56 



INSTITtTTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 



Although the metric system of weights and 

 measures is standard for Brazil, several units of 

 length, surface, and capacity commonly used in 

 the community vary from those employed in the 

 cities. The Government, for instance, lists all 

 land for taxing purposes in hectares; but farmers 

 in the community universally count the size of 

 their holdings and those of their neighbors in 

 aJqueires. The (d([ueire is subdivided into the 

 tarefa, hraga, and palmo. The palmo is the span, 

 or the distance from the thumb to the tip of the 

 little finger when the thumb and fingers are ex- 

 tended; it is equated in the metric system at 20 

 cm. The local 'braga is the space covered by the 

 outstretched arms ; it is equated at 2.2 meters. The 

 tarefa (task) apparently was originally the area 

 of land a man could be expected to work in a day 

 with a simple implement like the hoe ; it is equal to 

 an area 12.5 hragas square. The alqueire is 32 

 tarefas or 5,000 square iragas. One-fourth of an 

 alqueire is called a quarta (fourth). The term 

 alqueire is also employed as a unit of capacity; as 

 such, it is equal to 50 liters. A unit of weight 

 generally used in the cormnunity and sometimes 

 still used in the cities is the at^oha; it is equated 

 at 15 kg. A common unit of distance is the legua, 

 or league ; it is equated at 6 km. 



DIVISION OF LABOR 



Specialization, except that which is identified 

 with the sex division, is little developed in the 

 community. Nearly all men, whether living on 

 farms or in the village, work with the soil and 

 produce food. Even those few villagers who give 

 most of their attention to other employments, 

 usually spend at least part of the time tending a 

 piece of land which they own or rent outside the 

 village, or a small garden back of their houses, 

 or they occasionally work for wages on the sitio 

 or fazenda ^^' of a farmer in the community. 



At the same time, the increase of population 

 under the condition of a static land supply has left 

 several families with little or no farm land of their 

 own. There also are a few other landless families, 

 especially among those which have migi-ated to the 

 community, as well as a few unattached individuals 

 who also own no land. Considering the fact that 



there is virtually no farm land in the community 

 which is not occupied, the heads of these families, 

 and the unattached individuals, must find employ- 

 ment elsewhere. If they are not engaged as day 

 laborers on the sitios and fazendas of the more 

 advantaged families, thej^ may find work at the 

 quarry, in the limited opportunities still existing 

 for cutting timber and making charcoal, or driving 

 a truck (three individuals) . Other exceptions are 

 the padre, the registrar of vital statistics, the mail 

 carrier, the baker and his two sons, the soldado^ 

 the horseshoer, the tinsmith, the three storekeepers 

 and the owners of hotequins. 



A few men, in addition to working with the 

 land, add to their incomes by part-time employ- 

 ments of a different character. These include 

 barbering, carpentry, basketry, grinding maize, 

 and making rapadura or pinga. A man who owns 

 and works a small farm about a mile from the 

 village, comes in every Saturday and Sunday to 

 cut the hair of villagers and farmers and, more 

 rarely, to shave them. He also builds coffins and, 

 more occasionally, makes rough benches, tables, 

 or chairs. At least three men make baskets for 

 their neighbors. (See Basketry, p. 83.) One 

 villager knows how to cut and lay rock for rough 

 sidewalks as needed (see pi. 13, /), and a farmer 

 knows how to repair drums on occasion. Two 

 farmers operate mills for grinding maize (see 

 Grinding Maize, p. 86) and one makes pinga (see 

 Distillation of Pinga, p. 89) . 



As is indicated in greater detail in the section 

 on Vendas (p. 91) there are three storekeepers in 

 the village who give all their time to tending their 

 stores, as also do the ownere of the two hotequins. 

 Two of the storekeepers, however, as well as both 

 of the owners of hotequins, also own farms. The 

 horseshoer estimates that he shoes from 40 to 50 

 horses, mules, or burros a month. "It's rare for 

 a day to go by," he says, "without at least one 

 animal to shoe." He also does some barbering and 

 in addition, puts half soles on shoes for vil- 

 lagers.^'^ Most of the work done by the tinsmith 

 is limited to soldering handles onto cups and pails. 

 Two years ago, a 6-1-year-old farmer left his farm 

 and purchased the village bakery where, together 

 with two of his sons, he now bakes all the bread 



"° See Sitios and Fazendas, p. 64. 



«° See p. 60. 



"" In addition, tliis man has a license to drive a truck, al- 

 though at present he is not worljing nt this employment. 



