18 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 3 



crops are planted. The plow produces a shallow fur- 

 row and also throws out a ridge of earth on one side. 

 There seem to be three types of furrows: ( 1) The 

 simple furrow with a ridge of earth alongside; (2) 

 the double furrow, with ridge of earth on each side, 

 produced by plowing a second furrow alongside the 

 first one in the opposite direction, called smro hcnibra 

 ( female furrow ) ; the central furrow usually serves 

 as an irrigation channel : (3) the double furrow with 

 a double ridge of earth in the center and furrows on 

 each side of it, called siirco maiho (male furrow ). In 

 planting certain crops, such as sorghum, maize, and 

 beans, it is said that the seeds are placed in the furrow, 

 although actually they are placed in the base of the 

 ridge of earth with the effect that the plants usually 

 are seen growing out of a low ridge of earth rather 

 than from the depression of the furrow. This method 

 of planting must obviously be a comparatively recent 

 innovation, since it seems to depend upon the presence 

 of a plowshare and moldboard of modern type capable 

 of producing a clear furrow and turning over a ridge 

 of earth, features impossible with the old-fashioned 

 wooden plow of colonial times. 



Oxen are not used to pull wheeled vehicles of any 

 kind. Neither are horses and donkeys used to pull 

 wheeled vehicles in Aloche, with the exception of a 

 two-wheeled garbage cart drawn by a single horse 

 and maintained by the Municipalidad. Otherwise, the 

 only wheeled vehicles seen in the Moche District are 

 automobiles and railroad vehicles. Neither of these 

 types is owned by Mocheros, nor can they be consid- 

 ered a part of the material equipment of the com- 

 munity. 



The ])1()W is the only power implement used in 

 Moche agriculture (ox power). The hand imple- 

 ments are as follows (pis. 5, loivcr (right) ; 6, cen- 

 ter) : ( 1 ) The short-handled shovel or spade 

 (palajia) ; ( 2) the machete, a one-handed heavy knife 

 of the type familiar under this name to North Ameri- 

 can readers, used for clearing brush and weeds and 

 for splitting firewood: (3) the calaboco, a heavy 

 "bush" knife with a hooklike projection at the end of 

 the blade, fitted to a long wooden handle and used for 

 clearing brush and weeds from the land; (4) the 

 harro. a wooden clublike stick, used for breaking earth 

 clods after plowing and for making holes for plant- 

 ing; (5) the iron or steel crowbar {barro de hierro), 

 used for breaking clods and for other purposes, such 

 as moving stones, logs, and other weights; (6) the 

 pickax (pica), for breaking hard ground, especially 

 in irrigation ditches; (7) the ax iha-cha), a single- 



bladed implement of European type, used for felling i 

 and splitting wood and for clearing brush from the 

 land ; (8) the Jiorca. a tined fork, made from a 

 single, branched tree limb; and (9) a modern, 

 wooden-handled, iron rake or rastro, used by some 

 men. ' 



It is curious that the hoe is not present in modern 

 Moche, but, on the other hand, there is no clear evi- , 

 dence that it was ever used in prehistoric times. The I 

 implements recovered from Mochica and Chimu cul- ; 

 tures are of the spade type, i.e., the blade of the imple- 

 ment lies in the same axis as that of the handle. 

 Present-day spades are of modern European or North 

 American design (most are imported from these two 

 sources, although lately at least two Peruvian con- 

 cerns have begun manufacturing these implements), ! 

 but are used for "hilling up" corn and other crops, 1 

 for making holes for planting etc., and for cultivating 

 around standing plants, as well as for cleaning irriga- 

 tion ditches and for all tasks involving the movement 

 of earth by hand. In many of these efforts it would 

 seem that the hoe would be a more useful implement. 

 Moreover, it is available in Trujillo hardware stores. 

 Such is the power of tradition, or the resistance to 

 acculturation. Plate 6, upper (right), shows a man 

 working with a spade. 



The calaboco is likewise, apparently, a prehistoric 

 implement. In the Museo Arqueologico "Rafael 

 Larco Herrera" in Chiclin, blades of the same type as 

 those in use at present occur in great numbers, but it 

 is not clear whether they are of Mochica or Chiniu 

 provenience. 



Likewise it is quite possible that the barro. the clod- 

 breaking wooden bar, is prehistoric in origin. There 

 is some reason to believe that the Mochicas and 

 Chimus used a digging stick with which they punched 

 holes in the earth for planting. The ancient idea 

 behind this implement (symbolic pattern) seems to 

 have disappeared in its original form in modern 

 Moche, possibly owing to displacement by the plow 

 in the planting complex, although the barro is used 

 for poking seed holes in furrows prepared by the 

 plow. 



TECHNIQUES WITH FIELD CROPS 



The actual planting of field crops is usually done 

 on a shared work basis, in the pattern of a minga. 

 The owner of the land invites certain friends or rela- 

 tives to assist him with the planting. The women of 

 his household provide food and chicha. It is also un- 

 derstood that today's host will lend his services to 



