A trade relationship termed compadrazgo,or simply conocidos,is reported between regular trade partners; typically between those who live in complementary ecological areas (Browman 1990: 404-405;Flores Ochoa 1968; but see ;Nielsen 2000: 437-438;Nielsen 2001: 182-183). For example, if a llama caravan driver from a particular area of the puna and a farmer in a mid-altitude valley with a variety of products have regularly exchanged goods over the years, and then they teach their children of the relationship using fictive-kin terms; a tradition of mutualism is established between herder and farmer that can potentially last for generations. The relationship offers stability and predictability to both sides of the exchange in barter rates, types of goods, and quantities to be exchanged.

The nature of this encounter is critical to understanding Andean reciprocity relationships and the degree of alienability of goods being exchanged (Burchard 1974;Mayer 1971). As mentioned above, the caravan driver has mobility and choices in terms of travel routes and communities where to partake in exchange. The maintenance of long term exchange partners through compadrazgois therefore a constraint on caravan autonomy. Two characteristics of compadrazgo relationships appear to underscore the embeddedness of the interaction: