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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



between friends and relatives takes place, particularly 

 in foodstuffs, chkha, and the like. This is on a 

 strictly reciprocal basis, i.e., the lender is expected to 

 return the equivalent when he or she is able. Tools 

 and utensils (except plows) are also passed about 

 through borrowing and lending, although this takes 

 place mainly in connection with emergencies or un- 

 usual needs. For example, a man may wish to cut 

 a tree and will borrow an ax from another man. In 

 return he will supply some boards when the other 

 man wishes to make fapia. A woman may borrow 

 a large pan for making sopa tcologo and reciprocate 

 later with an extra container for chiclia when the 

 original lender has a party. However, everyone is 

 supposed to have a basic set of the utensils or tools 

 used in his work. A man could not get along as a 

 farmer by borrowing all the necessary tools year 

 after year. A woman could not keep house with a 

 complete set of borrowed utensils. 



There is a public market belonging to and super- 

 vised by the municipality in jMoche itself on the 

 Plaza de Armas. It is universally regarded as a 

 poor market ( una l^laca mtiy chiclia. no vale la pcna) , 

 liecause the selection of goods available is very small. 

 A few Moche women sell their farm and garden 

 produce here on certain days of the week and a 

 few meat sellers offer their products. On many 

 a dnv there will be only three or four persons selling. 

 The market opens at 5 a. m. and is usually over 

 by 9 a. m. Both buyers and sellers will visit the 

 local market to see what is offered in the way of 

 customers and produce, and if things are not to their 

 satisfaction, they go on to Trujillo, where the selec- 

 tion of goods and the number of potential customers 

 are much larger. Many people of Moche never 

 bother to visit the local market, because they know 

 before hand that the variety is poor. The best days 

 in the local market are Thursikiy and Sunday. 



There are eight shops in the town, as shown on 

 the plan in map 1. All of these are operated by 

 jorastcros, seven by Chinese, and one by a Peruviati. 

 The stock of these shops is small and consists mainly 

 of staples (salt, sugar), cigarettes, soft drinks, bot- 

 tled liquor and wine, coca, dry grains (rice, olluco, 

 wheat, etc.), bread flour, a small selection of cloth, 

 shelled maize, china dishes, and metal pots and pans. 

 They also sell bread. All bread has to be bought 

 ready-made (except for the few households which 

 bake it for sale). It is provided exclusively in the 

 form of small buns or biscuits which sell two for 

 5 centavos. The five saloons (saloncs) offer mainly 



refreshments — cofTee and bread to eat on the 

 premises, sweets, drinks, cigarettes, etc. Cooked 

 meals are obtainable, but only if ordered in advance. 

 This occurs seldom, because the normal way to oli- 

 tain a meal outside one's own home is to eat a 

 causa prepared at the house of a Mochera. Each 

 has a counter and a few tables with chairs. Two 

 have booths or private rooms with oilcloth-covered 

 tables and chairs for parties. Four have hard- 

 l>acked floors of earth, and the other has a front 

 room with tile floor. Of the five saloncs. two are 

 operated by Peruvians, one by a Peruvian married 

 to a Chinese, a third by a Chinese, and the fourth 

 by a Peruvian woman married to a Russian who 

 works outside Moche. The shops and saloons make 

 a practice of giving a yapa (a little something extra) 

 for any purchase of consideration. I have seen 

 yapa given to a small boy purchasing 10 centavos 

 worth of sweets. The shops serve mainly the hour- 

 to-hour needs of housewives in the pueblo. Princi- 

 pal purchases are made in the Trujillo market or 

 stores. 



Trujillo has a large and active public market where 

 products and handicraft goods from other parts of 

 the country (particularly the Chiclayo region and the 

 Sierra) are available in quantity and variety, as well 

 as manufactured goods. A good many exchanges 

 between members of the Moche community itself 

 take place in Trujillo. In addition, the city has a 

 great many shops or stores. All purchases, even 

 those made in the stores and shops, are accompanied 

 by bargaining, although in this region one does not 

 see the prolonged haggling and gesticulating some- 

 limes visible in other parts of Latin America. Many 

 of the Trujillo .stores post signs that they sell only 

 at fixed prices. No one pays attention to this, how- 

 ever, and the proprietors are usually willing to shave 

 the price, especially for country people like the 

 Mocheros, who usually will not buy unless some 

 ostensible concession is made. Generally . speaking, 

 in Peru, as well as the Trujillo region, the seller 

 will quote a price. The buyer will say that it is 

 too high. The seller will ask the buyer to "make an 

 offer." The offer is usually too low, whereupon the 

 buyer will ask the seller to make a concession usually 

 accompanying his request with derogatory remarks 

 concerning the goods under discussion and tales 

 about how he can obtain the same for much less at 

 some other place. This goes on for a time until 

 agreement has been reached, but the discussion does 

 not become noisv. In most cases a concession of no 



