14 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



out the day. one will bt frequently passed by Moche 

 women returning from the Trujillo market atop small 

 gray donkeys. The load of one of these beasts gen- 

 erally incUides a woman, a child in arms, and various 

 eni])lv milk cans, baskets of food, and other materials 

 accjuired in the city. During the planting or harvest- 

 ing seasons one will see groups of men working in 

 the fields together, attended by a coterie of women in 

 the shadv field corner [preparing and purveying food 

 ;ind drink. 



This peaceful landscajie, which is sunlighted prac- 

 licallv every afternoon of the year and all day long 

 from Xoveniber until July, is dominated by the great 

 pyramidal Huaca del Sol standing at the northern- 

 most extremity. The cainpiria itself is flat, without 

 hills or undulations, so that from one end to the other, 

 one has only to look to the north to see the famous 

 ruin, fre(|uently framed in the branches of trees. The 

 Moche Mountains, of which the Cerro Blanco is out- 

 standing, dominate the northeastern border of the 

 ccuiipiha. They are utterly devoid of visible vegeta- 

 tif)n and arc of a basic gray-white color, which, how- 

 ever, changes hue with the varying angles and 

 brilliancies of the sunlight. To the east, the campiha 

 ends abru]Jtly at the limit of irrigation. In many 

 places this border witli the desert is a startlingly pre- 

 cise line, .-ind one can stand with one foot on a green, 

 cultivated patch of ground and the other foot in the 

 sandy dust of the desert. Along this border the trees 

 arc fewer and scrubbier than in the better watered 

 ]jarts of the area. The remains of old irrigation 

 ditches in the desert to the east indicate that the pres- 

 ent irrig.'ited area is less extensive than in ancient 

 times. 



Strange as it may seem in an area so small in North 

 .American eyes, the farming area of Moche is divided 

 into three sections — northern, southern, and western. 



The foregoing description is characteristic of the 

 cninpiua in general, but is found best developed in the 

 section north of town. This seems to be the best- 

 wati-red area, is most intensively cultivated, possesses 

 the most desirable soil, and has the best-made houses. 

 It al.so lies nearest the ruins, so that there mav be 

 historical as well as geographical reasons for its ap- 

 parently riclier cultural develr.pment. 



TIk' southern section of the cainpina is drier than 

 llid^e poriions north and w(.■^t of the town. As the 

 land approaches the sea, the soil becomes sandier, and 

 ihe !andsca]H- to the south i.s dominated by a series of 

 dunes 20 t<i .S.S feet high, [jartially covered by scrubby 

 grass. Tims the caiupina is definitely separated from 



the playa. In this part of the farming area one can 

 hear the roar of the surf mingled with a faint but 

 constant singing of the sea wind through the scrub 

 grass, but in the fields one does not see the sea itself 

 because of the dunes. 



The third section of the cainpuia lies across the road 

 to the west. It is often called Barranca, although this 

 properly refers only to the northern part. Barranca 

 is actually the name of a large irrigation ditch. This 

 western section is dominated by the river. Here the 

 brush and trees are wilder and more abundant. Along 

 the left bank of the river itself is an area almost en- 

 tirely given over to wild brush growth, whose owners 

 derive an income from the sale of wooden building 

 Iieams. firewood, and cana hrava (cane) harvested in 

 this miniature jungle. In this section there is also 

 considerably inore natural pasture than in other por- 

 tions of the cawpina. Although in the dry season the 

 visible water of the river is reduced to the trickle of 

 a medium-sized brook, nevertheless the subterranean 

 seepage water seems to be considerable. 



Thus it is that the campiha is like a small country in 

 itself, the three regions — north, south, and west — 

 each having somewhat different conditions and land- 

 scape. Although visiting takes place back and forth, 

 there is a tendency, owing to factors of transportation, 

 toward ethnocentrism in each of these areas. The 

 normal communication lines run from each area to 

 the town or from each area to the city of Trujillo, 

 rather than from area to area. Therefore, contacts 

 between the three sections are most regularly renewed 

 on feast days in the pueblo. It is not uncommon to 

 hear two men from different sections of the caiiipii'ia 

 inquiring at a fiesta about events and personages of 

 each other's neighborhood as if they actually lived in 

 different parts of Peru. However, this tendency 

 toward separatism or regionalism has not reached a 

 stage where it is the basis for formal differentiation 

 in the social or ])olitical organization. The three sec- 

 tions of the caiiipiria do not even have naines that are 

 in common use by the whole Moche community. In 

 Moche. one does not say that he lives in ''the nortlurn 

 section." He says that he lives "par la Hiiata" 

 (toward the Huaca), "por csfc lado dc Sun" (this 

 side of Sun), or near some other landmark or person 

 kiKiwn to be in the northern section. If one lives in 

 the southern section, one is identified as being "por la 

 playa" (toward the beach), or "ccrca de Chorohal" 

 (the water wells), etc. In the western section, one 

 may be "del otro lado dc la carrctcrra" (from the 

 other side of the highway), "de Barraiicaf' or ''de la 



