intricately worked. Yet everywhere amid these relics of former wealth there are signs of dilapidation and decay. Open drains or acequias flow down the narrow cobbled streets (there is but one paved street in the city), and many of the Colonial buildings are now fall- ing into ruins. The market is small and undif- ferentiated as compared with the markets of Huancayo and Ayacucho, and the local shops are poorly stocked; many common articles manu- factured in Lima are not available. Although the city possesses an electric light system, a motion picture theater, and several small hotels, it remains one of the most backward Department. capitals in the Highlands of Peru. As indicated by the figures presented earlier (see p. 12), Huancavelica Department has a pre- dominantly Indian population, and many Indians are in evidence on the streets of Huancavelica itself, while the parish of San Cristébal across the river from the city proper and that of Santa Ana, are large Indian towns (pl. 3, d). It is probable that even within the city of Huancavelica, the Indian population heavily outweighs the Mestizo and White segments. Indians from the surround- ing punas drive large flocks of llamas laden with such Highland products as dried meat, wool, and woven woolen textiles into Huancavelica to sell or to barter for cheap machine-made textiles, manufactured articles, and hardware. With these they return to their upland villages, or transport them to remote agricultural valleys where they are traded for maize, grain, and other vegetable products. Huancavelica is the center of economic activity for a great portion of the Department, since it is the terminal of the Huancavelica-Huancayo nar- HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 21 row gage railway. To a lesser extent, Castro- virreina, connected with Pisco on the Coast by automobile road, tends to act as market center for the southern part of the Department. Other than mineral products (gold, silver, copper, mercury, and tungsten) the chief exports of the Department are livestock and dried meat (prin- cipally sheep, goats, and llamas), wool (llama, alpaca, sheep), and agricultural products (po- tatoes, barley, and wheat). SANTA BARBARA In the cold puna country, some 1,500 feet higher than the city of Huancavelica, the village of Santa Barbara is situated at an altitude of 13,800 feet. This village is located near the site of the mercury mine of the same name, which is at present being worked on a smull scale, although it was formerly the most famous Colonial mine in the Huancavelica region.” Santa Barbara is isolated and relatively inaccessible in spite of the fact that it is situated only about 2 miles due south in a direct line from Huancavelica. The nearby mine is connected with Huancavelica, some 12 miles distant, by a tortuous automobile road, but the villagers usually travel to the city down a steep and rocky mountain trail. Constructed within a little hollow and sur- rounded by steep, barren mountains, the houses of the village straggle down a hillside to the single plaza, an undecorated grass-grown square (pl. 4, a,b). Here are located the village’s few public buildings. On one side is the church and a small, one-room jail used only for the temporary deten- tion of lawbreakers; at one end of the plaza is the school." Occupying the other end and side of the square are two of the village’s three tiendas or shops, and several houses belonging to the leading Mestizo citizens. The streets which enter the plaza are narrow and crooked, neither intended for nor used by wheeled vehicles. Electricity and telegraph communication with Huancavelica are lacking; the village’s supply of drinking water comes from nearby springs. Santa Barbara, which is ranked as a comunidad (community) in the administrative hierarchy, is an annex of Huancavelica. Although the com- munity has an estimated population of 700, only 37 Quijada Jara, 1944, p. 13. This book contains descriptions of miscella- neous fiestas, customs, beliefs, and folk tales of the Huancavelica region, 38 In this school, for boys only, there were 53 students enrolled during 1944. There is no school for girls. some 100 inhabitants reside permanently in the town proper, the remainder living in scattered house groups or caserios in the punas, on the hill- sides, and in the valley below. It is probable that at least 90 percent of the pop- ulation is Indian, and though Quechua is the language of the community, a few of the men speak some Spanish; the few Mestizos speak Spanish in addition to Quechua.” Within the village the Mestizos occupy the three principal political offices of teniente goberna- dor (deputy governor), agente municipal (munici- pal agent), and jwez de paz (justice of the peace). In the outlying districts there are seven lesser administrative officials, collectively termed va- rayoc, who carry staffs as insignia of office. Of the seven, all of whom are Indians, one is alcalde (mayor), one is regidor (alderman), and five are alguaciles (constables). Two other positions of influence in the village are held by Mestizos. The one school teacher is a Mestizo from Huanca- velica, while a Mestiza operates one of the three stores; the two remaining small shops are kept by Indian women.*! Since there is no priest in Santa Barbara, an Indian who knows some chants and prayers, as well as miscellaneous elements of Roman Catholic ritual, acts as sacristan of the church. Class distinctions are clearly reflected in dress. The school teacher wears European-type clothing of national manufacture, and shoes; Mestizas of the town wear full skirts, blouses, and shawls of manufactured materials, broad-brimmed straw hats, and shoes. Indian men of the village wear homespun woolen trousers tucked into calf-length knitted wool stockings, and hide slipper-sandals (yanqui); their shirts, vests, and jackets, cut along European lines, are also of woolen homespun, as are thei scarves. Native-woven belts, short striped ponchos, and native-made felt hats com- plete the costume (pl. 4, ec). Indian women dress themselves in homespun jackets, blouses, and full 39 In the neighboring village of Huaylacucho (population approximately 500), there are no Mestizo residents. Although resembling Santa Barbara closely in its material culture, organization, and general way of life, this village is laid out without coherent plan, has no public buildings except for a small church, and no stores (pl.6, a). The inhabitants are Quechua Indians who speak virtually no Spanish. 40 Varayoc, a bastard Spanish-Quechua translation of the Spanish ‘‘envara- do” (“endowed with staff of office’), stems from ‘‘vara,’”’ or staff; it means “with staff.” For a discussion of the office of varayoc in Huancavelica De- partment, see Quijada Jara, 1944, pp. 99-105. 41 It must be remembered that in the Highlands of Peru, as elsewhere in Latin America, the keeping of a shop, regardless of how poorly it is stocked, enhances the owner’s prestige and tends to give him a superior status in the community. 22 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 skirts, hand-woven shawls and carrying cloths for transporting bundles and babies, native-woven belts, and home-made felt hats (pl. 4, d). Either they, too, wear slipper-sandals, o: go barefoot. With local variations in details, the costumes described above are, in general, typical of those towns in Huancavelica Department which were visited during the survey. The houses of Santa Barbara are essentially alike for both classes. They are rectangular, single-room units constructed of field stones set in adobe, roofed usually with tile, although a few are straw-thatched. In some houses the forward pitch of the roof extends over a set-in porch, or corredor, and is supported by two or more wooden columns (pl. 4, d). Kitchens are usually small, separate structures, characteristically roofed by a single-pitched tile or thatched roof; often they are built against the main house, and share a common wall. All houses have adjoining corrals and rough sheds for the livestock. The Mestizo houses, while similar in regard to architecture, tend to be more differentiated and to be composed of unit rooms built around a patio. Some have a com- bined sala and dining room, one or more bedrooms, a separate kitchen, and occasionally a separate storeroom, Because of the scarcity of farm land in the ter- ritory pertaining to Santa Barbara, most of the inhabitants of the community (the school teacher estimated 80 percent) live by pastoralism. The animals which are kept in large numbers include sheep, llamas, and alpacas (pl. 2, ¢c); in addition, a few head of cattle, burros, and a very few horses are owned, and pigs and chickens are raised on a small scale for local consumption. The livestock, divided into family flocks and herded by the women and children, graze on the punas. While some mutton is sold in the market in Huanca- velica, most surplus mutton is dried whole (cha- lona) and Hama meat is jerked to make charqut. Llamas are also used as pack animals, and sheep, Hama, and alpaca wool is spun locally and woven into articles for trade. Weaving is the town’s principal handicraft.” The farm lands of the community, located on the hillsides and in the valley below the town, are owned individually; in the event of the death of an owner, if there are no heirs, the land reverts to the community. Because of the altitude, the cold, 42 The neighboring village of Huaylacucho specializes in the manufacture of pottcry and roof tiles and, to a lesser extent, in weaving. and the poor quality of the soil, the land produces but one crop a year. The principal crop is po- tatoes, with barley second in importance; other crops grown on a very small scale include quinoa and ocas. Most of the potatoes are consumed locally, either fresh or as chufu (dehydrated po- tatoes). The inhabitants of Santa Barbara carry on a lively trade with towns situated in the lower valleys of Huancavelica Department. Wool, na- tive-woven woolen products (blankets, ponchos, shawls and scarves, homespuns, or bayeta), dried meat (charqui and chalona), and some potatoes are bartered for maize, wheat, vegetables, and fruit. These trading ventures are undertaken once or twice a year, usually after the potato harvest, to Acobamba, Lireay, and occasionally to Huancayo. The Indians of Santa Barbara are not great travelers and rarely travel as far from home as Lima or to the Coast; trips to the jungle are said never to be made. Although by tradition they are miners, few of the inhabitants of the community at present work in mines.* The neighboring mine of Santa Barbara employed only some 10 Indians from the village during the entire year of 1944. In addi- tion, one Mestizo of Santa Barbara owns and operates a small mine. The Roman Catholic church is the only denomi- nation represented in the village. The most important fiesta, that of the patron saint, Santa Barbara, takes place on December 4. In this and in other fiestas as well, an individual assumes the responsibility for a year to act as sponsor, or mayordomo. In this role he has the obligation of paying the bulk of the expenses, furnishing the fireworks, and feasting the other participants. In connection with important fiestas there are dances and corridas de toros, “‘bull-baiting.” CHOCLOCOCHA The village of Choclococha, the pastoral com- munity par excellence, appears to be typical of the many small, poverty-stricken shepherds’ villages scattered widely over the Huancavelica uplands. 43 In this respect the nearby village of Huaylacucho differs from Santa Barbara. Many men of the former community go to work in the mines of the Huancavelica region after the potato crop has been harvested. Often they go to the mines accompanied by their wives and children, a relative being left behind to care for the livestock and to watch the house. Most are said to return home in time for the planting season, 44 Jn spite of the fact that this mine pays unskilled laborers a minimum wage of 244 soles a day, the villagers prefer to work as shepherds or farmers at 1 or 114 soles daily. The explanation commonly given is fear of illness thought to be contracted while working in mines. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 23 Choclococha is located in desolate puna country at the northwestern end of the small glacial lake of the same name at an altitude of approximately 14,500 feet. Situated on a marshy pampa which is seamed by small meandering streams, it is hemmed in by bleak, rocky hills covered with tough ichu grass. Jagged snow-capped peaks rise to the north, and the surrounding hills are stony with old glacial moraines. Llamas, alpacas, sheep, a few head of small, thin cattle, and small, wooly ponies graze on the upland meadows. The region abounds in game. Although the village is situated about 42 miles distant from Huancavelica on the automobile road to Castrovirreina, Choclococha is isolated for all intents and purposes, since most traffic through the community consists of mining company trucks in transit. The village has no electricity and no post office, although the people of the town may use the telegraph office at Santa Inés mine, about 7 miles distant. The water supply is furnished by the nearby streams. The village of Choclococha consists of some 40 houses ranged along two roughly parallel cobble- stoned streets; spaces between the houses serve as transverse streets (pl. 5, a-c). At one time open stone-lined drains ran down the centers of these, but the acequias have long since fallen into disuse. At one end of the town stands a small thatch- roofed church, before which is a square, surtounded by low stone walls and overgrown with coarse grass. The one-room school is situated on this square next to the church. The village’s four shops, operated by Indians, are very poorly stocked; aside from the inevitable aguardiente, or distilled sugarcane liquor, candles, coca, small quantities of flour, aji peppers, and the like are offered for sale. The houses of the village consist of small, rectangular, gabled one-room units of field- stones set in adobe mortar; several of the newer houses are constructed of puddled adobe. All are thatched with ichu grass, and lack both windows and patios. Kitchens are for the most part small, separate stone huts, usually built against the side of the main house (pl. 5, a). Because the livestock are herded in outlying estancias or ranches, there are no corrals or out- buildings in the village proper. 