ABSTRACT
The physical boundaries of Soqa are easy enough to describe: it is an island, bounded on all sides by Lake Titicaca. The Aymara system is presently undergoing morphogenesis. The boundaries have been struck; they have been struck hard and suddenly. The changes that are taking place in the system are fundamental, that is, they are of the essential variables themselves. Peruvian industrialization provided a means tor the transformation of Aymara economy. The chapter examines the traditional Aymara system, as it has existed since conquest times, the essential variables might be described as follows: Subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry, the ayllu form of government, a pagan-to-Catholic religious continuum, the Aymara language, a limited population and a relatively closed system. All social systems are in the process of constant change. The type of change depends on the degree to which the boundaries are affected.
