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Medicinal Tradition
In popular folk traditional medicine, even nowadays, these dogs help cure all kind of ailments, specially those related to rheumatic ones.Apart from their anti allergic obvious properties. they were also used to prevent ahsma attacks. During colonial times these dogs were bred to be as small as possible in order to have them in bed near the asna patientīs chest. The last example of one of this miniatures was "Julita" who could not be mated due to its size, she measured 7 cms.at the cross. By producys such as urine, phesces. the head and newly born tails are used in different remedies prepared even nowadays by rural "medicine doctors".
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| The horrible Izcuintepozoli |
Spanish chronicles also tell us about the specialized markets that the Mexican Indians had for hairless dog meat for human consumtion which they considered an exquisity.
In peru only some barbarian tribes ate dog and were considered as savages by the Incas, who fought them.
They also write about another breed, now extinct, that the Mexicans had. It was a quite monstrous hunchback kind of big animal, called Izcuintepozotli
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Records
Many ancient pre-columbian coastal cultures of Peru, such as Vicus, Moche, Mochica, Nazca, Chancay and others, used to give these animals a semi divine status, representing them in their ritual pottery in many different situations, such as nursing, mating, and frecuently dressed with colofull shirts to protect them from the cold and the sun rays as their skin is quite sensitive.
The Spanish chronicles tell about when the "conquistadores" met them and learned about how they were considered sons of the moon and as they could not bark, they were beaten for them to howl so that their mother would not go away during the eclipse. Also about how a couple was taken to Spain as gifts for king Phillip II.
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| Mochica moon rituals trumpet |
All rhe pottety in this page was found in burial sites, together with the body of an important person of the comunity, that is priests, army commanders or nobles. |
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