45 This elementary school, which was inaugurated in 1941, is attended by 25 boys and 15 girls. Choclococha, which is ranked as a comunidad and which has an estimated population of 250, is an annex of Pilpichaca, the District capital some 15% miles distant. Although the village itself contains only about 150 inhabitants, an additional 100 live in scattered herders’ huts throughout the upland pasture region which pertains to the community. With the exception of the school teacher, a Mestiza from Huancave- lica, the entire population of Choclococha is Indian. Few, even among the male inhabitants, speak Spanish; Quechua is the language of the community. The essential lack of class distinc- tion in Choclococha is reflected by the undifferen- tiated house type, the identity of occupation (all of the inhabitants are said to be herders), and the similarity in dress, which for both sexes is in general like that described for Santa Barbara. Recently, however, and presumably owing to influ- ences emanating from the neighboring mines, some of the men and boys of the village have begun to wear overalls and shoes in the place of bayeta trou- sers and slipper-sandals. Aninformant summed up the class situation in Choclococha in these words: “We here are all poor shepherds; the only differ- ence is that some of us are poorer than others.” The officials of the village, all of whom are Indians, are teniente gobernador and four varayoc, including an alealde, a regidor, and two inspectores who correspond to the alguaciles of Santa Barbara. As in the latter village, the church is attended by a local sacristan, since there is no resident priest. Since Choclococha is located on the high pla- teau above the upper limits of agriculture, the village is totally lacking in farm land, and the herding of sheep, llamas, and alpacas provides the sole means of livelihood. Pigs and chickens are purchased from time to time for festive occasions, but are not ordinarily kept, because of the alti- tude and cold. Even guinea pigs are said not to be raised, owing to the fact that there is little to feed them. In order to supplement their meager and monotonous diet, the villagers frequently hunt viscachas, employing dogs for this purpose, and occasionally kill vicufa. Potatoes, grain, and vegetable products are ob- tained by trading wool, sheep pelts, woven prod- ucts, dried meat, and livestock. The inhabitants of Choclocecha are not accustomed to travel great distances, and few are said to have been farther away from home than to Huancavelica or to 24 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 Castrovirreina. These trading trips are usually made on foot, and produce is transported on llama back (pl. 5, d); truck transportation is, however, becoming more frequent. Itinerant merchants and traders make the rounds of these puna communities, purchasing or bartering for the local products. Sheep and wool buyers with headquarters in Huancavelica visit the village after the flocks have been sheared. Several times a year traders or arrieros from Ayacucho make trips through this region selling coca, bread, and valley products and bartering for or purchasing wool, sheep pelts, and livestock. (See Carmen Alto, pp. 29-31.) Native-woven textiles including ponchos, shawls, and homespuns are produced for local consumption and for trade, and quantities of llama hair rope are braided for the Huancavelica market. These articles are, in the main, manu- factured by men. The inhabitants of Choclococha who do not possess sufficiently large flocks to support them- selves by means of pastoralism alone go to work in the several mines situated nearby. Usually men goin groups of 8 or 10, leaving the women and children behind to herd the livestock. Since, as one informant stated, mine wages are low and the work difficult, most of these groups remain for only 2 or 3 months at a time and then return to their homes to stay until their earnings have been spent. Some 10 men of the community work on the maintenance of the Huancavelica-Castrovir- reina highway. Because of the general poverty of the com- munity, fiestas are said to be simple and infre- quent. The principal fiesta of the community is held on October 15 to celebrate El Sefor de Cochareas. In addition to the fiestas of the church calendar, rites are performed which are designed to insure the welfare of the flocks and herds and to increase their numbers. CASTROVIRREINA Like Huancavelica, Castrovirreina began its existence early in Colonial times as a mining town. Vazquez de Espinosa (1942, pp. 527-528) states that, owing to the discovery of silver mines in the vicinity in 1590, the town was founded in 1591, and 2,000 Indians from the ad- joining provinces were apportioned to work the mines and to perform other necessary labors. Describing the town as he saw it in 1616, he continues: It contains 100 houses, a main street and other side streets; there is a plaza, with the church and the Royal Apartments on it; but all the buildings are made of adobe, low and straw-thatched. [Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 527-528.] He states that in the year 1610 the town con- tained 86 European residents including, other than Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, and a Levantine. The chief business of this city is its mines and smelters; but the owners are in debt for more than their value; they are sustained by hopes for the future, and the same is true of those who contract with them. There are eight businessmen dealing in Spanish and native merchandise, who live there on the plaza, not to mention others who come up frequently for business transactions [ibid., pp. 528-529]. In addition to being a mining center, Vazquez de Espinosa makes it clear that the economics of Colonial Castrovirreina, as today, depended in large part upon farming, trading, and the breeding of livestock. He states: They grow potatoes, which are like ground truffles; ocas; macas, which are like small turnips; and ollucos; these are all root crops—they cannot grow wheat, barley, or corn for the land is too cold, although there are some ravines nearby, at a quarter league and a league, where they do very well, downstream by the river passing by the city and others near at hand; they raise cabbage, garlic, lettuce, peaches, and frutilla de Chile, which is their straw- berry, but larger and better. They get wine from the Ica and Pisco Valleys, and Umay, and the Government reg- ularly apportions Indians for the transport, so that the city may be provided with wine, flour, and other necessary foodstuffs . . . so that the city is well provided all the year with the products and fruit coming up to it from the valleys. In the year 1610 there were four cattle ranches, four sheep ranches, five of goats, and one of mules, and a few farms. On these ranches there were 1,600 cattle, 5,000 sheep, 12,000 goats, and 400 brood mares. At present there are many more, for they breed well and multiply rapidly [ibid., p. 530]. In the early 17th century the District of the city of Castrovirreina was divided into enco- miendas, and the Indians paid tribute to their encomendero in the form of cash, silver ore, produce, or a combination of these.** The native popula- 46 In theory the purpose of the encomiendas was to missionize and socialize the Indian populations which pertained to them; in fact, the system served to exploit the Indians in that they were often forced to pay tribute to the encomenderos in the form of goods or services. For a discussion and analysis of the system see Valega (1939, pp. 183-185). VAzquez de Espinosa states that the tributary Indians of the Province of Huachos, which pertained to Castrovirreina, paid tribute in the form of cash, silver ore, cloth, llamas, maize, poultry, and potatoes at rates fixed by the Viceroys (V4zquez de Es- pinosa, 1942, pp. 536-537). HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF tion of the Province of Los Chocorvos, for exampie, was divided according to age and status into several groups including tributary Indians, mar- ried persons, unmarried persons, old men and women exempt from paying tribute, widows and unmarried women, and children and boys under 14 years of age. In this Province the Indians were divided into two parcialidades, or territories, each governed by an Indian cacique (leader) and his subordinates. The jurisdiction of the cacique over the Indians consisted in obliging them to pre- sent themselves for their mita service and to pay their tribute. Each parcialidad had a treasury in which the funds of the community were de- posited, and from which the salaries of the curates, the corregidor (magistrate), the Indian caciques, the encomenderos, the shepherds of the commun- ity’s flocks, and tribute were paid (Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 534-536). The hopes for the future which sustained the Colonial miners of early 17th-century Castro- virreina seem never to have materialized; indeed the present-day town has only begun to prosper as a consequence of the recently opened highway to Pisco on the Coast. Formerly the trip to the Coastal valleys required 3 or 4 days of difficult travel down the steep and rugged canyon of the Pisco River, and goods were transported by burros or llamas. Today trucks go back and forth regularly, and the life of the town is domi- nated by the highway. Castrovirreina is situated on the edge of the puna zone neav the headwaters of the Pisco River at an elevation of approximately 13,000 feet. Barren, stony, grass-covered mountains flank the valley on each side, and scattered fields of stunted barley give evidence that this region represents the upper limits of agriculture. As in the day of V4zquez de Espinosa, the town con- sists of a main street, the highway, along which are ranged two lines of houses (pl. 6, 6). The majority of the buildings, most of which are con- structed of adobe bricks or of puddled adobe, are of one story and have thatched or tiled roofs. A few of the more recent structures are roofed with galvanized iron. The town is drab and squalid, and its appearance has not been improved by the serious fire which, in 1944, is said to have destroyed about 40 percent of the houses. A small church, now in ruins, stands at the upper end of the town, while the new church, an unlovely structure of puddled adobe with an iron roof, is 701701473 CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 20 situated at the lower edge. There are two schools, one for boys and another for girls, each of which is attended by three teachers.” In addition, a school of mines (Escuela Minera de San José) which has an enrollment of some 75 students, most of whom are natives of the region, is located about 134 miles distant from the town. Today there is no plaza or fixed market; articles of food, clothing, and general merchandise are hauled up from the Coast in trucks and sold in the many shops which line the main street. These shops do a lively business, although many shop- keepers complain of the competition offered by the general stores of the neighboring mining com- panies which buy goods in quantity and sell at cost. Nearly all of the stores are operated by Mestizos, many of whom are from Huancavelica or from the Coast. Because of the constant truck traffic, the town has a gasoline station, a small hotel, and several eating places. The water system of the town is a mountain stream which flows behind the main street through an open, stone-lined channel. Owing to the lack of sufficient water power, the electric system is inadequate and there is no motion picture theater. The population of the town of Castrovirreina numbers approximately 1,000, while the District, of which it is the capital, has some 2,500 inhabi- tants. Actually it is difficult to calculate the population of the town in exact terms, since many Indians who live in it for a part of the year also own small farms and estancias in the surrounding punas to which they go from time to time to tend their flocks and to harvest their crops. It appears certain, however, that most of those persons of the District who are classed as Mestizo or White live in the town proper, and the way of life of the town is clearly Mestizo rather than Indian.” Owing to the proximity of the Spanish-speaking Coastal valleys, and to the frequent trading trips between Coast and Sierra, Spanish is the language of the town although many of the Mestizos of Castrovir- reina also speak some Quechua. Spanish is also spoken as a second language by many of the Indians of the outlying regions of the District. The degree of culture change and mestizaje to which the Castrovirreina region has been sub- 47 At present some 150 boys and 115 girls are enrolled in these schools. 48 According to the 1940 Peruvian census, the District of Castrovirreina has 2,516 inhabitants, of whom 942 are classed as Whites and Mestizos while 1,568 are Indians (Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, table 2, p. 35). 