class="fnanchor pginternal" id="FNanchor_4" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">[4] Late Chincha period.

Table 1

Basic Table: Sites, Periods, and Number
of Specimens in Study

Most of the fabrics described in the literature on ancient Peruvian textiles are characterized by beauty of coloring or arresting designs or unusual workmanship—sometimes by all three. These all-cotton Chincha specimens have none of the expectable features. First and last they seem to have served utilitarian purposes; for that reason, most of them are comparable to our so-called domestics. The larger ones are probably mantles: the proportions of the largest two-breadth pieces with full dimensions (4-3973d, 59.5 in. by 66 in. and 16-1250, 52 in. by 61 in.) place them in this group; a third specimen (16-1292), also formed of two breadths (intact breadth 35 in. plus fragmentary breadth 28 in.) was probably a mantle 62 inches by 70 inches over all. The smaller specimens suggest scarves (or incomplete mantles), carrying cloths, or kerchiefs (figs. 1, 2).

The fact that many of the Chincha cloths in the 16- lot had apparently been roughly torn to rectangular shapes leads us to believe that the excavator used them to wrap pottery specimens. Indeed, the majority seem to have been used even by their makers as wrappings. A number of them have long loose stitches or hanging cordlike threads, which originally may have held several layers together. Many of the single breadths have traces of seaming stitches on one or both selvages, indicating that the original wrapping was two or three times its preserved width.

Fig. 1. Diagrams of eleven specimens with length-to-width proportions approximately 1:1, as indicated by diagonal. Seams in two-breadth textiles shown as broken lines. Largest specimen, 59.5 inches by 66 inches.

Fig. 2. Diagrams of seven rectangular specimens with length-to-width proportions approximately 2:1 as indicated by diagonal. Largest specimen, 62 inches by 22.5 inches.

A large proportion of the cloths in this group are badly worn and clumsily patched. Two, three, and sometimes more pieces of irregular shape applied to the base material and even on top of a first patch are not infrequent (pl. 3,d). The mended fragments do not appear to be either the original sizes or shapes. Many of them have been reduced to their present rectangular shape by tearing off tattered (?) edges.

One small group of striped textiles in the 16- lot is a noteworthy exception to the majority. Finely striped cottons similar to the one in plate 5,d must certainly have been made for other than utility cloths, probably for garments.

There are four small bags (or pads?) in the Chincha 4- lot. Three of these were formed of small whole cloths sewed together at the sides with running, double running, and whipping stitches respectively. The fourth is made of a piece of an edge-stripe material and has one loomstring end and one side selvage. On this bag the torn edges have been turned in and seamed with a running stitch.

Ties for one of the bags have been made by plaiting in a 4-strand flat braid the elements consisting of the two loomstrings plus an additional 12-ply cord drawn through the corner of the bag to its center point, thus giving two ends. Another of the bags has a draw string formed by a 9-ply cord drawn through the top end with a running stitch.

DIMENSIONS OF THE CHINCHA CLOTHS

One hundred twelve cloths in the plain-weave group were measured. Because some of the specimens could not be placed under tension, the forefinger was drawn along the cloth beside a steel tape to smooth out wrinkles. Measurements taken by this method approximate those on a cloth stretched between the bars of a loom.

Lengths

Complete dimensions can be taken on eighteen Chincha specimens in lots 4- and 16-. As figures 1 and 2 show, these dimensions cluster around two sets of proportions: the eleven cloths represented in the diagram in figure 1 are squarish; the seven in figure 2, with a length-to-width proportion of approximately two-to-three to one, are rectangular. Four of the squarish cloths are formed of two separately woven breadths of material. All the rectangular cloths are single breadths.

Measurements of these specimens with complete dimensions are given below under the two classifications.