ABSTRACT
For the Amuesha order is a central concern underlying their thought and guiding their actions. They perceive human life as a permanent struggle against the disruptive character of chaos. This batde between the forces of order and the forces of chaos is conducted at the social, biological and cultural level. The pre-social model of organisation, based on territorially bounded endogamous descent groups, depicted in the myth of Sanrronesha' does not refer to a historically 'real' model of organisation, but is a logical construction that stresses, through the principle of contrariness, the benefits of the present era of social structure. The Amuesha theory of the genealogy of social order is indistinguishable from its own related theory of human nature. Love, generosity and reciprocity are the interrelated principles and rules of behaviour which guarantee the existence and perpetuation of harmonious social relations.
