The Paraca's Textiles

 


The Paracas Peninsula, Peru


        Off of the south coast of ancient Peru, the Paracas peninsula, where many people who had passed were buried and wrapped in many types of cloths and clothing. They called these wrapped and buried folks "mummy bundles" as they were not only wrapped but the largest and richest of them were filled with wonderfully vibrant pieces of artwork called textiles. They had previously been referring to this specific cloth, as seen below,  as "The Paracas Textile" to indicate its uniqueness and remarkable craftsmanship. Although, scholars have since revised the provenance and attributed the textile to the slightly later Nasca culture. In recent years, the Brooklyn Museum released a few very close up shots of this ancient textile, not only showing off its intricacy but giving us a deeper look into how the cloth was made so long ago. Some of the Textiles like the ones below were too delicate to have served any utilitarian purposes based on the tools used in ancient times when these were created and were deemed ceremonial pieces. One very interesting fact that was discovered about these textiles was that both sides were actually wholly finished pieces, so much so that it's almost indistinguishable which side is the correct one to be facing up.

    The llama, laden with a bounty of vegetables                                   Center detail

        In the 1920s, a man by the name of Julio Tello discovered hundreds of these burial sites but was forced to abandon the site due to some political reasoning in 1930. Sadly a large period of looting began shortly after everyone had cleared out and scattered most of the unclaimed textiles. A few were found in Gothenburg, Sweden, and smuggled by the Swedish consul into the Museum of World Culture in the 1930s. Textiles like these were really a glorious archaeological find, not only being able to see the finished product of the textiles themselves but also to see into the detail of the cloths. Around the outer edge of this particular Textile is lined with people of unique looks and dress, monstrous beings, and even multiple groupings of pairs, triplets, sextuplets, etc. The base of these figures was almost 2D in comparison because of the figures being sewn into the cloth. What's even better is that most if not all of the figures are wearing or carrying items that fit the archaeological records for the Nasca culture! Thankfully the Swedish consul is working with the country of Peru to ensure these textiles are returned safely. 


Martin, Lois. 2020. "The Paracas Textile – Smarthistory". Smarthistory.Org. https://smarthistory.org/the-paracas-textile/.























Comments

  1. Ashley MNovember 14, 2020 at 12:41 PM

    If I remember correctly, the only way that you could distinguish the back from the front was on account of a few figures that show their backside. It never ceases to amaze me how intricate some of these artifacts are. I would have trouble figuring out how to embroidery something, and I have access to Youtube. How much time must have been put into this one textile? I'm glad that Sweden has agreed to give these items back. I don't really blame the looters. The problem is that there are people willing to buy things on the blackmarket.

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    Replies
    1. M. RobersonNovember 15, 2020 at 4:08 PM

      Jake, I really liked the textile you picked and went into detail about. Fascinating that the cloth has imagery of their people and even has them carrying items that they would regularly be seen with! Well done!

      Delete
  2. Madison CunninghamNovember 15, 2020 at 5:03 PM

    Jake, I appreciate how much detail you gave us. I thought about how much time these textiles used to take. I couldn't imagine!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amanda GarrettNovember 16, 2020 at 10:51 PM

    Hello Jake,
    I also did one of my blog posts on the Paracas textiles. I did not know that these pieces were used to bury people, that gives these textiles much more meaning because I thought they were created only for fashion or decoration. The pictures you added express such great detail, good job!
    -Amanda Garrett

    ReplyDelete

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