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). 