49 It should be noted that at the time when the survey was being made (April 1945), most of the Indian residents of Castrovirreina were away at their estancias harvesting the potato crop. 26 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 jected is reflected by the diversity of dress styles which are to be seen in the town. In addition to the traditional costumes of the region, which have been described for the village of Santa Barbara, one sees Mestizos in European style clothing carry- ing bundles on their backs in native-woven carry- ing cloths, and Indian women wearing men’s hats manufactured in Lima. Since, in addition to being the seat of the District government, Castrovirreina is also the capital of the Province of the same name, it has the formal political organization which is encountered in all Provinces of the country, and which it is not necessary to discuss in the present paper. Within the town proper, the political officials, the school teachers, and the resident priest are all Mestizos. Although most of the 20 annexes which pertain to the District are predominantly Indian communi- ties, most of the officials of these are also Mestizos. The traditional offices collectively included under the term varayoc have disappeared in the Castro- virreina region. Today, owing to its geographical situation and to the connecting highway, Castrovirreina func- tions chiefly as a center for the exchange of Coastal and Highland products. Local residents estimate that at least a quarter of the Mestizo inhabitants of the town, mostly men, are engaged in small- scale trading enterprises, and make frequent trips by truck with their produce to Pisco, Ica, and Chincha valleys. From the Coast these, as well as Coastal traders, return with rice, sugar, flour, bananas, fruit, vegetables, peppers, wines, and aguardiente for consumption in Castrovirreina and for trade throughout the Province. Virtually all commerce today is based on a money economy and only some Indians from the surrounding punas continue to employ the barter system. The principal cash crop of the Castrovirreina region is the potato crop, the greater part of which is sold in the markets of Pisco or to dealers AYACUCHO AYACUCHO The great Colonial city of Huamanga (or Guamanga), today renamed Ayacucho in com- memoration of the decisive battle at that place during the War of Independence, was founded in the year 1539 by Francisco Pizarro because the great distance which had to be traveled between who have come to this town from Lima. Nearly all barley is consumed locally, although a small quantity is traded to the coast. Much of the land of the Castrovirreina region is owned by small haciendas, or fincas, which specialize in the production of potatoes, barley, and wheat, and in breeding llamas, sheep, and some cattle. The farmers and herders of these fincas are the Indians of the punas who, in return for their services, are allowed to farm portions of the finea’s lands, to graze their livestock on the finea’s pastures, or receive a small daily wage. In addition, the estancias of the Indians produce livestock and wool for the Coastal market. The hacienda cattle are kept chiefly for dairy products, butter and cheese being important articles of trade; the haciendas also produce mutton, dried meat, and wool for export to the Coast. Although there is some traffic in hide sandals, native industries are of little importance in the Castrovirreina region, and such weaving as is done is for local consumption. Mining continues to be of importance through- out the region, and local inhabitants estimate that some 20 percent of the Indian residents of the town work seasonally in the nearby mines. The majority of these men go to the mines un- accompanied by their families, who stay behind to tend the fields and the flocks. The people of Castrovirreina are said to dislike to work on the haciendas of the Coast or on the plantations of the Montana because of fear of contracting malaria. The fiestas of Castrovirreina are said by the local inhabitants to have lost much of thei tra- ditional character in recent years; 1t appears that with the improved facilities for travel and trade, the process of secularization of “holy days’’ to “holidays” is becoming increasingly marked. Fiestas of a purely social nature and national holidays are reported to be assuming greater importance. DEPARTMENT Jauja and Cuzco was without any sizable town or city. The founding of the city led immediately to a war with the Indians under the leadership of Inca Manco, and this in turn necessitated the establishing of a large Spanish garrison and settle- ment at Huamanga which served as field head- quarters. From the new settlement a series of successful campaigns were waged which finally HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 27 drove the Indians from their mountain strong- holds and left the country at peace (Ruiz Fowler, 1924, pp. 50-51). After the campaigns against Inca Manco had ended, the site of the city of Huamanga was changed because its original location was found not to be suitable. Regarding its present site, Vazquez de Espinosa, who visited the city early in the 17th century, wrote enthusiastically as follows: For this they chose a level spot with a brook running through it with sweet and crystal-clear waters, and they built their city on its banks, having transferred it from the other site. Toward the N. it has some low ranges of hills which might almost serve as its walls; you cannot see the city until you get near it. Its climate ranks among the best and most delightful in the Kingdom of Peru; it is always springtime, with cheerful skies and healthful breezes . . . the temperature is equable, highly constant, and... healthful, without annoyance from the sun or heat or cold, because there is no excess of any of them. All the buildings and houses in this city are very sump- tuous, among the finest in Pert; the houses all have large portals and are built of cut stone and brick, of excellent architecture. The city will contain 400 Spanish residents and mestizos, plus a large service contingent of native Indians, Yanaconas, Negroes, and mulattoes; there are two outer wards; one is administered by Dominicans and the other by priests. This city has an excellent Cathedral, residence of the Bishop of this city and its provinces, which lie between the Archdiocese of Lima, almost directly N. of it, and the Diocese of Cuzco, which is toitsS..... The city contains excellent Dominican, Franciscan, Mercedarian, and Jesuit convents, and an excellent nunnery of nuns of Santa Clara; there is a hospital for the care of the indigent sick, and, in addition, other shrines and churches. This city is at the halfway point of the King’s Highway of the Incas, between Lima and Cuzco. Within a 5-league circuit it has very fertile and prolific valleys with a hot climate; in them there are vineyards, pear orchards, pippins, apples, quinces, peaches, figs, and all the other Spanish and native varieties of fruit, in great abundance. These valleys are delightful resorts and much frequented, as, e. g., Yueay, 1 league from the city, and Vinaca, 3, with excellent vineyards and orchards of these fruit trees just mentioned; at 1 league from the city there is a riverside district with gristmills. There are many settlements in the neigh- borhood, such as Huamanguilla, 4 leagues off, and La Quinoa and others, all very fertile; all over these valleys there are many people living on farms where they sow and reap much wheat, corn, and other cereals; there are many cattle and sheep and hog ranches; almost all this area described lies to the ENE. of the city. The Corregidor of Guamanga, appointed by the Council, has jurisdiction over the 5 leagues round about, including all the Indian villages in this district, in which there are many cattle, sheep, and hog ranches, and fields of wheat, corn, and other crops and cereals. The place is full of transients, being on the King’s Highway, with an active trade and abundance of excellent supplies. [Vazquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 522-524.] In this district, besides what has been mentioned, much wine is produced in the valleys and much is brought in on llama-back from the valleys of Ica, Ingenio, and Nas- ca, which lie to its W.; and on the cold puna in between there are many llama ranches, etc. [Ibid., p. 524.] Hence in the early 17th century, Ayacucho, located in the heart of a rich agricultural region, was already a thriving city which had a large Spanish population and was even then renowned for its magnificent churches and convents and for its piety. While several of these impressive religious structures date from the 16th century, many more were built, particularly by the Jesuits, during the 17th, and even into the 18th century.” The placid existence of Colonial Ayacucho was greatly disrupted in 1814 by outbreaks which marked the beginning of the revolt against Spanish rule. The general political unrest was expressed by street fighting and by frequent executions and assassinations, and by Indian uprisings against the Spaniards in Huanta, Cangallo, and elsewhere." Because of the large concentration of Spaniards in the Ayacucho region, many of whom remained loyal to the king, the wars for independence in this area were par- ticularly bitter. Taking advantage of the trou- bled situation, the discontented Indians—espe- cially the Morochucos—rose against their Spanish oppressors, killed many of them, burned towns and villages, and looted houses and churches. In retaliation, the Spaniards massacred the popula- tion of Cangallo, the home of the Morochucos, and burned the town to the ground. In 1824, after the battle of Junin, the troops of the patriot army under General Sucre marched south and won a definitive victory over the Spanish army in the battle of Ayacucho which was fought on the plains near the village of Quinoa.” Yet even after their defeat, Spanish officers leading bands of Indian guerrillas terrorized the countryside for several years. (Basadre, 1940, pp. 76-77.) After a brilliant past which was, in many re- spects, as spectacular as that of Cuzco, Ayacucho 50 Medina, 1942, p. 49. This book contains an excellent description of the architectural history of Ayacucho and describes in detail its civil and domestic as well as its religious buildings. For what is probably the most complete existing description of Ayacucho during the Colonial Period, see Ruiz Fowler (1924, pp. 45-102). 51 The following brief historical summary of events marking the beginning of the War of Independence is taken from Rufz Fowler (1924, pp. 102-119). Also see Alvarez (1944, pp. 18-20). 52 For an account of the battle of Ayacucho, see Gavilan (1941, pp. 174-182). 28 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 ceased to be a city of first importance. In part its decline may be attributed to changing patterns of communication; untouched by the railways, it lacked, until very recently, adequate highway connections with other parts of the Republic. It is apparent, however, that the gradual decay of Ayacucho may not be attributed to these factors alone. Squier, who visited the city m the 1860's, wrote: ‘The whole city, indeed, is laid out and built on a grand scale, but there are unmistakable signs of a gradual decline in wealth and popula- tion” (Squier, 1877, pp. 560-561). Although Colonial Ayacucho had a large Span- ish population, the number of present-day resi- dents of pure European extraction appears to be considerably reduced. Many of the old families, if they retain sufficient of their former wealth, prefer to live in the larger and more modern cities, though they may maintain their ancestral homes in Ayacucho to which they return from time to time. The sons of these families tend to receive university training in the professions, usually in Cuzco or in Lima, to take up residence elsewbere, and to attach less value to the local traditions of their families. Hence the Colonial aristocracy of Ayacucho is on the wane, and today important positions, political, ecclesiastical, and commercial, are often held by members of the Mestizo class; most of the merchants and large-scale tradersand many of the market people are Mestizos. In the opinion of a member of an aristocratic Ayacucho family, the present population of the city may be divided into three classes, the gente decente (the old families), the mozada (the Mestizos), and the indios (the Indians), most of whom do not live in the city, but come in from the surrounding com- munities to trade their produce and handicrafts. It is evident that the two last-mentioned classes are in the majority at the present time. In the midst of many evidences of former Colonial splendor (pl. 7, a, b), the present-day inhabitants of Ayacucho derive their livelihood from the fact that the city is the market center for the rich outlying farming regions. While the suburbs are old and dilapidated (pl. 7, ¢), and indeed the eastern portion of the city is almost deserted, the market today is the center of activity. The market, which is housed in a new building, is carefully departmentalized. The vendors, most of whom are women who pay a municipal fee for the privilege of operating a puesto, or stand, sit in special sections that have been assigned for the sale of particular products. The fruit vendors sit together in one line, those who sell textiles and woven products in another; other sections are assigned hats, machine-made clothing, shoes, meat, bread, grain, etc. The vegetable vendors sit on the floor with their products piled in little heaps on a shawl which is spread out in front of them. Within the market, many stands are permanent, and are operated daily by the same women, most of whom are natives of Ayacucho or nearby suburbs. The majority of the products sold are of local origin. The women who sell straw hats finish them there in the market, block- ing them and attaching the bands. Those who have clothing stalls sew skirts and blouses on sewing machines while the blanket vendors sit beside them and spin or comb the naps of their finished textiles. The market is also a workshop and a center of social activity. Behind the market is a large, crowded, open square with a fountain in the center where there are gathered many other vendors of fruit, vege- tables, alfalfa, fodder, pottery, and prepared food (pl. 7, d). Whereas inside the market the stands were operated by Mestiza “‘middlemen”’ and the goods and products were sold for cash, here most of the vendors are Indians who have come into town to sell products grown on their farms and who cannot afford the price of a permanent stall. In the market square, while some articles are sold for cash, most trading is conducted by barter. As in the early 17th century, the countryside around Ayacucho is still intensively agricultural. The rolling farm land produces maize, wheat, potatoes, barley, peas, beans, alfalfa, and a little flax, while the orchards of the valleys grow oranges, limas, chirimoyas, pears, figs, apples, and grapes. Owimeg to the cost of truck trans- portation, most of the wheat grown is for local consumption, although more wheat is said to be produced than can be consumed locally. This wheat is not considered to be of first quality; what little is exported, however, is sent to Lima. Formerly, before the highway was completed, large quantities of alfalfa were produced to feed the extensive mule trains of the arrieros. There are many haciendas and fincas in the Ayacucho area, the chief products of which are wines and aguardientes of high quality, as well as maize, fruits, and cereals. The types of hacienda 83 For a detailed account of the techniques and organization of agriculture and stock breeding in the Ayacucho region see Bustamante, 1943, pp. 17-45. