The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas Volume I, II, and III

388 Izumi Shimada
land and water management techniques and camelid husbandry, continued
to redefine "environment" in its broadest sense and its interplay
with people in much of the study area. Not surprisingly, we see a notable
population increase in the second half of our study period. These changes
clearly went hand in hand with increasing sociopolitical complexity and
concern for and sophistication in material expression of their identity,
including their cosmological visions and political dogma. We now turn
our attention to the technological and artistic achievements of the ERD
cultures.
Although no longer employed, the label "Mastercraftsmen" was justifiable
in many ways for the arts and crafts of some ERD cultures. For
example, in terms of technical sophistication, virtuosity, and mastery,
Mochica metalworkers and Nasca potters were unprecedented and remained
to a large degree uneclipsed by later workers not only in the
prehispanic Andes but in the entire prehispanic New World. In addition,
the period under study saw the formalization of distinct and persistent
artistic-technological traditions that characterized arts and crafts of subsequent
cultures of the study area. We are speaking of distinct repertoires
(or preferences) in raw materials, techniques, and technologies, as well as
colors and artistic conventions that persisted in time and had a macroregional
distribution. As seen later, a rather clear difference between
northern Peru—North Andes and southern Peru—South-Central Andes
exists. In this and following sections, art and craft products are seen as
replete with meaning, not only of technical and technological domains
but also of social position and obligations and cosmology of users and
manufacturers.
Textiles
In the broad scheme of prehispanic Andean arts and crafts, southern
Peru and the adjacent South-Central Andes are characterized by a penchant
for polychrome rendering (consistent use of three or more colors)
in various media, but particularly in textiles and ceramics. When we
speak of textiles, the earlier caveats regarding biases stemming from
differential preservation and looting activities should be kept in mind.
From the south coast of Peru to the northern coast of Chile, the extreme
aridity and sandy matrix of cemeteries have facilitated exceptional preservation
and intensive looting of mummy bundles wrapped in and accompanied
by large quantities of textiles. In contrast, textiles in the
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