CHINCHA
PLAIN-WEAVE CLOTHS

BY
L. M. O'NEALE, E. BACON, C. W. GEMMER,
R. V. HALL, I. W. JOHNSON, C. M. OSBORNE,
M. B. ROSS

ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS
Vol. 9, No. 2

ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS
Editors: E. W. Gifford, R. F. Heizer, R. H. Lowie, R. L. Olson
Volume 9, No. 2, pp. 133-156, 1 map, 8 figures in text, plates 1-9
Submitted by editors March 8, 1948
Issued February, 1949
Price, 50 cents

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON, ENGLAND

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOREWORD

The study presented here was one of a series planned by Professor Lila M. O'Neale, Associate Curator of Textiles in the Museum of Anthropology. The fundamental idea was to make use of the wealth of material in the collections of the Museum of Anthropology, particularly its pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles, as source material for study and analysis by advanced students. Professor O'Neale's sudden death on February 2, 1948, means that, although the paper was completed and in the hands of the Board of Editors of Anthropological Records, the final proofreading has not been done by Professor O'Neale.

The Board greatly regrets that this outstanding contribution will not be followed by others produced under the direction and guidance of a highly esteemed colleague.

CONTENTS

Map 1
Chincha Environs

CHINCHA
PLAIN-WEAVE CLOTHS

BY
L. M. O'NEALE, E. BACON, C. W. GEMMER,
R. V. HALL, I. W. JOHNSON, C. M. OSBORNE,
M. B. ROSS

INTRODUCTION

This study of the Chincha plain-weave materials in the Max Uhle collection of the University of California has been part of the work of a Senior course in technical analysis. Six members of the class, whose names appear as joint authors, are responsible for the data collected and for the initial organization.

The Material

The Chincha collection, excavated in 1900 by Dr. Max Uhle during the Peruvian expedition financed by Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst, is catalogued under two lot prefixes: 4- and 16-. Specimen numbers with the prefix 4- indicate that the precise provenience as to site and grave is known. The cloths in this lot have been previously analyzed and a preliminary report has been published.[1] The cloths in the 16- lot, as is explained in the report on the pottery,[2] did not identify perfectly with entries in the collector's field catalogue or their identification was dubious.

Six Chincha sites described in Uhle's field catalogue[3] are shown on map 1. The number of cloth specimens representing each of these sites varies from 2 to 52 (table 1). Briefly, the time periods indicated by finds forming the basis of this report are as follows.

Site A (2 specimens). "On the declivities of the valley towards the sea, 5 km. from Tambo de Mora to the north." Late Chincha period.

Site B (3 specimens). La Cumbe cemetery; nearly exhausted; the few graves opened were "ordinary ones." Late Chincha period.

Site C (37 specimens). In "the higher Northern part of the valley." Late Chincha period.

Site D, and "near" site D (52 specimens). "Chamberlike tombs, which had been dug out in a mound-like older huaca." Late Chincha period.

Site E, and "near" site E (20 specimens). "The dry natural terrace ... in front of the ruins of La Centinela." Several graves at this site held European articles. Late Chincha period, in part after the Spanish Conquest.

Site F (2 specimens). "The natural terraces with slopes directed to the sea north of La Cumbe (circa Las Palmas)."public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@42375@[email protected]#Footnote_4"