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 29 peonage which are often encountered in southern Peru in the Departments of Cuzco and Puno are said not to exist to any great extent in the Aya- cucho region.*! Informants stated that there was no free service; according to what appears to be the most usual arrangement, tenants have the obligation of working for the hacienda a fixed number of hours a day twice a week in return for the land which they are given to farm for their own use.°° Exportations from Ayacucho Department are in general relatively small; native-woven blankets and ponchos, silver filigree work, kid hides, shoes, felt hats, some maize and wheat and cochineal dye are exported to Huancayo, Lima, and Ica.*° There is a strong tendency toward economic specialization in the various barrios which pertain to Ayacucho. The people of Capilla-pata, San Juan Bautista, and Carmen Alto are professional travelers, butchers, and meat dealers; those of Teneria are tanners, while the inhabitants of Santa Ana are potters. The barrio of Concho- pata specializes in textile production while the people of Soquiacato, Calvario, Arco, Magda- lena, San Sebastian, and Pampa San Agustin are farmers (Bustamante, 1943, p. 45). According to Pareja Paz Soldan, cattle raising is of consider- able importance in the Provinces of the Depart- ment, particularly on the pampas of Cangallo, and most of the livestock finds its way to the mar- kets of Lima and Callao (Pareja Paz Soldan, 1943, p. 339). Although today the production of cochineal is on the decline, this was formerly an industry of considerable importance, and most of the dye was sold to European markets. The collection of the insects, which continues to be an important activity in Cangallo Province, is the occupation of Indian women. The insects, which bring 25 or 30 centavos a pound, are collected during the dry season in the many groves of tuna cacti (Opuntia sp.), and care is taken not to remove all of the parasites; in fact the insects are said to be purposely placed in groves as yet not infected. In a good day a woman can collect as much as 5 & For a discussion of the types of hacienda peonage current in Cuzeo De- partment, see Kuczynski, 1945, particularly pp. 87-109. 65 Bustamante states that obligatory service persists in the Ayacucho region in the form of pongos, or household servants, who work without pay for their hacendados, (Bustamante 1943, pp. 94-95). ® Dunn (1925, p. 396) states that before the construction of the Central Railway, the usual trade outlet for Ayacucho was by way of Ica to the port of Pisco; now the bulk of traffic goes via Huancayo, and thence by rail to Lima. pounds. The cochineal insects are collected from wild plants or in groves where the cacti are culti- vated for prickly pears; the owners of the groves allow the cochineal gatherers to remove the insects free of charge in order that the plants may bear more fruit. CARMEN ALTO At a kilometer distant from Ayacucho, across a small stream and in the shrub-covered foothills to the west of the city, is situated the village of Carmen Alto. Although politically it has the status of District in the Province of Huamanga, socially and economically it tends to be a suburb of Ayacucho. There is no automobile road to Carmen Alto, and the village may be reached only by climbing a steep, rocky path which winds between ancient stone walls overgrown with cacti and grass, and shaded by gnarled and massive peppertrees. The single main street, at one time surfaced with cobblestones, winds up a hillside. To one side the village’s water supply flows in a stone-lined, covered channel which dates from the Colonial Period. Other public facilities, sue has electricity and postal and telegraph services, are lacking. Many of the houses which line each side of the street are falling into ruins, and some are deserted although their architecture indicates that Carmen Alto was once a fashionable Colonial suburb (pl. 8, a). Much alike in ground plan and design, all houses are one-story buildings, constructed of field stones laid in adobe. The rooms tend to be unit structures with porches, or corredores, ar- ranged around a patio which is often paved with cobblestones (pl. 8, 6). Roofs are of red tiles; the pitch facing the street is short and abrupt while that which slopes toward the patio is longer and more gradual and extends outward to cover the porch. Though most houses have handsome arched doorways of dressed stone, windows are generally lacking. Halfway up the hill the main street broadens to form a little plaza, on one side of which is located the small church. With the exception of the church and of an elementary school for boys and another for girls, each of which is attended by some 20 students, there are no public buildings. The gobernador transacts his official business on a covered porch in the patio of his home, and in his spare time operates a small store which occupies another room of his house. Other stores are 30 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 located on the main street but, because of the proximity of Ayacucho, these are poorly stocked. According to the 1940 Peruvian census, the population of the District of Carmen Alto is 756 (Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, p. 37). The sole white resident is the friar, a Spaniard of the Carmelite order. It is difficult to decide, merely on the basis of observable criteria, whether the bulk of the inhabitants of the village should be classed as Indians or as Mestizos.” For although the houses in which they live, as well as, perhaps, the arriero tradition of trading ventures, which forms the principal means of livelihood of the village, are of Spanish origin, one gets the impres- sion that the way of life in Carmen Alto contains much of Indian tradition. Dress styles are so variable that it is literally impossible to describe “the typical costume” of Carmen Alto. Women dress indiscriminately in native-woven or manu- factured materials, wear shoes, slipper-sandals, or go barefoot, and employ a variety of headgear and carrying cloths. The men dress in Western European type clothing of homespun or machine- made cloth and, in addition, often wear striped woolen ponchos woven in natural colcrs and either shoes or slipper-sandals. Weaving is done on both Spanish and aboriginal-type looms, and both sexes spin, a trait which, in southern Peru, is taken to be an insignia of the Indian class. That the food habits of Carmen Alto are Indian rather than Spanish is suggested by the meal which was offered to us by the gobernador, a leading citizen. Served to all in a single dish, the meal consisted of dry charqui, toasted maize, and chop- ped hot pepper, accompanied by maize beer (chicha). In addition to the above-mentioned cultural criteria, it may be stated that the language of Carmen Alto is Quechua rather than Spanish, although it is estimated that some 50 percent of the men and considerably fewer women also speak the latter language. Yet the inhabitants of the village consider themselves to be Mestizos; the gobernador stated, “There are no Indians in Carmen Alto; they only live way back in the hills.” In view of the above observations, then, it appears likely that class is of less importance in Carmen Alto than in Quinoa, and that such distinctions 57 The census breaks down the population of the village into 66 individuals classed as Whites or Mestizos and 690 Indians (Extracto Estadistico del Perdi, 1540, p. 36). This is an excellent example of the pitfalls of arbitrary “typing" where cultural criteria have not been taken into account in any systematic way. as exist are based upon wealth and sophistication rather than upon major cultural differences be- tween classes. Carmen Alto has the political organization ap- propriate to a District of the Republic (see Sicaya, pp. 43-44) ; in addition, the village is divided at the church into moieties which today are called the “upper barrio” and “lower barrio.’ Public offices are held by the wealthier citizens, or notables, of the village, while the two school teachers are Mestizos from Ayacucho. The ancient offices of varayoc have disappeared in the immediate vicinity of Ayacucho. Since Carmen Alto possesses little land of its own and since it is surrounded by haciendas, fincas, and by lands of the Church, farming is not of primary importance in the economy, and such crops as are grown are for consumption in the village or are sold in the small local market which is held in the plaza on Sundays. Most land is sown with barley to serve as fodder for the many horses, mules, and burros which are kept for pack animals. The cultivated fields in the vicinity of the village are small plots, surrounded by hedges of prickly pear cacti, and planted with maize, wheat, potatoes, and occasional vineyards. The patios of most houses contain a small number of fig trees. In addition to the pack animals, which are kept in considerable numbers, the livestock of Carmen Alto consists of guinea pigs, a few chickens, and numerous dogs; scrawny pigs wallow and root in the patios and side streets. Although roads and improved means of trans- portation are beginning to offer substantial com- petition, many inhabitants of the village continue to earn their livelihood as arrieros, or professional muleteers and traders (pl. 8, c). Informants estimate that at least half the male population of the community is regularly engaged in making long trips to the punas and pampas of Ayacucho and Huancavelica Departments to purchase and trade for livestock and Highland products. The women of Carmen Alto, also active in commerce, are the butchers and meat dealers of Ayacucho. During the year a typical arriero makes two or three trips, each of which requires from 2 to 3 months, for the purpose of buying and trading. The average mule train is composed of about a dozen animals which are adorned for the journey with elaborate woven trappings of red and white woolen materials (pl. 8, d). At times the arrieros travel in large groups, occasionally accompanied by HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK Sill their wives; those who journey alone and with less pomp and circumstance are called simply “travel- ers,” or “viajeros.”” Manufactured articles, cloth, clothing, hats, shoes, bread, coca, peppers, and the like are purchased, or received on credit, from merchants in Ayacucho. Informants state that the average capital required for a trip is from 100 to 500 soles. These articles are then trans- ported to Coracora, Puquio, Cangallo, and all the surrounding uplands where they are traded for cattle, sheep, mules and burros, wool, sheep and goat pelts, and cheeses. Each arriero deals with a particular Highland stock-breeder who is known to him and to whom from time to time he advances money; for the arrieros perform the functions of merchant, banker, and news agency in these remote and isolated regions. Upon returning to Ayacucho, the cattle and sheep are sold in the Sunday fairs of San Juan Bautista, a barrio of Ayacucho, to local merchants o1 less frequently to dealers from Pisco, Castrovirreina, and Lima, while the other Highland articles are sold or bartered in the Ayacucho market. In former times the arrieros of Carmen Alto made frequent trading trips via Huaitaré to Ica and Nasca on the Coast to trade Highland products for wines and aguardientes. Today truck trans- portation has largely taken over this traffic while trucking companies which travel the roads to the Montana have tended to replace the activities of the arriero throughout the jungle region. Although some 10 men from Carmen Alto are accustomed to go to work on the guano islands off the coast of Pisco between February and Septem- ber, the inhabitants of the village do not seek seasonal employment in mines or on the Coastal plantations. Important local industries in Carmen Alto are the manufacture of felt hats for the Highland trade, and weaving. Of the articles woven, the most notable are the famous Ayacucho blankets which are in demand as far away as Huancayo and Lima, where they figure importantly in the tourist trade. Because it is situated so near to Ayacucho, a religious center known widely for the pageantry and color of its feast-day processions, the fiestas of Carmen Alto tend to be eclipsed by those of the Department capital.