62 



THE ANDES OF SOUTHERN PERU 



there is the steep margin of the basin where the broad and moder- 

 ate slopes of the highland break down to the floor of the basin. 



If a given basin lies at an elevation exceeding 14,000 feet 

 (4,270 m.), there will be no cultivation, only pasture. If at 10,000 

 or 11,000 feet (3,000 or 3,350 m.), there will be grain fields below 



ZONE OF STORED PRECIPITATION 



SOURCES OF BASIN STREAMS 



ZONE OF CULTIVATION 



[--LIMIT OF IRRIGATION AND—; 

 I INTENSIVE CULTIVATION ' 



ZONE OF MOUNTAIN PASTURES 



Fig. 35 — Climatic cross-section showing the location of various zones of cultivation 

 and pasture in a typical intermont basin in the Peruvian Andes. The thickness of 

 the dark symbols on the right is proportional to the amount of each staple that is 

 produced at the corresponding elevation. See also the regional diagram Fig. 34. 



and potato fields above (Figs. 34 and 35). If still lower, fruit will 

 come in and finally sugar cane and many other subtropical prod- 

 ucts, as at Abancay. Much will also depend upon the amount of 

 available water and the extent of the pasture land. Thus the 

 densely populated Cuzco basin has a vast mountain territory 

 tributary to it and is itself within the limits of barley and wheat 

 cultivation. Furthermore there are a number of smaller basins, like 

 the Anta basin on the north, which are dependent upon its better 

 markets and transportation facilities. A dominance of this kind 

 is self-stimulating and at last is out of all proportion to the 

 original differences of nature. Cuzco has also profited as the gate- 

 way to the great northeastern valley region of the Urubamba and 

 its big tributaries. All of the varied products of the subtropical 

 valleys find their immediate market at Cuzco. 



The effect of this natural conspiracy of conditions has been to 

 place the historic city of Cuzco in a position of extraordinary im- 

 portance. Hundreds of years before the Spanish Conquest it was 

 a center of far-reaching influence, the home of the powerful Inca 

 kings. From it the strong arm of authority and conquest was ex- 



