Paracas mantle
Maker: Paracas culture
Medium:Wool tabby embroidered in cotton and wool
Geography: South Coast, Peru
Date: 200 BC - 200 AD
Period: Early Horizon, Pre-Columbian Andean
Object number: 916.8.1
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. H.D. Warren
DescriptionThis fragment is likely from a mantle which was composed of many strips of cloth. Such mantles were common throughout the Central and South Coast of Peru in the period before the Inca expansion. They were probably male garments and were often reused in mummy bundles. In this case, the double weave is made by weaving two layers of tabby so that the contrasting colours interpenetrate to produce the pattern.