G4 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



from opposite sides : the ends of the braids with the 

 strings of brown cotton are then knotted together in 

 front, above the forehead. A small knot of colored 

 ribbon and/or a flower may grace this knot. When 

 a woman does not have time or inclination to put 

 her hair up in this fashion, she allows the braids 

 to hang down her back, but usually tied together at 

 the ends. In former times, the women of Rloche 

 were said to be famous for their gold ornaments 

 (alhajas). Gold palm leaves were inserted in the 

 crownlike arrangement of the hair-do just described 

 and gold ornaments in the shape of heads of wheat 

 were inserted in the hair above and in front of the 

 ears. Heavy gold collars and chains were worn 

 about the neck and elaborate pendant earrings of 

 gold were common. These ornaments were regarded 

 as important family heirlooms and symbols of status. 

 A woman received a set of them when she married. 

 A few of these ornaments are still in existence, but 

 the elaborate displays at the fiestas and masses of 



yesteryear are no longer seen. It is said that most 

 of them have been pawned or sold for money. (At 

 a fiesta in Monsefii near Chiclayo, I saw a consider- 

 able number of women wearing sets of this type of 

 ornament, indicating, along with other traits, tlie 

 greater conservatism of this northern Mochica vil- 

 lage.) One of the men of Moche has an oil paint- 

 ing of his mother (painted by a Mochero artist) 

 which shows her decked out in a complete set of tliis 

 finery. 



All women wear earrings on festive occasions 

 Hand-worked gold earrings are still owned by a 

 number of women, although one would judge that 

 they are on the average less elaborate than the enor- 

 mous pendants of former times; but the majority of 

 women wear cheaper earrings of silver, gilt, nickel, 

 as well as plastic innovations peddled in the Trujillo 

 market. Earrings are not worn every day, as a gen- 

 eral rule, but only for religious and family festivals 

 of first magnitude. 



INDUSTRIES 



Aside from agriculture and fishing, and service 

 specialties which have already been mentioned, the 

 manufacturing industries of Moche are few and 

 poorly developed. Moche is poor in this respect in 

 comparison with the northern "Mochica" village of 

 Monsefii, where weaving, hat making, and the manu- 

 facture and decoration of gourd vessels are well- 

 developed and well-preserved folk industries. 



The fact has already been mentioned that gourd 

 containers are made in Moche, but as a rule not on 

 a specialized basis nor for sale outside the com- 

 munity. 



The making of fireworks and firecrackers (co- 

 hctcs) is a specialty practiced by three men in the 

 community. These explosive products are used in 

 all religious celebrations and in many other types of 

 festivity. During the recital of the mass in the 

 church on an important religious feast day, such as 

 that of SS. Pedro y Pablo, one can believe that the 

 plaza is under bombardment, because the faithful 

 members of the hcrmandad in charge of the affair are 

 stationed on the plaza just outside the church door 

 and enthusiastically let ofif a barrage of rockets at 

 each pause in the service. The use of noise-makers 

 and fireworks in connection with religious and other 

 festivals is, of course, common throughout Peru, 

 especially along the north coast. I am told that in 



the region about Chiclayo the profession of cohetcro 

 has achieved the status of an art, with renowned 

 masters who are entrusted with the planning and 

 construction of elaborate and prolonged narrative 

 fireworks "effects." In Moche the two effects most 

 in use are relatively simple. They are ordinary 

 rockets and rockets mounted on a pinwheel which 

 whirls around on a vertical axis while the attached 

 rockets are shot into the air (pi. 17, lozvcr {right)). 

 Other effects occasionally produced by the local 

 artists are La I'aca Loca (the crazy cow) and Rahos 

 de Zorru (foxtails). 



The rocket maker must secure a license from the 

 police in order to secure the saltpeter, sulfur 

 chlorate, and antimony which he uses in his trade. 

 Since the police are wary of the manufacture of 

 explosives by irresponsible persons, the number of 

 cohctcros in a given community is rigidly limited. 

 Otherwise there would probably be more than three 

 of them in Moche, since the trade is regarded as a 

 lucrative one. The rocket maker grinds his materials 

 on a flat stone, using a maiw consisting of a rocker- 

 shaped river stone about IS inches long (pi. 17, 

 middle (right)). The ingredients of the explosive 

 consist of charcoal, saltpeter (salifrc), sulfur chlor- 

 ate (clorato dc aaufre), and antimony (antiiiwiiio). 

 If one has a license, these materials are obtainable 



