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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



gives tlicm a certain liold over their partners. If the 

 wcmian does not behave, tlie man can break up the 

 partnershi]) without being damned for breaking liis 

 solemn rehgious vows. Doubtless some women look 

 at the matter in the same way, although none of my 

 female informants have said so. 



From the legal point of view, unless a woman is 

 legally married to a man, she may have difificulty 

 obtaining a share of the inheritance unless «;xpressly 

 provided for in a written will or by voluntary 

 acquiescence of the legal heirs. The same is true 

 of children born out of legal wedlock who are not 

 legally recognized liy their father. Also, they do not 

 inherit his name. A man may, on the other hand, 

 recognize his children, even when not married to 

 their mother, by a relatively simple procedure in one 

 of the Government offices. 



I.et us nf)w consider the statuses of individuals as 

 they actually m.ay occur in the Moche family. 



The couple under consideration may be married 

 or unmarried at the moment, or they may marry 

 later. The woman, not uncommonly, may have one 

 or more previous children by another man who may 

 or may not have been married to her. Some of the 

 children of the present union may have been born 

 before the couple was married, others after. A child 

 may be in any one of the following statuses. ( 1 ) He 

 may be the product of a clandestine affair of his 

 mother before she "settled down" with anyone, and 

 at present has not been recognized as the child of 

 any man. In this case he bears his mother's maiden 

 family name. (2) He may be the child of a former 

 unsolemnized union of his mother, but has been 

 recognized by his mother's former partner. In this 

 case he carries the man's family name. (3) He may 

 be the child of a former marriage of his mother, in 

 which case he carries her former husband's name. 

 (4 ) He may be the product of a former unsanctioned 

 union of his mother, but has been recognized by her 

 present partner (adopted) and now carries the 

 present partner's family name. (5) Pie may be the 

 product of the present union which has not been 

 sanctioned by Church or State and remains legally 

 unrecognized by his father, in which case he has his 

 mother's maiden family name. (6) He may be 

 recognized l)y his father, the jiresent partner of his 

 mother, although they are not officially married. In 

 this case he carries the present partner's name. 

 (7) He may be the offspring of a fully recognized 

 marriage of his mother and father who are now in 

 union, .■nid. of course, he carries his father's name. 



Normally there is no stigma attached to being 

 illegitimate in the strict sense of the word. The 

 word is, in fact, little used. The general tendency is 

 for the young children of the mother by previous 

 unions to be taken into the household of her new i 

 husliand or companion, and arrangements to this 

 effect are usually made before the partners decirle to 

 live together. Such children form a regular part of 

 the new household and there does not seem to be any 

 tendency for the man to grow emotional about their 

 presence. He may even legally adopt them As for 

 his own '"illegitimate" children, a man tends to 

 recognize them, if at all. after they have reached the 

 age of adolescence, particularly if they turn cut to 

 his liking. The main j.iractical importance of such 

 recognition is that they may share his name and his 

 propert_v. 



It should not be supposed that the typical Moche 

 household is notably unstable as a result of these 

 somewhat conflicting patterns of the family institu- 

 tion. As previously indicated, a few liaisons are 

 exi)ected by both sexes before settling down into the 

 customary family. But changes are not frequent 

 thereafter. Of a sample consisting of 46 couples now 

 living together, all over 45 years of age, the average 

 number of permanent relationships including the 

 present one, was 1.30 for men and 1.19 for the 

 women. Forty of the women had been married or 

 partner of a man only once, 5 twice, and 1 three 

 times. Twenty-four men had been married or 

 partner of a woman only once, 10 twice, and 2 three 

 times. Of the 46 present unions, only 27, or 59 

 percent, claimed to be legally and religiously married. 



LOVE MAGIC I.\' M.\KIT.\L SITUATIONS 



Magic, or hnijcria, can be and is used in marriage 

 as in most other situations of life. The case of the 

 wandering spou.se is not unknown, and magical 

 means may be used both io break uj) the home and 

 to recapture the affection of a wayward partner. The 

 techniques are essentially the same as those used in 

 courtship magic. Following is a case, translated from 

 the words of one of my informants but omilling 

 n.amcs, as taken down in Si)anish. 



h \v:is not m;iny years ago tliat I first knew a couple tn 

 wliom I was united by a certain degree of friendship. They 

 were people of a certain grade of education and of regular 

 economic po'^iliou , . . My friend, the man, not content with 

 ihe good spouse which he had in his home, elected to take 

 up with another woman, or sweetheart (qncrida), of whom 

 lie was also foml and whom he supported. All right. With 



