A highland textile tradition from the far south of Peru during the period of Inka domination

Abstract

A group of garments and textile fragments is identified in this article as belonging to a particular textile tradition, with characteristics indicating an affiliation to communities in the highlands of the South-Central Andes. Different categories of gender-specific garments are presented. The characteristics include an all-camelid construction, warp-patterned stripes in blocks of alternating colours, the use of a discontinuous warp and transposed-warp weave. Pattern motifs include eight-pointed stars, double-headed serpents and figures based on rhombuses. Distinctive geometric designs are analysed, including ‘butterfly’ motifs and narrow stripes, consisting of paired light- and dark-coloured right-angled triangles joined to make stacks of larger isosceles triangles or rhombuses. These are compared with pottery styles of the Collao, the region surrounding Lake Titicaca, and of the Inkas, who conquered the region c. 1440. Some textiles are reported in museum catalogues to have been found on sites in the Yauca, Majes and Sihuas valleys. It is hypothesized that the textiles preserved in museum collections are from funerary sites in southern Peru from the 1470s onwards when Qolla and Lupaqa lordships established enclaves in coastal valleys under the aegis of the Inka empire.