DOI article:
Schjellerup, Inge R.: Observations on ridged fields and terracing systems in the northern highlands of Peru
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0108
102
INGE SCHJELLERUP
Fig. 2a-b. Agricultural tools of to-day: (a) lampa
(mattock with steel blade) and (b) pushana,
(wooden mattock). Photo: I.S.
Ackerbaugerate von heute: (a) Lampa, (Hacke mit
stahlernem Blatt) und (b) Pushana (holzerne
Hacke).
along the main-source of the river Utcubam-
ba. The inhabitants cultivate at least 35 varie-
ties of potatoes (Solanum sp.) and other An-
dean tuber crops: ora (Oxalis tuberosa),
ullucu (Ullucus tuberosus) and mashua
(Tropaeolum tuberosum). Quinoa (Chen-
opodium quinoa) may grow in certain places
but is hardly ever cultivated to-day. It is too
cold and humid to grow maize and cereals.
The potatoes from Atuen are highly valued
in the whole district where they are bartered
for maize, wheat, sugar cane and other con-
sumption products. Occasionally the people
from Atuen will sell some of their potatoes
in Chuquibamba or in Leimebamba, the
neighbouring district town some 30 km
away, for cash to buy industrial items such
as salt, paraffin, clothes and soap.
Atuen is the most important agricultural
centre for tuber crops in the whole area,
where the crops still are being grown in the
traditional way without fertilizers and in-
secticides. The technology is still based on
the lampa (a sharp angled mattock with
steel-blade) and the pushana (wooden hoe)
(fig. 2a, b). Cultivation with the ard (intro-
duced by the Spaniards in the early Colonial
period) is rarely done because of the steep
slopes.
Various examples of ridged fields and
stone terracing were observed on the moun-
INGE SCHJELLERUP
Fig. 2a-b. Agricultural tools of to-day: (a) lampa
(mattock with steel blade) and (b) pushana,
(wooden mattock). Photo: I.S.
Ackerbaugerate von heute: (a) Lampa, (Hacke mit
stahlernem Blatt) und (b) Pushana (holzerne
Hacke).
along the main-source of the river Utcubam-
ba. The inhabitants cultivate at least 35 varie-
ties of potatoes (Solanum sp.) and other An-
dean tuber crops: ora (Oxalis tuberosa),
ullucu (Ullucus tuberosus) and mashua
(Tropaeolum tuberosum). Quinoa (Chen-
opodium quinoa) may grow in certain places
but is hardly ever cultivated to-day. It is too
cold and humid to grow maize and cereals.
The potatoes from Atuen are highly valued
in the whole district where they are bartered
for maize, wheat, sugar cane and other con-
sumption products. Occasionally the people
from Atuen will sell some of their potatoes
in Chuquibamba or in Leimebamba, the
neighbouring district town some 30 km
away, for cash to buy industrial items such
as salt, paraffin, clothes and soap.
Atuen is the most important agricultural
centre for tuber crops in the whole area,
where the crops still are being grown in the
traditional way without fertilizers and in-
secticides. The technology is still based on
the lampa (a sharp angled mattock with
steel-blade) and the pushana (wooden hoe)
(fig. 2a, b). Cultivation with the ard (intro-
duced by the Spaniards in the early Colonial
period) is rarely done because of the steep
slopes.
Various examples of ridged fields and
stone terracing were observed on the moun-