facts made our discovery of a unique selvage finish a matter of unusual interest. The edges of specimens 16-1228 and 16-1236 have been reinforced by two stitchery techniques. Plate 8,i shows the ordinary whipping stitches which form the foundation for the second technique. Plate 8,h shows this second line of work to consist of a double strand twined, but always from back to front, with the tops of the whipping stitches.

On one of the Chincha 4- specimens (4-4068a) the half-inch selvage is distinguished from the body of the fabric by the use of warp yarns lighter in color than those appearing in the body of the fabric and by the two-over-one weave of the right-hand selvage in contrast to the one-over-one weave found elsewhere in the fabric. In specimen 4-4027 the edges are strengthened on each side for some six inches of the length by a single heavy 4-ply warp unit.

In the Chincha 4- specimens, where congestion of edge yarns occurs, its extent in from the edge varies from 5 threads (in 3 specimens) to 24 threads (1 specimen); in the majority of these specimens, the congestion ranges from 6 to 12 threads (8 specimens). Textures in plate 4,a, c are comparable to those in which maximum congestion occurs.

YARNS

All yarns are initially spun as single plies. In the ancient Peruvian textiles, there are evidences of preferences for single-ply yarns or at least the use of them even in fabrics we should consider called for heavier elements. The Chincha domestic cloths are good examples. We made yarn analyses on half of the total number of cloths in the study. All but ten of the fifty-seven examined were woven with single-ply warp and weft elements and of these ten, only one coarse cloth had 2-ply warps and wefts; the remaining nine had 2-ply warps crossed by single-ply wefts. The majority of these fabrics classified as "fine" weavings.

Yarns may be twisted (spun) in two directions. The spirals formed by twisting may extend upward to the left (the S-twist) or to the right (the Z-twist). The frequencies of the left and the right twist in yarns are indicative of motor habits, if nothing more.

The largest Chincha group comprises twenty-nine cloths in which the warp and weft elements have left spirals; a much smaller group (5 specimens) shows yarns with right spirals. Two other groups (6 and 3 pieces, respectively) have warps with left spirals crossed by wefts with right spirals and vice versa. The other cloths in which yarns with different twists are combined perhaps may represent the use of odds and ends of yarns. The following combinations were found:

1. Single-ply S-twist and Z-twist warps crossed by single-ply S-twist wefts (2 specimens) or crossed by single-ply Z-twist wefts (1 specimen).

2. Single-ply S-twist warps crossed by single-ply S-twist and Z-twist wefts (1 fine-texture specimen).

Yarns are characterized as soft- or slack-twist, medium-twist, hard- or tight-twist, with various intermediate degrees depending upon the angle taken by the spiral in relation to a vertical axis. A 25-degree angle, for example, characterizes a medium-twist yarn tending toward hard-twist. Yarns with 30-degree to 45-degree angles of twist are hard-twist yarns. More than half of an unselected sample of twenty yarns fell within the 25-degree to 45-degree range. The remaining seven had angles from 50 degrees to 90 degrees in some sections of their lengths. An idea of the variations in any one weaving element may be gained from plate 4,c and the enlarged section of fabric in plate 7,c.

TEXTURES AND WEAVING TECHNIQUES

In general, the Chincha weavings are smooth and closely woven (pls. 3,b, and 4,b). There appears to have been little or no interest in varying the textures by employing yarns of different weights, although the usual irregularities to be noted in lengths of hand-spun yarns are also evident in these. Counts taken on the warps and wefts per inch give a fair indication of the textures, but these are to a degree dependent upon the spinning.

Figure 5. Scatter diagram of thread counts per inch. Figures indicate number of specimens. Symbols: triangle, apex down, unit consists of one warp and one weft element; open square, unit consists of one warp, two weft elements; concentric circles, unit consists of two warps, one weft element; triangle, apex up, unit consists of warp and weft pairs.

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Several variations of the elemental over-one-under-one plain weave are exemplified by the Chincha cloths. Included are the following: combinations of pairs of warps or wefts with single yarns of the opposite system, and pairs of warps and wefts as in the two-by-two basket weave. The one hundred and twelve specimens represented in the scatter diagram (fig. 5) fall into groups, according to the variations of the plain weave these are listed below in the order of their frequency:

In terms of weaving units, whether single yarns or pairs of yarns, 56 of the 112 counts taken fall within a range of 26 to 44 warp units and 24 to 36 weft units. Figure 5 shows this concentration within the frame.

Weaving techniques, other than the basic structural types, are few in number. Drawing in colored warps for stripes is a preliminary to the actual interlacing of the elements. The results of this procedure can best be discussed under the heading "Pattern."

The join is a technical feature that indicates standards of craftsmanship. It is customary in weaving materials with end as well as side