The authors have studied chicha-making in Bolivia at 
Tiquipaya, Quillacollo, Punata, Sacaba and Cochabamba 
among the Quecha-white population. We were able to 
secure little information of value from the civilized Chi- 
quitano Indians of Santiago de Chiquitos, but from other 
lowland groups, particularly the Reyesanos near Reyes 
and the 'Takanas between Reyes and 'Tumapasa, we se- 
cured quite complete data. The literature on the subject 
was of very little help except to confirm our observation 
that chicha-making is an old art, widespread in South 
America. 
CHICHA-MAKING IN THE COCHABAMBA VALLEY 
Because the chicha-making methods in use in the 
Cochabamba Valley, located at an altitude of more than 
eight thousand feet in the Bolivian highlands, are the 
most complex, and because they are undergoing changes, 
they will be considered in greater detail than the methods 
employed by the lowland Indians. 
The valleys of Bolivia are separated by high mountain 
ranges, and inter-valley commerce was long restricted by 
both physiographic and ethnic barriers. The consequent 
existence of many small centers of cultivated plant pop- 
ulations which had only an occasional interchange of 
plant material constitutes an ideal situation for the rapid 
evolution of numerous forms of plants. In the Cocha- 
bamba Valley, for example, there are many varieties of 
maize, some with highly specialized uses (Cutler, 1946). 
Raw Materials 
In Cochabamba, chicha is prepared from maize. The 
berries of molle (Schinus Molle L.) and the chewed pods 
of algarroba are no longer utilized. At slightly higher 
elevations an alcoholic chicha is sometimes made from 
malted quinoa grains. 
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