The Paracas Textile

 

Nasca, Mantle (“The Paracas Textile“), 100-300 C.E., cotton, camelid fiber, 58-1/4 x 24-1/2 inches / 148 x 62.2 cm, found south coast, Paracas, Peru (Brooklyn Museum)

    Pictured above is an old textile woven together that was actually used in Peru to wrap up the dead bodies and keep them in a mummified state. They were also buried with fine jewelry, food, costumes, and also these cloth textiles. The environment in which this cloth was preserved was so dry that the quality and vibrancy in color within the cloth have remained intact for the most part. Considering the fact that this cloth is approximately 2,000 years old it definitely remains in good shape. "The combination of materials suggests extensive trading relationships: for a while cotton was grown in coastal valleys, wool came from camelids (such as the llama, alpaca, and vicuna) that live at high altitudes in the Andes Mountains." (Lois Martin, 2015). The lining of this textile has several figures mostly consisting of animals hanging off the edge that are usually wearing garments in regards to their culture. The technique in which they used to create these textiles was referred to as a "warp-wrapping." With this technique, they would take colored fleece and wound it up with cotton warp threads and then weaved together in that form. The inner portion was weaved using a general technique known as "crossed-looping" that is frequently used in knitting. It is obvious to see that weaving was very important in this culture and that's how they expressed themselves best. 

Detail of border figure 61, Nasca, Mantle (“The Paracas Textile“), 100-300 C.E., cotton, camelid fiber, 58-1/4 x 24-1/2” / 148 x 62.2 cm, found south coast, Paracas, Peru (Brooklyn Museum)

https://smarthistory.org/the-paracas-textile/