Headband

Item number Sf862 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Red tapestry headband with five frontal male figures woven with camelid (alpaca ?) wefts on cotton warps. Yellow, green, white, black, brown and two shades of blue are used to define the angular figures who wear headdresses and hold staffs. The headband has cut wefts at the selvedges which are reinforced with stitched seams to retard fraying. Worn areas are mended with ancient thread. Z-spun, two ply s (alpaca) yarns; z-spun, two ply s, re-ply z (cotton).

History Of Use

The iconography loosely associates the headband with the Wari Style but the technique differs from the official Wari garments which consistently use weft interlock (Sawyer, 1963). This piece uses a mixture of slits and interlocks. The technical and stylistic variance from the official garments suggests the headband came from an area that retained some independence from Wari rule.

Iconographic Meaning

The frontal figure is an abstract version of the Middle Horizon staff bearing god most clearly shown on the Gateway of the Sun at Yiahuanaco. The same figure appears on many textiles of the Wari culture.