MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITY— GILLIN 



157 



TIAHUANACOID AND CHIMU ELEMENTS 



It is difficult to place one's finger precisely on ele- 

 ments of contemporary culture which may have been 

 derived from the period of Tiahuanacoid influence 



\ealed in the archeological record. The only trait 

 ich stands out clearly is the small balsa, or cahaUito 

 del mar, which, because of its similarity to certain 

 t)'pes of reed balsas used on Lake Titicaca, may pos- 

 sibly have been introduced to the coast through 

 Tiahuanaco influence. 



The culture of the Chimu which dominated the 

 region until well into the 15th century w'hen the King- 

 dom of the Grand Chimu was conquered by the Inca 

 was apparently in part glossed over by Inca culture 

 and in part absorbed into what is now known as the 

 culture of the Empire. At all events, the present 

 Mochc culture shows little exclusive either to the 

 material culture of the Chimu (as revealed in the 

 numerous museum collections and the nearby ruins, 

 such as those of Chanchan) or of the social, political, 

 and religious culture (as described by Calancha 

 (1638) and other chroniclers). Traditions and lore 

 current under the Chimu seem to have persisted into 

 modern limes in the region of Lambayeque (Baran- 

 darian, n. d.), but nothing significant of this sort 

 remains in Moche. 



SIERRA INFLUENCES 



Not a few elements of culture in Moche seem to be 

 ultimately derived from the Sierra. Although most 

 of them were probably remolded and worked over 

 by the Inca culture during the all-pervading dominion 

 of the Empire, some of them doubtless antedate the 

 Inca Empire and even the spread of the Quecluia 

 language. It is clear from the archeological material 

 that the coastal region was in contact with the Sierra 

 even during Mochica times, and contacts of one sort 

 or another between the two areas have continued to 

 the present. We lack the information to be able to 

 say with certainty in many cases exactly when a given 

 element was introduced from the Sierra to the coast, 

 and therefore shall merely mention a number of traits 

 seemingly originating in the Sierra. Identification of 

 certain traits is admittedly tentative. 



The practice of having an assistant to break the 

 clods turned over in plowing suggests the similar 

 practice in the Sierra (even though the plow itself is 

 animal-drawn in Moche), as well as the minga system 

 of work sharing. The cloth saddlebag (alforja) is 

 probably derived originally from pack bags used with 



llamas in the Sierra. Except for maize, the indige- 

 nous crops grown in Moche are not those characteris- 

 tic of the Sierra, because of the environmental factor, 

 but in the diet a few Sierra products, obtained in 

 trade, are eaten when available. Chicha is, of course, 

 characteristic of the Sierra, but it was probably also 

 known on the coast during Mochica times, and I have 

 no definite information concerning the region of its 

 origin. ^\mong Sierra food products are "Sierra 

 lentils" (leiitajas de la Sierra), white potatoes, wheat, 

 chochoca, hams, quinoa, ullucos, guinea pigs. On the 

 whole, however, it does not appear that Sierra ele- 

 ments have entered into either the agriculture or the 

 diet to a large extent. The occasional use of coca is 

 apparently a trait derived ultimately from the Sierra. 

 In women's costume of the "old" type there are a 

 few suggestions of Sierra influence : the woolen cloth 

 itself is imported from the Sierra or (in former 

 times) woven from imported Sierra wool, and it 

 seems probable that the wrap-around skirt, the rebozo, 

 and the woven belt supporting the skirt are Sierra 

 styles, although their present form was not character- 

 istic in all details of the female costume of the Inca 

 Empire (cf. Rowe, 1946). 



The influence of the Quechua language in place 

 and family names is very strong, and seems to have 

 submerged almost completely Mochica or Chimu 

 toponymy and patronymy which may have been pres- 

 ent formerly. We have already seen that the word 

 Moche itself may be a corrupted Quechua word. 

 Many Quechua words are in common use, just as they 

 are in the general Spanish of Peru : huaca, chacra, 

 minga, and the like. Place names are divided be- 

 tween Quechua, possible coastal languages, and 

 Spanish. For example, Giierequcque (an irrigation 

 ditch) is Quechua, Sun and Choc Choc, possibly 

 coastal, while Espcratiza, Los Muertos, etc., are 

 Spanish. Nearly 20 percent of the 44 family names 

 studied (p. 102) are definitely Quechua, while one 

 other may be Aymara. In all names, either of places 

 or people, however, Spanish predominates. 



The celebration of the child's first haircut and first 

 nail cutting w^as a standard feature of the Inca culture 

 (Rowe, 1946). In Moche this ceremony has been 

 made into two, they have been robbed of their name- 

 giving function, and the child's uncle has been dis- 

 placed by a padrino as sponsor. 



The ultimate sources of the many native elements 

 in brujeria and magical curing may never be known. 

 It seems not improbable, however, that most of those 

 now identifiable in Moche derive immediately from 



