80 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 3 



TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATION, AND THE EXPANSION 



OF THE MOCHE WORLD 



THE OLD WAY 



The importance of the luiinan foot and the donkey 

 as a means of transportation in Moche have already 

 l)een mentioned (pp. 24-25). The use of wheeled 

 vehicles by Mocheros within the community is. so far 

 as I know, totally absent. Not even the wheelharniw 

 is used. 



In carrying loads afoot the principal apparatus is 

 the alforja. a woven shoulder bag of cotton or wool, 

 with two large square pockets separated by an un- 

 pocketed strip of equal width by which the con- 

 trivance is slung over the shoulder, one pocket in 

 front and the other behind. These bags are also 

 carried in the hand in a similar manner, and are 

 likewise used as saddle bags, being slung over the 

 back of a donkey with one pocket on each side. No 

 straps or ties are provided. The bags and their 

 contents are kept in place by gravity. The alforjas 

 vary in size, according to the use for which they are 

 designed. They are obtained in trade from the 

 Sierra and from the region of Chiclayo. Those 

 from the Sierra are usually of wool, while those 

 from Monsefii (near Chiclayo) are often of cotton 

 with very elaborate floral designs of Spanish colonial 

 provenience. The tumpline arrangement, which was 

 apparently universal during Mochica times, does not 

 appear in modern Moche at all. Babies are carried 

 in the arms or against the mother's side or hip, but 

 not astride it. 



People carry heavy loads only for short distances 

 and the donkey seems to have displaced the human 

 pack animal almost entirely. Horses, as already 

 mentioned, are little used by the Mocheros, and 

 mostly for riding rather than packing. 



From the reminiscences of old residents it appears 

 that modern developments in communication and 

 transportation have constituted one of the most im- 

 portant factors in the change of patterns and 

 orientations of the Moche culture. In the old davs, 

 up to about the first of the centuiy or a little later, 

 it appears that a regular system of excliange between 

 Sierra and Moche, employing donkey transportation, 

 was in operation. Simbal, one of the so-called A-Io- 

 chica towns, which lies in the coastal foothills of 

 the Andes, served as contact for commercial ex- 

 changes from the two regions. Regular trips were 

 made by the Mocheros with donkey trains to this 



town. The trip required about 3 days, and tambos, 

 or rest houses, were located along the road, providing 

 food, chicha, and rest for the night. In Simbal the 

 Mocheros came in direct contact with people from 

 the Sierra with whom they did their trading. These 

 contacts, together with the goods exchanged, would 

 seem to explain the presence of many Sierra traits 

 in Moche today. It would seem that something 

 similar to this pattern of exchange between coast 

 and Sierra goes back into antiquity, undoubtedly 

 previous even to the Inca conquest of the Chimu 

 region. In the Mochica material may be seen Sierra 

 plants, animals, and other traits whose presence on 

 the coast can only mean regular contact between 

 the two areas. 



Moche, of course, was not unique among the 

 coastal villages in maintaining this commerce with 

 the Sierra during colonial times and the last century, 

 although some informants would have it that Moche 

 did most of the trading and carrying for the com- 

 munities of the region, such as Viru, Huaman, 

 Guiiiape, etc. 



In the exchange carried on in this manner, tlie 

 following seemed to have been the principal products. 

 Moche provided dried and salted fish, aji, canaries, 

 salt, cords of brown cotton for hairdressing and 

 weaving. In return Moche received from the Sierra 

 wool for w-eaving, maize, potatoes, wheat, quiiioa 

 (which was formerly much eaten in Moche), cJw- 

 chaca (maize flour), hams, and live sheep. Through 

 these contacts a good many intermarriages took 

 place, jjarticularly involving Sierra men who came 

 to Moche, married, and settled down. There seems 

 to have been some arrangement of trade friendships 

 and a certain amount of specialization on both sides, 

 but I have insufficient information to expound the 

 details. 



This system of trade must have broken down 

 fairly recently, because its existence, if not the de- 

 tails, remains in the memory of many persons. It 

 is possible that the opening of hard-surfaced high- 

 ways and the development of bus and truck trans- 

 portation wrought the change, or at least destroyed 

 the donkey-train pattern. The railroad from Sala- 

 verry via Trujillo to the Valley of Chicama has 

 been in operation since the lS70's (Paz Soldan, 

 1877. p. S.^S). 



