MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNIT\'— GII.LIN 



29 



ca:naroms del mar, and cainaroncs del rio (fresh- 

 water shrimp). The inuy-muy are about the size of 

 half of an Enghsh walnut shell and do not have the 

 ]• ']',g, meaty "tail" of the fresh water shrimp. The 

 u-ual method of eating them is to take the whole 

 animal in the mouth, audibly sucking out the meat 

 inside the shell, and finally spitting the remains onto 

 the floor. 



The chinchorro varies in length, one being as long 

 as 100 feet : 40 to 50 feet is the more usual length. 

 The net is about 3 feet wide and the mesh is about 

 an inch. The bottom edge is weighted with small 

 lumps of lead and the top edge is supported by floats 

 made of globular gourds (chutios). At eacli end the 

 net is attached by small ropes to a wooden stick 

 about 5 feet 4 inches long. One man grasps each 

 stick and the team walks into the sea. dragging the 

 net between them. Plate 8, upper (right), shows one 

 of these nets drying over a wooden framework on 

 the beacli : the small boy is holding one of the end 

 sticks. Although there is no direct evidence that 

 the ancient Mochicas used this type of net for fishing, 

 a similar net was used by them for hunting on land. 



The atarraya net is roughly circular in shape. A 

 thin rope is threaded through the edge aroimd the 

 circumference and is weighted with small lumps of 

 lead. A slit or opening leads from the circumference 

 of the circle to the center and hand ropes or cords 

 are attached to each side of this opening on the cir- 

 cumference. In use, the fisherman holds one of these 

 in his mouth or in his hand, makes the rest of the 

 net into a bundle, and flings it over the water so 

 that it lands spread out on the surface and the 

 (weighted edges quickly sink to the bottom. With 

 the hand ropes the net is drawn together and pulled 

 to shore, with the fish imprisoned within. 



The red (net) is usually a comparatively short, 

 rectangular net somewhat like the chinchorro in shape 

 but provided with larger meshes. It is staked out 

 overnight in a stream, rarely in the sea. It is a 

 gill net in which the fish are caught by poking their 

 heads into the meshes. 



The ua.:a is a conical basket trap made of role 

 brai'a or bamboo (Guayaquil cane). It may vary 

 in measurements, but a useful size is about 5 feet 

 long by 18 inches in diameter at the mouth, from 

 which it tapers to a point at the rear end. The pat- 

 tern seems to have first appeared in the Chimu cul- 

 ture. The trap is staked down in a small channel 

 of the river or an irrigation ditch overnight, with 

 the open mouth upward. 



The cspincl or setline is perhaps used more on the 

 Moche playa than any of the other types of equip- 

 ment. In the sketch in figure 1, a-j, the various parts 

 of this apparatus are shown. The lira (a) is a light 

 three-ply rope which runs out to the sea perpen- 

 dicularly from the shore line to the jondo (b), an 

 anchor of stone or old iron. The other end of the 

 tira is fastened to the shore above high water mark. 

 About 30 feet out from shore the cucrda (/), a 

 cotton three-ply line, carrying the hooks, is attached. 

 Hooks are attached to the cuerda about every 7 feet, 

 and a good espincl will carry about 100 hooks. The 

 hooks {d) are pointed but without barbs (this seems 

 to be a IVIochica survival) and are attached to the 

 cuerda. as shown in the inset of the sketch, by wire 

 5 to 6 inches long. (This is the "best type" of 

 espincl; some do not have wire attachments, and 

 consequently lose many iiooks.) The hooks vary 

 in size according to the type of fish sought, but the 

 most generally used size is about 3 inches long (about 

 4J4 inches long, if straightened out). The hooks 

 are baited with two muy-muy each. At the farther 

 end of the cuerda is attached the gourd float or 

 chnno (r ) wdiich in shape and method of binding also 

 seems to be a JMochica survival. From the chuno 

 a light rope, called the cuadera [e), continues on- 

 ward some distance parallel to the shore line and is 

 eventually carried ashore and fastened on the beach. 

 Total length of cuerda and cuadera may reach 1,500 

 feet. The purpose of the tira and anchor is to hold 

 the cucrda with its hooks out from the shore at a 

 controlled distance and at a controlled depth. The 

 prevailing current up the coast from the southeast 

 keeps the cucrda with its hooks stretched out along 

 the shore to the northwest, while the undertow from 

 the surf tends to keep it ofifshore. The chuno float 

 keeps the line from dragging on the bottom. The 

 large types of fish are caught with this equipment — 

 the bonito, bacalao, corvina, etc. 



Two main types of instruments are used in mak- 

 ing nets, needles (agujas) and blocks {nialleros). 

 These are used in various sizes for the different 

 types of nets. The needle is made of bamboo, and 

 has a point and a cut-out tongue. I have not made 

 a study of the knots used, but have been told that 

 two types are current, de chinchorro and de red. 

 Fishermen are usually at work on their nets, when 

 not otherwise employed. It is said to require about 

 3 months of part-time work of this sort for one man 

 to make a chinchorro, anti the material which goes 

 into it costs about 50 soles ($7.65). The material in 