“ The most important is 88 For descriptions of the principal fiestas of Ayacucho, see Bustamante, 1943, pp. 67-S9. that of the Virgen del Carmen, held on July 16, while Concepcién is celebrated on December 8.” QUINOA The village of Quinoa is located in rolling, semi- arid country, some 7'5 miles to the northeast of Ayacucho. Surrounded by cultivated fields en- closed within files of eucalyptus, the peripheries of the community merge imperceptibly with the scattered farms which dot the countryside (pl. 1, c). The streets on the edges of the village are narrow, rocky lanes which wind between adobe walls and hedge rows of maguey. As one nears the center, the plan of the village becomes more coherent and orderly. Here streets enter the corners of the plaza more or less at right angles (pl. 9, d). The plaza is a large, open, grass- covered square in which recently planted trees grow within circular walls of pivea masonry. The streets in the center of town are cobblestoned and have narrow open channels which carry the water, supplied by two springs in the nearby hills, through the village and to the fields for the purpose of irrigation. In keeping with the general rule in the Highlands of Central Peru, uninterrupted lines of houses and walls flank the streets. Over the doors of some houses, and extending into the street, are poles to which smail bunches of red flowers have been tied, announcing that the house is a picanteria where peppery native dishes may be had (pl. 9, d); other poles adorned with bunches of corn husks indicate that chicha is for sale. Access may be had to the interior patios and cor- rals of the Mestizo homes by way of covered pas- sageways situated between rooms which give on the street or, in some cases, by way of narrow alleys between adjoining houses. In the less pre- tentious homes of the Indians, walled garden plots of potatoes or quinoa, in addition to corrals for the livestock, adjoin the kitchen and _ living quarters. As in the case of Santa Barbara, the homes of the Mestizos are differentiated from those of the Indian residents chiefly by their greater size and complexity—some, especially those which flank the plaza, are two-storied; by having more rooms; and by the nature of their furnishings. In regard to construction, however, the houses of both classes are basically alike. Most are built 8 The fiesta of the Virgen del Carmen of Carmen Alto is deseribed in detail in Bustamante, 1943, pp. 46-50. ayy INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 of adobe bricks, often with pirca masonry foun- dations of field stones set in adobe, and have tiled roofs of unequal pitch. Walls are plastered or whitewashed. Most houses have covered porches, or corredores, the roofs of which are supported by wooden pillars with cut-stone bases; in the center of the town the porch faces on the plaza while elsewhere it is usually entered from the patio. Kitchens are regularly small, low huts, separate from the living quarters and covered by tiled or thatched single-pitched roofs. One entire side of the plaza is occupied by the church, an imposing Colonial structure, the bell- tower of which is reached by a flight of outside steps. Also situated on the plaza is the two- room adobe building which houses the postal and telegraph offices; for although the village lacks electric lights, it has telegraph service to Ayacucho. On the remaining sides of the plaza are located the village’s four small stores and the houses of the community’s more prominent Mestizo citizens.” The only other publie build- ings are the school for boys, in which some 150 students are enrolled, and the school for girls with some 30 pupils. Although it is connected with Ayacucho by automobile road, Quinoa is relatively isolated owing to the fact that no vehicles are owned locally. Trucks regularly pass through the vil- lage only on Saturdays en route to Tambo and San Miguel to the northeast. In spite of the new roads, much use is still made of horses, mules, and burros, and of llamas in the nearby uplands, for purposes of transportation. The population of the District of Quinoa, according to the 1940 census, is 5,649, of whom 915 are classed as Whites or Mestizos, 4,730 are Indians, 1 is a Negro, and 3 are undeclared (Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, p. 37). Our own impression is that the White-Mestizo segment is actually much smaller proportionately than the census indicates. Quinoa proper has a relatively small number of inhabitants, probably not in excess of 1,500, while the majority of the population of the District lives in what appear to be scattered extended family groups in the estaneias which pertain to the village. Such a group consists of a cluster of three or four houses with the kitchens, outbuildings, and corrals 6° The stock carried by these shops is small and simple, consisting of aguar- diente, coca, sugar, flour, rice, coffee, bread of poor quality, candles, cheap cigarettes, and matches. surrounded by the family’s cultivated lands. Often the buildings of one group are set off from those of adjacent families by a low compound wall, by maguey hedges, or by lines of eucalyptus trees. In contrast to the situation in Carmen Alto, there is evidence that in Quinoa classes are organized along more rigid lines. The Mestizos occupy the larger and more centrally located houses as well as the more important political offices. The gobernador, the two tenientes, and the alcalde are Mestizos, as are the three school teachers, the postmistress, and the resident priest. In addition, Mestizos operate the village’s shops and are the merchants of “imported” goods on the occasion of the Sunday markets. The Indians, who live on the fringes of the town and in the estancias, are the farmers, the herders, and the peons or laborers. In addition to occupational differences, the dress of the Mestizos is clearly distinct from that of the Indians. The men and some women of the Mestizo class wear Western European type cloth- ing of manufactured materials while other Mes- tizas dress de centro in the style typical of most women of the Jauja Valley communities (pl. 12, a). Indian men wear clothing of homespun cut along European lines, native-woven belts, striped woolen ponchos, home-made felt hats, and hide slipper- sandals (pl. 9, 6). Women of the Indian class also dress in homespuns and characteristically wear the colored outer skirt hitched up under the hand- woven belt to reveal an underskirt with an elab- orately embroidered hem. Native-woven shawls and carrying cloths worn over homespun blouses, and hand-made felt hats complete their costumes (pl. 9, a, e). Indian women usually go barefoot, but may wear slipper-sandals. The two classes of Quinoa also tend to be differentiated linguistically. Although they know Quechua, the Mestizos of the village appear to speak Spanish by preference; it is said that not a single inhabitant speaks only Spanish. Few of the Indians, especially those who live in the estancias, speak Spanish unless they are accustomed to make seasonal trips to the Coast. The formal District political organization of present-day Quinoa has been superimposed on an older system which is highly similar to that found among the less acculturated Quechua of the rural areas of Cuzco Department (cf. Mishkin, 1946, pp. 443-448). The town proper is divided into moieties or barrios, designated hanan sayoe HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF (“upper district’) and lurin sayoe (“lower dis- trict’’), each of which is presided over by a teniente, an alealde, and an alguacil.*!| The former barrio has 8 regidores, while the latter has 13. Although, as stated above, the tenientes are Mestizos, the remaining officials both in the village and in the estancias are Indians. As in Santa Barbara, these officials are collectively called varayoc, and each carries a wooden staff adorned with silver ornaments as an insignia of office (pl. 9, 98). Each barrio has a series of estancias which pertain to it, and which. appear to resemble the ayllus found today among the conservative Indian com- munities of the Department of Puno (cf. Tschopik, 1946, pp. 539-544). These are named as follows: Estancias of Hanan Sayoc: ® (1) Chiwampampa—“wet pampa.”’ (2) Susu—(translation doubtful). (3) Paraqay—‘“white.” (4) Nawinpukyu—‘‘mouth (literally “eye’”’) of spring.” (5) Wiruyphaqcha—“‘caseade of the cane.” Estancias of Lurin Sayoc: (1) Muya—“mountain meadow.” (2) Llamawillka—“llama amulet.” (3) Murunkancha—“products of the corral.” Each esiancia in turn has its varayoc: teniente, alealde, and alguacil. Quinoa is primarily an agricultural community. Although wheat, barley, peas, quinoa, and po- tatoes are produced on a small scale and some fruit is grown, the principal crop is maize. With the exception of four small haciendas, two of which are owned by men from Ayacucho, most of the land is owned by the local inhabitants. The Indians who work on the haciendas farm on a share-cropping basis and receive fields which they plant for themselves in return for their labors. In addition to farming, the people of Quinoa raise some livestock. The herds are said to be small, and to consist in the main of cattle and sheep, while a few llamas are raised on the higher estan- cias. Most families also keep guinea pigs, chick- ens, and a few pigs. The village owns communal erazing land in the upland regions of the District to which the animals are driven in August to graze. The herders who accompany the livestock are people of the town who are said to tend the flocks and herds in return for agricultural produce. On the eve of Santa Cruz in May, the owners go 61 The precise translation of the term “‘Sayoc’’ is uncertain. ® The translations were kindly supplied by José M. B. Farfan. CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 30 to the hills to reclaim their animals, to hold rites designed to increase their fertility, and to feast the shepherds and herders. The principal industry of the village, and, indeed, of the entire District, is the manufacture of pottery (pl. 9, a). Much pottery is made in the outlying estancias, and most potters are said to be men. Weaving is also of considerable im- portance, native-woven shawls, blankets, and homespuns being produced in quantity for sale in Ayacucho. Since the flocks of the local inhabitants are small, wool is obtained by barter- ing maize and pottery in the surrounding High- lands. One estancia of Quinoa, Nawinpukyu, specializes in the gathering and sale of kindling wood for fuel. Market takes place Sundays in the plaza. In addition to the local farm products which are offered for sale—or, more frequently, bartered— by the Indians, several of the Mestizo residents of the village sell such merchandise as cotton cloth, hardware, and other manufactured articles which they have purchased in Ayacucho. Meat is said to be scarce; while mutton is usually avail- able, and while beef is sold about once a month, there are many Sundays when no meat of any kind is for sale in the market. Fruit and vege- tables are brought in from the neighboring val- leys to be traded for cereals, pottery, and textiles. Although it is not primarily a community which engages in commerce, some Indians from Quinoa make trading trips to Tambo and San Miguel on the fringes of the Montana to trade local products for coca and aguardiente which are then exchanged in the punas of Cangallo and Puquio for hides, pelts, and wool. Pottery is also bar- tered for potatoes in the neighboring Highlands to the northeast. As in Carmen Alto, few residents of Quinoa go to work in mines or on the plantations of the jungle. Some 60 Indians, however, regularly leave the village after the harvest in April to seck seasonal employment on the Coastal haci- endas or on the guano islands off the port of Pisco. The men rejoin their families in October in time for planting. In addition, some 15 Indians of Quinoa regularly work on highway maintenance in the vicinity of Ayacucho. The principal fiesta of Quinoa is that of the Virgen de Cochareas, celebrated on the 8th of September. While other feast days of the Catho- lic calendar, including Corpus Cristi, San Pedro, 34 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 Santa Cruz, Ascencién, Todos los Santos, and Pascua, figure importantly in the life of the com- munity, informants state that the Indians of the community continue to practice rites and cere- monials which appear to be largely aboriginal in character.® It is probable that, as in southern Peru, these survivals occur in connection with agriculture and with the raising of livestock. 