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Evolution of Andean Diversity ($00 B.C.E.—C.E. 600) 395
embroideries of the Paracas Necropolis mantles but painted much larger
in scale and outlined in black. They show "harvesters" or human figures
holding harvested crops such as maize, yuca, and peanut; ritual impersonators;
animals (e.g., Pampas cat, Felis colocolo); and supernaturals, some
of whom carry agricultural crops as well. We have the impression that
painted cloth was used as a backdrop for outdoor rituals related to
agricultural fertility and/or harvest. Whether the painted and nonpainted
textiles had mutually exclusive functions remains unclear largely due to
the limited sample.
Overall, studies have shown that by the first few centuries C.E. south
coast weavers had mastered or invented most weaving techniques known
the world over, ranging from single-yarn looping to gauze, double-faced
cloth, and some that are unique to the area. They used these techniques
individually or in combination with cotton or camelid wool yarns dyed
in a diverse range of colors and spun in different manners according to
desired visual, structural, and tactile effects. Designs on textiles were
achieved by a variety of means, including painting, embroidery, hanging
sheet-metal pieces, sewing the trimmed feathers of bright tropical birds,
and the labor-intensive technique of "structural weaving." The last means
that the desired patterns and colors were created "from within" by
separating and manipulating warp yarns that had been dyed and selected
prior to the onset of weaving in accordance with a preconceived design
configuration, composition, and colors. Thus it was during the period
under study that significant improvements in raw materials, expansion in
the technical repertoire, and attendant reconceptualization of the creative
potential of weaving contributed to establishing decorated textiles as one
of the most valued craft items of the Andean world, a position it held
throughout the history.
Preserved textiles from the central and north coasts are relatively small
in number but sufficient to indicate their cultural importance and impressive
technical sophistication and variability. For example, Conklin
has identified five distinct weave structures among Mochica textiles,
including plain and compound weaves, and two forms of slit tapestry.
The latter appear on "pictorial cloth" (Phase V) found in a subterranean
burial chamber at the site of Pacatnamii at the mouth of Jequetepeque
Valley. They were decorated with depictions of what H. Ubbelohde-
Doering regards as water and fertility rites.
There are indications that brightly colored, trimmed bird feathers were
anchored to plain cloth and used by Mochica elite as cloaks. We noted
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