40 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 
surrounding punas. They come singly or with 
their wives and families. Informants estimated 
that there were 800 peons in the District; it is 
almost impossible, however, to calculate their 
numbers with any degree of exactitude. In addi- 
tion to doing odd jobs, the peons farm either for 
daily wages or on share-cropping (al partir) basis. 
The peon class does not appear to represent ¢ 
survival of a former caste system, but rather to 
have arisen—in the recent past—in response to 
changing economic conditions and the rising cost 
of living. While the factors are very complex, 
it is clear that many Chapaquinos who formerly 
exchanged labor (wyay) with relatives and friends 
(in agriculture, house building, ete.) now prefer to 
hire peons outright in order to avoid the expensive 
entertainment which the traditional system entails. 
Agriculture forms the principal basis of the 
economy in Chupaca and throughout the Jauja 
Valley. Virtually everyone farms, including such 
tradesmen as the shopkeepers, shoemakers, and 
carpenters, whose workshops are apt to be closed 
during planting and harvesting. In order of im- 
portance, the principal cash crops of the town 
and District are maize, wheat, barley, potatoes, 
peas, and broadbeans (habas).” Lesser crops con- 
sist of quinoa, ocas, ollucos, and a variety of 
garden vegetables including lettuce, carrots, cab- 
bage, green beans, onions, and the like. Alfalfa 
is planted along the river, and some fruits— 
apples, peaches, cherries, and prickly pears—are 
grown for home consumption. Groves of eucalyp- 
tus are planted regularly and the mature trees 
felled and sold in Huancayo for lumber, mine 
timbers, and fuel, or utilized in local construction. 
Those who produce grains on a large scale sell 
their crops in Huancayo. The small farmers, 
however, usually sell their surplus in Chupaca 
to grain and potato dealers, who make the rounds 
of the farming towns soon after the harvest. 
Although there are several small haciendas of 
minor importance in the District, most land is in 
small farms owned by the townspeople. Four 
or five families are said to own land in excess of 
100 acres (40 hectares); a family, however, which 
owns 50 acres (20 hectares) is considered well 
to do. 
Within the District proper, the raising of live- 
73 Actually more land is sown with barley than with wheat, but much 
of the former grain is used to feed the pigs and chickens, and a great deal of 
barley is cut green for fodder. 
stock is secondary in importance to agriculture.’ 
Bullocks are used as plow animals (pl. 14, d), and 
cows are kept for milking and dairy products; 
considerable quantities of milk are sold in Chupaca 
to dealers from Huancayo or are transported to 
that city in trucks or on burros. Throughout 
the Jauja Valley, the burro is the principal beast 
of burden, while horses tend, in general, to be 
owned only by people of means. Most families 
keep pigs and sheep, and pay herders who live in 
the barrios to tend the animals. Payment takes 
the form of cash or farm products. Other Chu- 
paquinos send their sheep to the punas to the 
west of the town, where the flocks are said to be 
far larger than those pastured in the District. 
Special gifts of food, coca, and hard liquor are 
made to the shepherds on the occasion of the 
fiesta of Santiago. Minor livestock consists of 
chickens, ducks, turkeys, a few geese, and guinea 
pigs; in addition, some Chupaquinos keep bees. 
Although the numbers of animals actually 
raised within the District of Chupaca are small, 
large-scale trading in livestock forms an impor- 
tant and lucrative activity of the town. Local 
cattle merchants make frequent trips to the punas 
of Chongos Alto, Jarpa, Yauyos, and Huancavelica 
Department to purchase animals for sale in the 
Chupaca fair. Others buy pigs and sheep in the 
uplands of Yanacancha, Cachi, Jarpa, and Yauyos, 
while horse dealers purchase horses and mules 
throughout the entire central region. 
The Saturday livestock fairs are attended by 
buyers from Huancayo, Jauja, and Lima. The 
square off the main plaza is filled with cattle, 
horses, and burros, while that below the town is 
crowded with sheep and pigs (pl. 11, c). Sales 
are such that on a good day as many as 500 sheep 
and 300 pigs change hands. In addition to live- 
stock, quantities of wool and sheep pelts are sold. 
On Saturdays a market is held in the principal 
plaza of the town which is a replica in miniature 
of the Sunday market of Huancayo (pl.11,@). At 
times the vendors fill the plaza to such an extent 
that the market overflows down one of the main 
streets. Many people who regularly have stalls 
in Huancayo sell their wares in the Chupaca 
market. As in Huancayo, cheap manufactured 
articles and machine-made clothing are beginning 
to replace native handicrafts, and the great ma- 
74 The aggregate of domestic animals kept in Chupaca is typical of most 
Jauja Valley towns including Sicaya and Muquiyauyo. 