63 Bustamante’s monograph (1943) on Ayacucho contains much information regarding the beliefs and practices of the Indians of the Department. JUNIN DEPARTMENT HUANCAYO The origin of Huancayo is lost in obscurity. Chavez, who after extensive investigation was unable to discover the date of the foundation of the city or the name of its founder, concludes that originally Huancayo was merely a “long street’ on the King’s Highway of the Incas (Chivez, 1926, pp. 27-28). Cieza de Leén, who surely passed through Huancayo in the mid-16th century en route to Ayacucho and Cuzco did not consider the town worthy of mention by name, though he describes the Jauja Valley in some detail (Cieza de Leén, 1922, pp. 274-280). Although Vazquez de Espinosa mentions Huancayo in the early 17th century, he calls it an ‘Indian village,” and writes of it and the Jauja Valley towns generally as follows: In this valley there are 15 [very] fine large Indian vil- lages, with two Dominican priorates; one is Hatunjauja, the first in the valley going N. and league away, where the tambo is today ... This priorate has two villages under it, Huaripampa (near Muquiyauyo) and Yauyos. At the 8. end of the valley is the other priorate, in the village of Huancayo; it has under it the villages of Sicaya and [that of the] Chongos, which is close to the sierra; both are on the other side of the river W. of Huancayo. Near the river is the village of Sapallanga, where there is an excellent cloth and grogram mill which belongs to the nuns of the Lima convent of La Concepcién. At the S. end of the Jauja Valley is a small stream which separates the jurisdictions of the Archdiocese of Lima and the Diocese of Guamanga; in the center of the valley there are seven more villages, under the religious instruction of the Franciscans. On the E. side of the river are the vil- lages of Apata, Matahuasi, San Gerénimo, and La Con- cepcién, which comes between them, and is the guardi- ania (seat of local superior), to which the others are sub- ordinate, and residence of the Corregidor of this province and that of the Andes, appointed by the Viceroy. Oppo- site this village on the other side of the river on the W. is the village of Mito, which is a guardianfa with two sub- ordinate villages, Sincos and Orcotuna. This Jauja Province and Valley is very fertile and prolific, with abundance of excellent products. They make very good bacon and ham here, ranking with the best in that Kingdom. [And rich though it is, prices are very low for] A fowl costs 1 real, 20 eggs are sold for a real; everything is on the same scale. The Sierra King’s High- way passes through the valley on its way from Lima and Quito to Cuzco, Potosf, and all the upland country. It contains many artisans of all crafts and many [Indian] silversmiths; these, with tools remarkably different from ours, manufacture and produce articles of remarkable delicacy. ... On all the heights on the W. side of the valley rise many of the ancient buildings erected by the order of the Inca kings, some as fortresses and others for the storage of corn, potatoes, and other provisions, On the E. it has the hot country Andes, whose products are brought to this valley, and where they get coca... . All the villages in the Jauja Valley have [very] fine well- constructed churches, with excellent towers and_ bells. Many Spaniards live among the Indians in this valley. [Vdzquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 474-476.] Hence, our first glimpse of Huancayo is that of a small farming village and tambo, situated in the heart of the agricultural Jauja Valley on the principal Colonial Highland highway. Basing his estimate on the writings of Don Francisco de Toledo, Chavez (1926, p. 30) deduces that in 1570 Huanecayo had a population of only 230 inhabi- tants. Although this estimate seems too small, it appears certain that throughout the Colonial Period the town was a place of no particular im- portance; indeed it was not until early in the 19th century, in 1822, that the title of ‘city’? was conferred upon Huancayo.™ Soon after its official elevation to the status of “city,” however, Huancayo emerged from Colonial obscurity to figure importantly in the events of the 19th century. The independence of Peru was proclaimed in its plaza. In 1830 the Con- egress of Huancayo gave birth to a new constitu- tional regime, and on three occasions during the troubled century the city was the provisional capital of the Republic. During the war with Chile, the region was turned into a battleground; Sicaya was looted, Chupaca partially destroyed, and, in 1822, Huancayo was occupied by Chilean forces.®° But by far the most important event in the re- 61 Tello Devotto, 1944, pp. 8-9. In his summary history of Huancayo, Tello Devotto is unable to cite any outstanding historical events which took place in the city, or even in the immediate neighborhood, prior to 1820, 65 For an account of Huancayo during the war with Chile, see Tello Devotto (1944, pp. 26-44), HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK Bye cent historical development of Huancayo and of the entire Jauja Valley was the completion of the railway from La Oroya to Huancayo in 1908. The effects of the coming of the railway have been dealt with in an earlier section; suffice it to say here that from an urban population of 5,948 in 1876, the city of Huancayo came to have 30,657 inhabitants in 1940. The population of modern Huancayo, and, indeed, of the Jauja Valley towns generally, appears to be largely Mestizo in spite of the fact that figures given in the 1940 census indicate that the Mestizo-White and Indian seg- ments of the city are virtually equal.” Certainly Indian culture does not exist in Huancayo in the sense that it is encountered in the uplands of Huaneavelica. Even those individuals who come down from the remote punas to reside in the city become absorbed rapidly into the Mestizo popu- lation. For, unlike Ayacucho and Huancavelica, Huancayo is no backward Highland city, living amid the crumbling glories of the past. The city is alive and progressive, and many of its sub- stantial buildings are new; what it has lost in color it has gained in convenience. The paved main thoroughfare, the Calle Real, is lined with com- mercial firms, banks, and shops. There are hotels, motion picture theaters, and filling stations. The city has telephone connections with Lima, tele- graph, electricity, and an excellent water supply. For at least 6 days a week—-if we discount the Sunday market—the atmosphere is clearly 20th century rather than Colonial or Indian. Today Junin Department is one of the most prosperous and productive in the entire Republic. In cattle raising and in dairying it ranks first in importance, while in the production of wool and of livestock generally it is second only to the Department of Puno (Pareja Paz Solddn, 1943, p. 338; Romero, 1944, p. 217). Although in respect to the extent of land under cultivation Junin ranks fourth, it is first in the production of wheat, while considerable quantities of maize and other cereals are grown (Pareja Paz Soldan, 1943, pp. 270, 292). The chief source of wealth of the Department, however, is the mining industry. La Oroya, where the smelters and concentrators of the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corp. are situated, 6 Tello Devotto, 1944, p. 24. This source states that in 1876, the population of the District of Huancayo was 10,592. According to the 1940 census, the population of the District of Huancayo was 37,592 in that year (Extracto Estadistico del Perti, 1940, p. 33). 67 Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, p. 33. This very fact suggests to the writer the difficulties experienced by the census takers in their attempts to Place given individuals in one category or another. is the most important metallurgical center in Peru, and handles virtually all of the mineral riches of the entire central region. When, in 1918, these installations were transferred to their present site from the region of Cerro de Pasco, La Oroya grew, according to Romero (1944, pp. 312-316), from a humble Indian village to an industrial center of some 16,000 inhabitants. In addition, owing to its important copper mines at Morococha, Yauli, Yauricocha, and elsewhere, Junin is one of the leading Departments in the production of ores. But although La Oroya is the focus of mining interests and activities, Huancayo tends to be the commercial center not only of Junin Department, but also—and due chiefly to the railway—of:the Departments of Ayacucho and Huancavelica as well. While Jauja, to a far lesser extent, functions as the market town for the northern end of the valley of the Mantaro, the Sunday fair in Huan- cayo is the largest and most diversified native market in the Highlands of Peru (pl. 10, a-d). An adequate description and analysis of the feria dominical, as the Sunday market is called, would comprise a sizable study in itself. The extent, complexity, and variety are such as to overwhelm the observer; the goods and merchandise offered for sale are drawn from virtually the entire Sierra of Peru as well as from distant regions of the Coast and Montafia. Yet the implications of this market are of sufficient importance to merit some consideration of the institution here. On Saturday afternoons all roads leading to Huancayo are thronged with men, women, and children on their way to market. They come on foot, on burros, on horseback, singly and in groups. Others arrive by train or jammed and packed into busses and trucks. ‘They come, Indians and Mestizos, from the nearby towns, from the remote punas, from the fringes of the jungle, and from the Coastal valleys. Farm products and trade articles are carried on their backs, on burros, in large bundles on top of the busses and trucks, and are packed on the backs of plodding Hamas, whose ears are adorned with colored yarn tassels. Early Sunday morning, the Calle Real is closed to automobile traffic, and the whole length of the broad thoroughfare is crowded with humanity. Here primitive Indians from the remote upland pastures mingle with tourists from Lima and with Mestizo traders and farmers from Mito, 36 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 Concepcién, and all the Jauja Valley towns. Within a single block one sees shepherds from Choclococha, miners from Huarén and Morococha, hacendados from Ayacucho and Jauja, soldiers, priests, and arrieros. Indeed, the people in the market represent a fairly complete cross section of the population of Highland Peru. The buying and selling is conducted in Spanish and in many dialects of Quechua. In almost infinite variety, the costumes range from homespuns to Harris tweeds, from ponchos and sandals to slacks and sunglasses. For block after block down the length of the Calle Real the goods and merchandise are ex- hibited in bewildermg array, spread out on the street, on tables and temporary shelves, under tents and umbrellas. There are decorated gourds and cheap glassware, old locks and silver filigree, coca bags and overalls, amulets, dyes, bridles, blankets, vegetables, fruits, grains, and second- hand books. On the side streets many people sell prepared food and chicha as well as fodder for the pack animals. Vendors of patent medi- cines wander among the crowd, shouting the efficacy of their remedies, while fortune tellers divine the future with the assistance of trained monkeys and parrots. There are sellers of sweets and soft drinks; lottery tickets are for sale, and the tables of the “shell game” attract throngs of interested spectators. Ina general way the market is departmentalized, a given section selling the same merchandise Sunday after Sunday. Where one enters the Calle Real, some 50 women sell pottery of all types: bowls, ollas, huge chicha jars, braziers, and pitchers. Although several women sell finer glazed wares from Andahuailas and Aco, most are utility vessels from Mito and Orcotuna. In the next section about 10 women sell gourds with painted, engraved, or burned decoration which have been brought from Pariahuanca near the Montafia and from Piura and Lambayeque on the North Coast. Also from Pariahuanca and from other towns bordering on the jungle are the wooden spoons, ladles, bowls, and other wooden articles. There follow in the neighborhood of 150 puestos, stalls or locations, where shoes manufactured in Chupaca and Jauja are offered for sale by Mestizos from those towns and from Huancayo. The next block is crowded with approximately 100 stalls selling felt hats from Cajas. Opposite the Plaza de la Constitucién a variety of articles, chiefly for the tourist trade, are offered for sale. These include woven shawls, belts, and filigree jewelry from San Gerénimo, elaborately embroidered sleeves, fancy baskets, and gourds. Several stalls sell knitted sweaters, scarves, and caps which have been imported from as far away as Juliaca and Puno in southern Peru while others have leather jackets, bone and horn trin- kets, and carved wooden toys of local manu- facture. In the central section of the market there are at least 250 stalls which sell cheap cotton blouses, skirts, dresses, aprons, shirts, overalls, trousers, and the like which have been manufactured locally or in Sicaya from goods imported from Lima. While many of these stalls are operated by Mestizas from Huancayo and Sicaya, others belong to merchants who have shops along the Calle Real and who have been forced to move their wares bodily out into the street in order to meet the competition offered by the street ven- dors. Farther down are some 20 stalls which sell bolts of inexpensive cotton textiles as well as glassware, crockery, mirrors, colored reproduc- tions of religious pictures, knives, kitchen utensils, and other hardware from Lima. Beyond the Parque Huamanmarca is the sec- tion where native-woven textiles—ponchos, blan- kets, shawls, carrying-cloths, and belts—are sold by men from Ayacucho and women from San Gerénimo, Hualhuas, and other nearby towns. Scattered in between are a number of individuals, usually Mestizas, who sell charms and amulets, herb remedies, starfish, sea shells, and beans and nuts from the Montana, which are thought to have medical or magical value. On the other side of the street 15 stalls offer wooden chairs with rush seats, stools, folding cots, wooden trunks, tables, and the like manufactured in Jauja, Huancayo, or in San Gerénimo. In the vicinity of the building which houses the daily market the merchandise includes a miscellaneous array of unspun, dyed wool, men’s felt hats, stone mortars, and sheep pelts, in all some 50 stalls. Beyond the market building are approximately 150 or 200 stalls where fruit and vegetables are sold—avocados, pineapples, and oranges from the jungle, green vegetables and bananas from the Coast, and