Until the 19th century, the Qom were primarily a hunter-gatherer, semi-nomadic society that traveled in pursuit of dietary resources. There also existed a very strict sexual division of labor: the men, from a very early age, dedicated themselves to hunting and fishing and the women collected food and worked in incipient agricultural gardens that were in large part influenced by contributions from the groups from the Andean and Amazonian regions. In this way, the Qom women cultivated plants such as "nachitek" (squash), "oltañi" (corn), "avagha" (beans), sweet potatoes and manioc on small and medium-sized plots. However, these products were only complementary to their diet and the Qom never produced a surplus of such items. One possible explanation for this is that between the months of August and September, the Qom went through what was known as the Hungry Season and the period of silence. This time, the end of winter and the beginning of spring, represents a period in weather in which it is hard to successfully support and produce agriculture and wildlife is often not as active as it might be due to periods of cold weather. During this time, Qom women would often gather what they considered to be emergency foods: such as prickly pears, tubers and reeds. Another ecological explanation for this apparent flaw is that the climate and soil of their territory did not have a high enough yield for agricultural production while the Chaco territory, in its natural state, was a great source for supplying the Qom's dietary needs, especially with respect to proteins. The Qom hunted principally tapirs, peccaries, deer, guanaco and a large variety of birds. Additionally, the Qom used to collect honey and large amounts of fruit and berries. 