12

D. W. GADE . R. RIOS

Fig. 9. Unusually long chaquitacllas, made of eucalyptus saplings, used in corvee at Hualgoy, Province of
Huamalfes, Department of Huanuco, Peru. Photo M. A. Barash 1966.


Ungewohnlich lange chaquitacllas, angefertigt aus jungen Eukalyptusbaumen, verwendet bei der Fronarbeit
in Hualgoy, Provinz Huamalies, Kreis Huanufco, Peru.

Tubers are also harvested with the taclla by
lifting the whole plant out of the ground in
one fell swoop, a more efficient - if also
more difficult - operation than with other
tools. The taclla can also cut and extract
blocks of turf for the construction of sod fen-
ces; one man in a day can make from 200 to

300 blocks, enough for from 20 to 30 m of
fence. Foundations and post holes and irriga-
tion and drainage ditches are also dug with
this tool. Shovels are recognized as more ef-
ficient implements for such work, but this
European introduction is still not part of the
tool inventory of all peasants at high elevations.