6 INDIAN COMMUNITIES OF BOLIVIA 



holdings, the plot of ground upon which each house was built 

 seems to have been held almost as private property that de- 

 scended from generation to generation as a possession of the 

 family. This, however, could probably not be alienated, at least 

 to persons outside of the ayllu. 



In the yearly allotment of tillable land each head of a family 

 received what was known as a sayafta. This consisted of one 

 tupu, or "measure," of ground, equivalent approximately to a 

 Spanish /awgga and a half, or to about 24 acres.'* The individual 

 allotment, the sayafia, did not always consist of a single parcel 

 but was made up sometimes of several widely separated plots in 

 order that the choice lands might suffice to go around in the 

 distribution and in order that each might have a piece of the 

 various kinds of ground. On Lake Titicaca, for example, an 

 Indian might receive a small plot in the rich alluvial soil at the 

 border of the lake, another back upon the piedmont slope, and 

 another upon the cold summits of the near-by ridges. Each of 

 these parcels would be planted in a different kind of crop. The 

 one near the lake would yield corn, those farther back quinua 

 {Chenopodium qiiinua), while the rich but cold soil on the hilltops 

 would serve only for potatoes, ocas {Oxalis tuberosa), or other 

 equally hardy crops. Besides the one "measure" that each 

 paterfamilias received, an additional tiipu was assigned him for 

 each son, and half a tiipu for each daughter. The son if marrying 

 within the clan would retain his ttipu, or rather his right to a 

 tupu in the annual allotment. The daughter did not have this 

 privilege, her measure reverting to the father or the ayllu. 

 Inheritance in ancient times was probably by the female line, but 

 in post-Conquest days it was through the son.^ Childless couples 

 sometimes adopted a child, called uta-guagua, who might per- 

 petuate their rights in the ayllu, for, like the Hebrews, they were 

 very solicitous that their heritage should not lapse. 



In the cultivation of the land, that dedicated to religious uses 

 was given precedence. All joined in preparing this, planting it, 



* Garcilasso de la Vega: First Part of the Royal Commentaries of the Yncas, 

 Vol. 2, pp. 9-11, Hakluyt Soc. Pubis., ist Series, Vol. 45, London, 1871. 

 5 Bandelier, The Islands of Titicaca and Koati, pp. 84 and 146. 