potatoes and quinoa from the punas. At the far end of the Calle Real, on the way out of the city, about 20 women sell tanned hides, HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK on rawhide articles, and horse trappings from Chongos and Huancayelica, while on the opposite side of the street an equal number have coil after coil of maguey-fiber ropes from Sapallanga. Here also are the many sellers of maize and grains. Beyond, for a block and a half, sit the vendors of baskets and second-hand articles of iron. In the Sunday market the changing culture, so typical of the Jauja Valley, is clearly marked; the native market is rapidly becoming a national market. The former system of barter has vir- tually ceased to exist, replaced by a money econ- omy. Within the last 20 years, according to older residents, many native handicrafts have disappeared before the flood of manufactured articles from the Coast. The Jauja Valley is changing toward 20th century world culture; here, perhaps, we are afforded a glimpse of the future of Highland Peru. CHUPACA The town of Chupaca is situated 7 miles to the west of Huaneayo, across the Mantaro, and on the right bank of the tributary Chupaca River. Near the junction of these two streams the valley is broad and rolling and under intensive cultivation. To the west, where the Chupaca River flows past the barrio of Pincha, it runs between high, cliff- like banks bordered by fields and farms; here a narrow, precarious pole bridge spans the stream (pl. 11, 6). As the river swings around Chupaca, flowing toward its junction with the Mantaro, the abrupt banks give way to a broad flood plain which slopes gently from the foot of the steep escarpment on which the town is built. Here there are two additional bridges, one of which is sufficiently sturdy to permit the crossing of automobiles. The area between the river and the town is covered by a patchwork of cultivated fields and scattered house groups, divided and subdivided by innumerable stone walls, many of which were built when the stony fields were first cleared. The town itself is almost entirely hidden by heavy groves of eucalyptus trees, while hedges of maguey and clumps of retama line the roads and paths. The principal plaza of Chupaca is large and spacious, planted with trees, and adorned with several monuments. Concrete sidewalks and con- crete benches are laid out in geometric order, while the streets which flank the square are broad and cobblestoned. The most imposing building on the plaza is the municipalidad, a large two- story structure replete with official crest and a large clock situated in the face of a squat tower (pl. 11, a). Also located on the plaza are restau- rants, shops, the police station, the postal and telegraph office, a drug store, and the homes of several of the more prominent citizens. A motion picture theater is at present in the process of construction. Most of the buildings around the main square are of two stories with balconies and tiled or galvanized-iron roofs. Two blocks off the main plaza is a smaller park on which face the church and the house of the resident priest.” The street which joins these two plazas is the commercial street of the town; along either side are the shops of shoemakers, hat makers, and several small stores where cheap, ready-made clothing is sold. Off the principal plaza in the opposite direction from the church is a third square, an unadorned open area flanked by houses, which functions as a sports field and is also the site of the Saturday livestock fair (pl. 11, c.) At the foot of the escarpment on which the town is situated is a fourth plaza which, on Saturdays, is also a livestock market. Although the central area of Chupaca is laid out systematically in moderately square blocks, at the fringes of the town the transition from urban to rural is gradual; the straight cobble- stoned streets give way to unpaved, winding lanes, and the blocks of houses to puddled adobe com- pound walls which enclose houses, corrals, garden plots, and fields (pl. 11, d). These in turn become more widely separated and their plan less orderly as one approaches the outlying barrios. Chupaca is well provided with schools. In the town proper there are three elementary schools, one for boys, one for girls, and one which is coeducational; while in the barrios which pertain to the town there are four schools for pupils of both sexes. In addition, the town has a normal school for boys in which are enrolled approxi- mately 150 students from several of the central Departments. Local school teachers estimate that im Chupaca and the barrios at least 60 per- 68 The town formerly had telephone as well as telegraph connection with Huancayo; owing, however, to continued robberies of the wires, the service has been discontinued. 6? House types throughout the Jauja Valley vary but slightly from one town to another; for this reason the description of Sicaya houses will serve in general for the entire region. 7 The arrangement of two plazas which adjoin one another diagonally or are joined by a short intervening street appears to be characteristic of several Jauja Valley towns including, in addition to Chupaca, Sicaya, San Gerénimo, and Cajas. 38 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 cent of the children are enrolled in the schools. Of these, 7 percent of the boys and 3 percent of the girls are said to continue their education in the high schools of Huancayo. The problem of water is an ever-present concern of the townspeople, and, although some tracts of land along the river may be irrigated, the sup- ply of water is said to be insufflcient for this purpose. Water for the town flows down the middle of the side streets in open, grass-grown channels which, in some places, are so wide that they must be crossed by means of plank bridges or stepping stones. The town operates a small electric plant, the power for which is supplied by a gasoline motor; since the equipment is almost constantly in need of repair, the ight, when avail- able, is generally poor and the current inadequate for the town’s needs. Four busses, owned by local residents, make daily trips between Chupaca and Huancayo. While it cannot be said that these operate on schedule, since the hour of arrival and departure is always highly uncertain, the busses are invari- ably crowded with passengers and produce. On Saturdays some 20 trucks and busses transport people and goods to the Chupaca market, today the most important livestock market in the southern Jauja Valley. In addition to the auto- mobile 10ad to Huancayo, several trails connect Chupaca with Chongos, Sicaya, and other nearby towns and villages. It spite of the fact that mo- torized transportation has become an integral part of the culture of most inhabitants of the Jauja Valley, foot travel continues to be important and much produce is packed on animal back. The population of the District of Chupaca is 9,328 according to figures presented in the 1940 census (Extracto Estadistico del Pert, 1940, p. 33). Probably less than half of the inhabitants of the District, however, live in the town proper, and local officials estimate the population of urban Chupaca to be about 4,000. With the exception of the area occupied by the plaza, and including the rows of buildings which surround it, the entire District and town are divided into 10 barrios. Formerly, these had Quechua names, and a few such as ‘Pincha’ and ‘‘Azana’’ survive; today, however, most have been renamed “La Libertad,” “La Victoria,’ “San Juan,” and the like. As we shall see later, there is some tendency toward oc- cupational specialization by barrio, and each to some extent celebrates its own particular fiestas. Each barrio is administrated by a teniente alcalde and an agente gobernador. The District political organization of the town of Chupaca is so similar to that described later for the neighboring town of Sicaya (pp. 438-44) that this matter need not concern us further here. Suffice it to say that in Chupaca and, indeed, throughout the Juaja Val- ley generally, the archaic Colonial-type offices of cacique, alguacil, and the varayoc have long since disappeared, as have the ayllus and the communal lands. There are still, however, some lands which pertain to the church and which are farmed to support the resident priest, a Mestizo from Arequipa. The remarks which have been made earlier regarding the nature of the population of Huancayo are equally applicable to Chupaca. Chupaca, like Sicaya and Muquiyauyo, is Mestizo in terms of its culture. Most of the Indians in the town, in addition to the peons, are shepherds from the punas who herd the livestock of the townspeople, and who do not, as a rule, live in Chupaca the year round. Others are traders who come down to sell or exchange their products, or weavers who stay for several months or more. For if he re- mains permanently in Chupaca, the Indian quickly loses his identity. Within Chupaca and its barrios there is, for all intents and purposes, but a single ethnic-cultural- linguistic population. Within this population there are several ill-defined, graded social levels based upon wealth, family connections and tradi- tions, occupation, education, “background,” and general sophistication. In terms of blood, there are Indians, but there is no clear-cut Indian class. Everyone speaks Quechua, but nearly everyone also speaks Spanish, well or badly. Class in Chupaca is a matter of emphasis and attitudes, of knowledge, and of good, hard cash. From the point of view of economic status within the community, a criterion of class which is important in the scale of values of the towns- people themselves, the population of Chupaca might be divided into the wealthy (ricos or acomodados), those of moderate circumstances (clase mediana), the poor (pobres), and the peones." Considered from another point of view, also of considerable importance to the people of Chupaca, one might divide the population of the 71 In Chupaca and Sicaya, the “middle class’’ is rarely singled out for verbal expression; while the people are conscious of the ricos and the pobres, the remainder of the townspeople are usually thought of simply as vecinos, or neighbors. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 39 town into members of old families or those with illustrious ancestors (gente decente; gente de buena familia), families having Quechua surnames (on occasion individuals of such families are referred to slightingly as ‘“andigenas” or ‘indios’’), out- siders (foraneos or forasteros), and peones. Al- though these two systems of classification are often at variance, they cut across one another at many points; there are wealthy upstarts and impoverished aristocrats, prominent outsiders and rich individuals who bear such names as Huayna- laya, Sihuay, and Chiguan.” Of the two systems, that based on wealth appears, in general, to be of more significance at the present time. Actually, with the exception of the very wealthy and the very prominent, and excepting outsiders and peons, it is difficult for the observer to place given individuals in the proper levels of the social hierarchy. Most of those born in Chupaca share similar traditions, attitudes, values, and a common way of life; differences between the social levels are in degree rather than in kind. Objective criteria, which else- where in Highland Peru reflect class differences, must here be employed with great care. Gen- erally speaking, no one is too proud to farm or to build his own house. Virtually all of the older people chew coca, some habitually and others only on festive or ritual occasions. There ap- pears to be little variation in kitchen parapher- nalia and in food habits from rich to poor. Nor does costume necessarily reflect class; women who dress in European-type clothing (de vestido) when in Huancayo or Lima may dress de centro in Chupaca. This costume, the typical woman’s dress of the Jauja Valley, is usually of manu- factured material and consists of a full, pleated skirt, often dark, of colored underskirts, blouse, shoulder-length shawl of a solid color, broad- brimmed white straw hat with a black band, and shoes (pl. 12, a). A few of the older women con- tinue to wear cotén, the aboriginal-type single- piece dress of homespun, which is usually worn with native-woven belt and shawl (pl. 12, 06); even here, however, the general feeling is not that the wearer is an Indian—and therefore an inferior in the social seale—but rather that she is “old fashioned.”” Men who habitually wear European-type suits of manufactured materials and shoes may don homespun clothing, hand- 72 The above-mentioned Quechua surnames are not necessarily from Chupaca, but occur with frequency in other nearby Jauja Valley towns. woven belt, and go barefoot when engaged in agricultural labors, and wear a poncho when the weather is chilly. In Chupaca, wealth is calculated primarily in terms of land, and secondarily in terms of live- stock. While no stigma is attached to the profes- sions and to commercial enterprises (the more extensive, the more socially acceptable), handi- crafts and trades tend to be deprecated. The land-wealthy Chupaquinos own the larger, more differentiated houses, which are better furnished and located in the center of the town... Often they reside permanently in Huancayo or in Lima, and come back to Chupaca once or twice a year to visit relatives and friends. In general, the wealthy direct local politics. Discounting recent sociopolitical trends, the holding of an important public office appears to depend primarily upon the economic and/or social standing of an individual or his family. Because they have the means, and because of the prestige involved, rich citizens usually sponsor the more important fiestas. Poor Chupaquinos, although they may be vir- tually landless, differ from the peons in important respects. Since they were born in Chupaca, they “belong,” and many have relatives and friends in more comfortable circumstances upon whom they may call for financial assistance. Although prejudice against outsiders appears to have declined markedly in recent years, indivi- duals who have come to Chupaca from other towns: tend to form a group apart. From the point of view of the townspeople, anyone not born in the District is an outsider. Indeed, older residents of the town, reluctant to accept new- comers, will say, ‘‘So-and-so is not a Chupaquino; his grandfather came from Concepcidn.”’ The majority of the merchants of the town, who operate the shops and stores, as well as the hat makers, weavers, carpenters, and the like, are outsiders from Sicaya, Orcotuna, Mito, and Chongos. The present trend, however, perhaps due in part to the large numbers who have abandoned Chupaca to take up residence in Huancayo and in the Coastal cities, is to accept outsiders and to fit them into the life of the town. The peons, the landless day laborers, form, perhaps, the most distinctive element in the popu- lation. These individuals, without money and without ties, who come to Chupaca to stay for a month, a year, perhaps forever, are in the main from remote, impoverished villages and from the 40 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 surrounding punas. They come singly or with their wives and families. Informants estimated that there were 800 peons in the District; it is almost impossible, however, to calculate their numbers with any degree of exactitude. In addi- tion to doing odd jobs, the peons farm either for daily wages or on share-cropping (al partir) basis. The peon class does not appear to represent ¢ survival of a former caste system, but rather to have arisen—in the recent past—in response to changing economic conditions and the rising cost of living. While the factors are very complex, it is clear that many Chapaquinos who formerly exchanged labor (wyay) with relatives and friends (in agriculture, house building, ete.) now prefer to hire peons outright in order to avoid the expensive entertainment which the traditional system entails. Agriculture forms the principal basis of the economy in Chupaca and throughout the Jauja Valley. Virtually everyone farms, including such tradesmen as the shopkeepers, shoemakers, and carpenters, whose workshops are apt to be closed during planting and harvesting. In order of im- portance, the principal cash crops of the town and District are maize, wheat, barley, potatoes, peas, and broadbeans (habas).” Lesser crops con- sist of quinoa, ocas, ollucos, and a variety of garden vegetables including lettuce, carrots, cab- bage, green beans, onions, and the like. Alfalfa is planted along the river, and some fruits— apples, peaches, cherries, and prickly pears—are grown for home consumption. Groves of eucalyp- tus are planted regularly and the mature trees felled and sold in Huancayo for lumber, mine timbers, and fuel, or utilized in local construction. Those who produce grains on a large scale sell their crops in Huancayo. The small farmers, however, usually sell their surplus in Chupaca to grain and potato dealers, who make the rounds of the farming towns soon after the harvest. Although there are several small haciendas of minor importance in the District, most land is in small farms owned by the townspeople. Four or five families are said to own land in excess of 100 acres (40 hectares); a family, however, which owns 50 acres (20 hectares) is considered well to do. Within the District proper, the raising of live- 73 Actually more land is sown with barley than with wheat, but much of the former grain is used to feed the pigs and chickens, and a great deal of barley is cut green for fodder. stock is secondary in importance to agriculture.’ Bullocks are used as plow animals (pl. 14, d), and cows are kept for milking and dairy products; considerable quantities of milk are sold in Chupaca to dealers from Huancayo or are transported to that city in trucks or on burros. Throughout the Jauja Valley, the burro is the principal beast of burden, while horses tend, in general, to be owned only by people of means. Most families keep pigs and sheep, and pay herders who live in the barrios to tend the animals. Payment takes the form of cash or farm products. Other Chu- paquinos send their sheep to the punas to the west of the town, where the flocks are said to be far larger than those pastured in the District. Special gifts of food, coca, and hard liquor are made to the shepherds on the occasion of the fiesta of Santiago. Minor livestock consists of chickens, ducks, turkeys, a few geese, and guinea pigs; in addition, some Chupaquinos keep bees. Although the numbers of animals actually raised within the District of Chupaca are small, large-scale trading in livestock forms an impor- tant and lucrative activity of the town. Local cattle merchants make frequent trips to the punas of Chongos Alto, Jarpa, Yauyos, and Huancavelica Department to purchase animals for sale in the Chupaca fair. Others buy pigs and sheep in the uplands of Yanacancha, Cachi, Jarpa, and Yauyos, while horse dealers purchase horses and mules throughout the entire central region. The Saturday livestock fairs are attended by buyers from Huancayo, Jauja, and Lima. The square off the main plaza is filled with cattle, horses, and burros, while that below the town is crowded with sheep and pigs (pl. 11, c). Sales are such that on a good day as many as 500 sheep and 300 pigs change hands. In addition to live- stock, quantities of wool and sheep pelts are sold. On Saturdays a market is held in the principal plaza of the town which is a replica in miniature of the Sunday market of Huancayo (pl.11,@). At times the vendors fill the plaza to such an extent that the market overflows down one of the main streets. Many people who regularly have stalls in Huancayo sell their wares in the Chupaca market. As in Huancayo, cheap manufactured articles and machine-made clothing are beginning to replace native handicrafts, and the great ma- 74 The aggregate of domestic animals kept in Chupaca is typical of most Jauja Valley towns including Sicaya and Muquiyauyo. HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 41 jority of the sales are for cash. Although Satur- day is the principal market day in Chupaca, a small market is held throughout the week; usually there are no more than 50 vendors, and the market is confined to one side of the plaza. The baking of bread for sale in Huancayo and elsewhere is an important occupation in Chupaca, and there are from 30 to 40 small bakeries, most of which are operated by women. Flour is ground locally in an ancient mill situated on the bank of the Chupaca River. An additional occupation, which also tends to be confined to the women, is wholesale dealing in eggs; these colectoras, as the women are called, make the rounds of the outlying farms, buying up lots of eggs which are later sold to dealers from Huancayo and Orcotuna, The principal market for Jauja Valley eggs is Lima. In a general way, there is a tendency toward economic specialization by barrio in Chupaca. One barrio specializes in raising garden vegetables, two in the production of milk, one in baking, and one in shoemaking. For although manufactures and handicrafts are less important in Chupaca than elsewhere in the Jauja Valley, shoemaking is a profitable industry.”* Cured hides are purchased from the tanneries of Huancayo, the shoes made in Chupaca, and the finished products later sold locally or at Huancayo’s Sunday fair. What little weaving is done in Chupaca is exclusively for local consumption. Informants estimate that in the neighborhood of 150 individuals, including both men and women, make seasonal trips to the Coast to work on the cotton plantations of Canete Valley. In general, these cotton pickers, who are recruited from the lower economic brackets of the town, leave Chupaca after the harvest in April or May and return in October or November in time for plant- ing. Not infrequently a man is accompanied by his entire family, and it is usual for groups of relatives and friends to return to the same hacienda year after year. Laborers for the Coastal plan- tations are recruited by a group of men called enganchadores or contratistas, most of whom are natives of Chupaca who have worked on the Coast and who receive a commission from the 75 Most Jauja Valley towns have specialized industries and handicrafts: Cajas produces felt hats, tiles, and bricks; San Gerénimo, silver filigree, na- tive-woven belts and shawls, chairs and baskets; Sicaya, cheap garments machine sewn by the women of the town; Hualhuas (between Cajas and San Gerénimo), blankets and rugs; Mito, pottery. In all cases these are home industries, and in most cases the artisans who produce these articles are also farmers. 701701—_47_—_-4 hacienda administrators.”* The customary sys- tem is for these individuals to advance money to impoverished Chupaquinos, who later go to the haciendas enganchado (literally, ‘“hooked’’) to work off their debts. It is said that few of the cotton pickers remain permanently on the Coast, and that the number of those who go has declined in recent years owing to the high incidence of ma- laria amorg the returning laborers. Owing to fear of real or imaginary diseases which are believed to be contracted in mines, few Chupaquinos—an informant estimates 40 or less individuals—seek seasonal employment in the min- ing centers of the central region. Men who are accustomed to such work go, during the slack period between harvest and planting, to the mines of Yauricocha, Casapalea, Morococha, Huan- cavelica, and to the smelters of La Oroya. Be- cause there is often no opportunity for their wives to earn money at the mines, the men usually go alone. Formerly arrieros from Chupaca made several trips yearly to the Chanchamayo region of the Montana and to the lowlands of Hudnuco Depart- ment to purchase oranges, avocados, coca, and other tropical products. Owing, however, to malaria contracted in the jungle and to the compe- tition offered by trucking companies, these jour- neys are at present made less frequently. There is so great a similarity in the content and organization of fiestas throughout the Jauja Valley that the discussion which follows for the neighboring town of Sicaya will serve in general for the entire region. The principal fiesta of Chupaca is that of the patron saint, San Juan, which is celebrated on June 24. Other important feast days are Las Cruces (May 1), Santiago (July 25), Ano Nuevo (January 1), and that of the Virgen de Lourdes (February 12). SICAYA Sicaya is situated on the right bank of the Mantaro River some 7 miles distant by road from both Huancayo and Chupaca. The town is built along the edge of an old lake terrace, high above the flood plain of the river. Below it, from the base of the terrace to the very river bank, stretch rich green fields of alfalfa and garden vegetables watered by broad, swift-flowing wrigation ditches 78 For a discussion of these seasonal migrations to the Coast and of the system of enganche, see Castro Pozo, 1924, pp. 100-102 117-124. 42 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 and shaded by stands of eucalyptus, quinual, and guinda trees (pl. 1, a). Paths and lanes lined with stone walls and maguey hedges wind among the cercos, as the garden plots are called, and lead unexpectedly to small groups of houses and farm buildings, almost hidden by the trees. The barrio of La Libertad is situated in this productive, low-lying area, called the bajios by the towns- people, and here are located virtually all of the irrigable fields of the District. The livestock are driven to the bajios to water, and much of the town’s water supply is hauled in wooden kegs on burro back up the face of the steep terrace. The Sicainos also go to the bajios to wash their clothing and to bathe. High above, the plains of the secerrén contrast sharply with the lush vegetation of the bajios (pl. 1,6). From the western hills to the very walls of the town stretch flat, treeless pampas sown—as far as the eye can see—with field upon field of barley and wheat. With the exception of the tall, gray-green cacti which line the dusty roads leading off across the pampas, there is nothing to relieve the monotony of the terrain. Situated on the fringes of the secarrén, as the pampa tracts are called, and overlooking the bajios, the town of Sicaya is laid out in compact geometric order as though to conserve every available square meter of arable land for agricul- tural purposes. The town is long and narrow, averaging 5 blocks wide by 15 blocks long. Seen from afar, it presents a somewhat dismal appear- ance, since there is not a single tree within the urban area to relieve the long line of adobe walls, tile roofs, and huge domed stacks of dry fodder. The main street passes directly through the town from one end to the other. At the southern entrance to the town, facing on a small walled square, is the chapel of Santa Barbara. At the far edge, as one leaves in the direction of Orco- tuna and Mito, there is a similar chapel dedi- cated to San Sebastiin, behind which, on a little rise, is the walled cemetery. The main street, once cobblestoned, is lined with houses, stores, and with the shops of hat makers, shoemakers, and tailors. In the center of town is the plaza, a large, empty square—at present undergoing beautification—on which are situated more houses, and stores, the police station, and the munici- palidad. The latter is a large, new, two-story structure with a galvanized-iron roof. Adjoin- ing the principal plaza at one corner is a smaller square which contains the main church and on which are located the school for boys, the school for girls, and the priest’s house.”