﻿Vol.2] 
  CONTEMPORARY 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  MISHKIN 
  441 
  

  

  agricultural 
  labors. 
  The 
  cost 
  of 
  a 
  one-room 
  house 
  in 
  Kauri 
  is 
  calcu- 
  

   lated 
  at 
  about 
  40 
  to 
  50 
  soles. 
  

  

  In 
  some 
  regions, 
  the 
  doors 
  and 
  facade 
  are 
  decorated 
  with 
  carved 
  

   representations 
  of 
  the 
  national 
  coat 
  of 
  arms, 
  animals, 
  and 
  scenes 
  from 
  

   daily 
  life 
  (Castro 
  Pozo, 
  1924, 
  p. 
  74). 
  In 
  central 
  Peru, 
  nearly 
  every 
  

   house 
  has 
  an 
  adornment 
  on 
  the 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  roof 
  — 
  wooden 
  crucifixes 
  

   or 
  religious 
  symbols 
  showing 
  oxen, 
  llamas, 
  birds, 
  etc., 
  wrought 
  in 
  iron. 
  

  

  Household 
  furniture. 
  — 
  Household 
  furniture 
  is 
  exceedingly 
  simple 
  

   or 
  absent 
  entirely. 
  Chairs 
  and 
  tables 
  are 
  seldom 
  seen. 
  Pirca 
  plat- 
  

   forms 
  stand 
  at 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  house 
  on 
  which 
  llama 
  and 
  sheep 
  pelts 
  

   are 
  placed. 
  These 
  serve 
  as 
  sitting 
  and 
  sleeping 
  places. 
  Usually, 
  

   niches 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  at 
  the 
  gabled 
  ends 
  of 
  the 
  house, 
  and 
  household 
  

   articles 
  are 
  hung 
  from 
  roof 
  posts 
  or 
  from 
  projections 
  of 
  the 
  walls. 
  

  

  SOCIAL 
  AND 
  POLITICAL 
  ORGANIZATION 
  

  

  The 
  community. 
  — 
  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  basic 
  unit 
  of 
  Quechua 
  society, 
  

   the 
  term 
  community 
  is 
  preferable 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  that 
  mysterious, 
  almost 
  

   unidentifiable 
  concept 
  — 
  the 
  ayllu. 
  Peruvianists 
  have, 
  since 
  the 
  Con- 
  

   quest, 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  term 
  ayllu 
  significance 
  that 
  is 
  at 
  least 
  contradictory 
  

   and 
  confused. 
  Moreover, 
  it 
  is 
  rather 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  term, 
  in 
  its 
  origi- 
  

   nal 
  Quechua 
  usage, 
  was 
  applied 
  loosely 
  to 
  blood 
  groupings 
  of 
  various 
  

   sorts 
  and 
  to 
  territorial 
  units 
  as 
  well. 
  Today, 
  the 
  term 
  is 
  often 
  used 
  

   synonymously 
  with 
  comunidad 
  and 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  typical 
  village 
  

   community. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  modern 
  Quechua, 
  the 
  ayllu, 
  as 
  described 
  by 
  Saavedra, 
  

   with 
  the 
  classic 
  sib 
  characteristics 
  of 
  descent 
  from 
  a 
  common 
  ancestor, 
  

   unilaterality, 
  exogamy, 
  and 
  totemism, 
  is 
  nowhere 
  to 
  be 
  found. 
  Castro 
  

   Pozo 
  has 
  pointed 
  out 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  communities 
  in 
  Junin, 
  Huanca- 
  

   velica, 
  Apurimac, 
  and 
  Cuzco 
  in 
  which 
  all 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  bear 
  the 
  same 
  

   surname 
  (Castro 
  Pozo, 
  1924, 
  p. 
  12). 
  This, 
  however, 
  does 
  not 
  signify 
  

   the 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  sib 
  organization 
  by 
  any 
  means. 
  The 
  community 
  in 
  

   most 
  of 
  Peru 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  several 
  extended 
  family 
  groups, 
  

   each 
  of 
  which 
  affirms 
  its 
  separate 
  origin 
  despite 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  they 
  

   have 
  lived 
  in 
  close 
  association 
  for 
  long 
  periods. 
  

  

  The 
  names 
  and 
  sites 
  of 
  many 
  communities 
  date 
  from 
  pre-Columbian 
  

   times. 
  Others 
  were 
  formed 
  from 
  the 
  reductions 
  of 
  the 
  Colony. 
  Still 
  

   others 
  were 
  artificially 
  created 
  since 
  the 
  Republican 
  era. 
  The 
  rapid 
  

   increase 
  in 
  population 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  century 
  as 
  an 
  aftermath 
  to 
  the 
  

   extreme 
  depopulation 
  occurring 
  in 
  Colonial 
  times 
  accounted 
  for 
  some 
  

   movement 
  of 
  population; 
  communities 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  decimated 
  by 
  

   disease, 
  forced 
  labor, 
  and 
  mihtary 
  service 
  were 
  joined 
  by 
  new 
  mem- 
  

   bers. 
  These 
  foreign 
  families 
  soon 
  adapted 
  themselves 
  to 
  the 
  ways 
  

   and 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  communities 
  they 
  had 
  become 
  part 
  of, 
  were 
  accepted 
  

   and 
  assimilated. 
  Hence, 
  in 
  many 
  Quechua 
  villages 
  today 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  

   nucleus 
  of 
  families 
  who 
  take 
  pride 
  in 
  their 
  status 
  as 
  original 
  members 
  

  

  