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. 
