﻿Vol.2] 
  INDIAN 
  MARKETS 
  IN 
  PERU 
  — 
  VALCARCEL 
  479 
  

  

  The 
  weekly 
  market 
  is 
  a 
  thing 
  of 
  great 
  and 
  continued 
  importance 
  to 
  

   the 
  life 
  of 
  communities 
  and 
  towns. 
  The 
  longest 
  are 
  held 
  on 
  Sunday 
  

   mornings. 
  But, 
  almost 
  certainly 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  need 
  of 
  preventing 
  

   the 
  buyers 
  and 
  merchants 
  from 
  being 
  dispersed 
  and 
  competing 
  in 
  

   neighboring 
  regions, 
  a 
  period 
  has 
  been 
  allotted 
  for 
  the 
  market 
  on 
  all 
  

   weekdays 
  except 
  Tuesday 
  — 
  perhaps 
  because 
  Tuesday 
  is 
  reputed 
  to 
  be 
  

   an 
  unlucky 
  day. 
  In 
  Huancayo, 
  e. 
  g., 
  the 
  market 
  is 
  held 
  on 
  Sunday; 
  

   in 
  Huayucachi, 
  the 
  next 
  town, 
  it 
  is 
  on 
  Monday; 
  in 
  Pucara, 
  Thursday; 
  

   in 
  Chongos 
  Bajo, 
  Friday; 
  and 
  in 
  Chupaca, 
  Saturday. 
  The 
  same 
  

   occurs 
  in 
  other 
  sections. 
  In 
  the 
  Inca 
  Period, 
  fairs 
  were 
  held 
  after 
  the 
  

   harvest, 
  which, 
  in 
  the 
  Sierra, 
  put 
  them 
  in 
  July, 
  August, 
  and 
  September, 
  

   the 
  season 
  of 
  no 
  rains. 
  Since 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  Colonial 
  Period, 
  

   fairs 
  have 
  been 
  held 
  throughout 
  the 
  year, 
  but 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  are 
  

   always 
  in 
  the 
  dry 
  season. 
  This 
  season 
  was 
  preferred 
  for 
  two 
  reasons 
  : 
  

   first, 
  recently 
  harvested 
  products 
  could 
  be 
  marketed; 
  and, 
  second, 
  

   roads 
  were 
  passable, 
  and 
  rivers, 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  rainy 
  season 
  become 
  very 
  

   difficult 
  and 
  almost 
  impassable 
  in 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  interior, 
  could 
  be 
  

   crossed. 
  Naturally, 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  obstacles 
  have 
  now 
  been 
  overcome 
  

   by 
  the 
  daily 
  extension 
  of 
  highways, 
  but 
  even 
  these 
  rarely 
  are 
  asphalted 
  

   or 
  macadamized, 
  and 
  hence 
  may 
  prevent 
  regular 
  travel. 
  

  

  Transportation 
  continues 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  varied 
  types 
  ranging 
  from 
  

   human 
  carriers 
  and 
  domesticated 
  animals, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  native 
  llama 
  and 
  

   the 
  ass, 
  to 
  droves 
  of 
  mules 
  and 
  horses, 
  and 
  carts 
  and 
  trucks, 
  each 
  or 
  

   all 
  of 
  these 
  being 
  employed 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  places 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  fairs 
  

   are 
  held. 
  The 
  llama 
  has 
  well-known 
  limits 
  to 
  its 
  travel: 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  go 
  

   down 
  to 
  the 
  tropical 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  only 
  occasionally 
  descends 
  

   to 
  the 
  chief 
  towns 
  of 
  the 
  Coast. 
  Its 
  longest 
  trips 
  are 
  to 
  the 
  salt 
  flats 
  

   of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Coast, 
  where 
  domestic 
  salt 
  is 
  obtained. 
  A 
  llama 
  cannot, 
  

   as 
  a 
  general 
  rule, 
  transport 
  more 
  than 
  about 
  65 
  pounds 
  (30 
  kg) 
  . 
  

  

  The 
  coincidence 
  of 
  the 
  dates 
  of 
  the 
  Catholic 
  calendar 
  with 
  those 
  

   of 
  the 
  principal 
  fairs 
  has 
  been 
  brought 
  about 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  complicated 
  

   manner, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  reconciling 
  agricultural 
  activities 
  

   with 
  the 
  Church 
  festivals. 
  (See 
  Valcarcel, 
  this 
  volume, 
  pp. 
  471-476). 
  

   In 
  the 
  southern 
  Peru, 
  e. 
  g., 
  the 
  region 
  best 
  studied 
  to 
  date, 
  the 
  great 
  

   fairs 
  begin 
  on 
  July 
  16 
  with 
  the 
  celebration 
  of 
  the 
  fiesta 
  of 
  the 
  Virgen 
  

   del 
  Carmen, 
  a 
  devotion 
  which 
  is 
  very 
  general 
  throughout 
  Peru. 
  In 
  

   Pucara, 
  a 
  small 
  town 
  in 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Puno, 
  at 
  least 
  15,000 
  people 
  

   meet, 
  coming 
  from 
  the 
  surrounding 
  provinces 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  from 
  Cuzco, 
  

   Arequipa, 
  and 
  northern 
  Bolivia. 
  This 
  fair 
  features 
  two 
  main 
  prod- 
  

   ucts 
  : 
  pottery, 
  of 
  which 
  Pucara 
  is 
  the 
  chief 
  producer, 
  and 
  small 
  horses 
  

   (veritable 
  ponies) 
  from 
  Chumbivilcas 
  in 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  Cuzco, 
  where 
  

   they 
  are 
  bred. 
  Traders 
  from 
  regions 
  where 
  pottery 
  articles 
  are 
  not 
  

   made, 
  obtain 
  these 
  in 
  exchange 
  for 
  agricultural 
  products, 
  principally 
  

   maize, 
  which 
  the 
  altiplano 
  does 
  not 
  produce. 
  The 
  horse 
  buyers 
  are 
  

   "Kollas," 
  a 
  general 
  name 
  for 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  the 
  puna. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  most 
  

  

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