Through its Nibrant and colorftil textiles, the Para-cas culture of Peru has left behind a rich legacy that teases with its elusiveness. Rife with sj'mbols that have lost their meaning in the absence of a guide, the textiles can seem to defy inteipretation. Yet the specialists studying them hav'e managed to glean clues from the embroidered images that provide insights into the lies and minds of individuals w'ho benveen 450 and 175 BC w'ent to their graves wrapped in yards and yards of the cloth. As the following pages indicate, the textiles’ lively images suggest an imaginative intimacy' with the forces of nature—and seemingly with the forces of the supernatural as well.
Still, as North American archaeologist Ann H. Peters say's, “Lx)oking at these textiles, w'e will alw'ay's have more questions than answers.” No one know's, for instance, w'hat kind of social role the men in the detail above from a 2,000-year-old grave w'rapping play as they' squarely' face the view'er. They' hold a staff in one hand and a sexered trophy head in the other. Some scholars say' such “warrior figures” may' represent the leaders of distinct lineages, but other experts believe the ow ner of this particular textile would ha’e been a w-ar-rior who used the de. sign to proclaim his role in the community'. Peters takes a larger view’ and suggests the figures stand for human predatory pow er.
The societies that placed value in such w’rappings would ha'c had to call upon the. services of a small army of specialists to produce them: cotton farmers, gatherers of wild vicuna vv'ool, herders of llamas and alpacas, and dy'crs, weav’ers, and of course the embroiderers, w'hose brilliant work has. survived for millennia under the dry conditions of Peru’s Paracas Peninsula. But whatev er ancient secrets these textiles may keep, at least one message is clear: The exquisite burial wrappings serv ed as a costly indication of status, for only the NkI-ies of older males vv’ere ft>und bundled in multiple lay'-ers of the most magnificent fabrics. ’
World History
