﻿Vol.2] 
  TRIBES 
  OF 
  ECUADOR 
  — 
  MURRA 
  797 
  

  

  was 
  densely 
  populated 
  with 
  many 
  villages, 
  which 
  Cieza 
  unfortunately 
  

   does 
  not 
  list 
  "to 
  avoid 
  prolixity." 
  The 
  anonymous 
  author 
  of 
  a 
  de- 
  

   scription 
  of 
  several 
  villages 
  in 
  this 
  area 
  (Torres 
  de 
  Mendoza, 
  1868) 
  

   mentions 
  as 
  Puruhd 
  towns: 
  Calpi, 
  San 
  Andres, 
  Guano, 
  Ilapo, 
  Guan- 
  

   ando, 
  Penipe, 
  Quimia, 
  Achambo, 
  El 
  Molino, 
  Pungala, 
  Lito 
  (Licto), 
  

   Puni 
  (Punin), 
  and 
  Yaruquies. 
  In 
  addition, 
  Chimbo, 
  Alausi, 
  and 
  

   Chunchi 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  inhabitated 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  people. 
  

  

  Language. 
  — 
  The 
  Puruhd 
  language 
  is 
  now 
  lost, 
  although 
  it 
  was 
  still 
  

   spoken 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1692. 
  Place 
  names 
  and 
  patronymics, 
  however, 
  have 
  

   been 
  used 
  in 
  attempts 
  to 
  determine 
  its 
  affiliation, 
  and 
  several 
  investi- 
  

   gators 
  have 
  suggested 
  its 
  relationship 
  to 
  Canari, 
  a 
  language 
  spoken 
  by 
  

   a 
  large 
  group 
  farther 
  south. 
  Jij6n 
  suggests 
  that 
  both 
  Puruhd 
  and 
  

   Canari 
  are 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  linguistic 
  family 
  which 
  includes 
  Chimu 
  

   (Mochica) 
  on 
  the 
  North 
  Coast 
  of 
  Peru 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  Huancavilca 
  and 
  

   Manta 
  on 
  the 
  Ecuadorean 
  Coast. 
  He 
  suggests 
  the 
  name 
  Puruhd- 
  

   Mochica 
  for 
  languages 
  spoken 
  from 
  Chimborazo 
  in 
  Ecuador 
  to 
  Huan- 
  

   cayo 
  in 
  Perti. 
  A 
  chronicler 
  describing 
  settlements 
  in 
  the 
  Chanchan 
  

   Valley, 
  however, 
  lists 
  Puruhd 
  and 
  Canari 
  as 
  distinct 
  and 
  presumably 
  

   mutually 
  unintelligible 
  languages. 
  On 
  the 
  whole, 
  the 
  various 
  sug- 
  

   gested 
  affiliations 
  seem 
  tenuous, 
  particularly 
  as 
  we 
  know 
  virtually 
  

   nothing 
  of 
  either 
  Puruhd 
  or 
  Canari, 
  

  

  Subsistence 
  activities. 
  — 
  Although 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  in 
  Chimborazo 
  

   is 
  too 
  high 
  for 
  agriculture, 
  the 
  province 
  includes 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   densely 
  populated 
  areas 
  in 
  Ecuador. 
  Intensive 
  agriculture 
  has 
  been 
  

   practiced 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time, 
  the 
  people 
  raising 
  maize, 
  beans, 
  squash, 
  

   potatoes, 
  quinoa, 
  and 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  cabuya 
  for 
  its 
  fibers. 
  Deer, 
  rabbits, 
  

   and 
  several 
  species 
  of 
  birds 
  were 
  hunted. 
  Data 
  on 
  land 
  tenure 
  date 
  

   from 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  16th 
  century, 
  50 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  Conquest, 
  and 
  

   therefore 
  do 
  not 
  reliably 
  represent 
  aboriginal 
  conditions. 
  At 
  that 
  

   time, 
  land 
  was 
  held 
  individually, 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  area 
  being 
  owned 
  by 
  

   the 
  community 
  and 
  cultivated 
  by 
  it 
  for 
  the 
  benefit 
  of 
  the 
  "absent" 
  — 
  

   the 
  people 
  who 
  were 
  serving 
  out 
  their 
  tribute 
  away 
  from 
  home. 
  

  

  Houses 
  and 
  villages. 
  — 
  Cieza 
  reports 
  stone 
  houses 
  for 
  the 
  area, 
  but 
  

   this 
  is 
  also 
  probably 
  a 
  post-iVica 
  development. 
  Dwellings 
  with 
  walls 
  

   formed 
  of 
  mud-covered 
  posts 
  and 
  thatched 
  roofs 
  were 
  commonly 
  used. 
  

   In 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  people 
  lived 
  spread 
  out 
  over 
  the 
  mountainside, 
  

   although 
  10 
  to 
  12 
  families 
  were 
  reported 
  living 
  together 
  at 
  Alausi. 
  

  

  Dress 
  and 
  ornaments. 
  — 
  Men 
  wore 
  sleeveless 
  shirts 
  which 
  came 
  

   down 
  below 
  their 
  knees, 
  and 
  blankets 
  of 
  cotton 
  and 
  wool. 
  Their 
  hair 
  

   was 
  worn 
  very 
  long, 
  piled 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  circle 
  on 
  the 
  head 
  and 
  tied 
  with 
  a 
  

   cabuya 
  string, 
  which 
  was 
  also 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  sling 
  and 
  identified 
  the 
  wearer 
  

   as 
  a 
  Puruhd. 
  As 
  elsewhere 
  in 
  the 
  Sierra, 
  the 
  cutting 
  of 
  one's 
  hair 
  

   was 
  viewed 
  with 
  alarm 
  and 
  took 
  place 
  only 
  on 
  special, 
  ceremonial 
  

   occasions. 
  

  

  