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. 
