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History Of Use

Probably a fragment of a poncho shirt for a mummy bundle. A complete shirt from Chimu Capac, has the same colours, techniques and materials (Menzel) although the designs are different. The Chimu Capac shirt has running staff bearers which clearly connect this type of fabric to the iconography of the Middle Horizon. The immense girth of such shirts and the tiny sleeves suggest no human ever wore it. A mummy bundle from Ancon in a similar shirt is illustrated in Reiss and Stubel.

Description

Fragment of plain weave cloth with 'patchwork' design using interlocked warps to join adjacent colour areas. White, red and brown are major colours with accents of yellow, blue and gold. Rectangles, comprised of four step-frets in rotational symmetry, line up colour-wise in diagonal lines. Fragment is made of four narrow loom widths, joined by sewing. Weft joins sewn. One outer selvedge present. Bits of sewing thread indicate it was sewn to another fabric along the intact edge.

Iconographic Meaning

The step fret and step block are used throughout Peruvian pre-history. In earlier periods, the step fret is often associated with serpentine images. However, in the Middle Horizon, the step fret seems to have different associations. Frequently the hook of the step fret is made into a bird head in Wari tunics, interlocked step frets appear to be equivalent or related to profile humanoid heads. In this fragment, the step fret appears without any clear association.