With regard to the function of fabrics, nearly half (47.6%) are fragmentary pieces. The second most frequent type is rectangular fabrics (19.3%) that come in a great variety of dimensions, likely used as part of different pieces of clothing. Other groups of woven objects include bags, dolls, tunics, slings, and belts.
In Textiles of the Andes, Tsunoyama (1977:4) mentions that the majority of textiles housed in Amano Collection were “articles of clothing, which can be divided into categories of practical use, ceremonial use, and burial use (…) those excavated range in size from tunics that reach to the knees to miniatures that appear to have been to dress burial dolls accompanying the mummies.” The textiles Jiménez Díaz (2006) identified as Central Coast Late Intermediate textiles include both fragmentary and complete pieces, ranging from decorative pieces (which were probably sewn to other pieces of fabric), rectangular bags decorated with tassels, shirts, mantels, and samplers. Jiménez Díaz also reports the presence of dolls, which she believes were made in modern times, possibly using archaeological fabric fragments (2006:183). Similarly, in the Lauri collection, Young reports the presence of dolls, shirts, shawls or carrying cloths, loincloths, head cloths, bags, tapestry borders, wrapping and winding cloths, and samplers (1985). In her study of Ancón textiles Young-Sánchez (2000:241) notes the presence of shirts, four-part head cloths, two- or three-part head cloths, scarf-like cloths, bags, rectangular pouches with tubular openings, grave tablets, and women's tunics, as the common type of fabric forms of the earlier period. The objects from the late period are simpler in
construction than earlier ones; she notes that “bags, for instance, are made from a simple rectangle of lightweight cloth, stitched up the sides. Pouches with tubular openings, constructed of two to three specially woven webs are absent, as are the heavyweight camelid-fiber bags with woven straps and decorative edge-bindings. Complicated
garments like three-part headcloths or shawls, four-part headcloths, and scarf-like cloths are all absent as well” (2000:242). Again, this seems to suggest that Chancay materials were more elaborate early in the sequence and that the quality may have diminished towards the end of the Late Intermediate period.
5.6 Decoration
As mentioned earlier, decorative elements adorning the CMH textiles fall into four categories: (1) geometric designs, (2) striped patterns, (3) zoomorphic figures, and (4) anthropomorphic figures. Among these, geometric designs (ranging from irregular patterns of triangles and rectangles, steps, hooks and waves) are the most frequent
decorative themes, while anthropomorphic designs are the least common. Birds, followed by cats, are the most common zoomorphic designs, often represented on textiles of various sizes, materials and techniques, and in varying degrees of naturalism or stylization.
This is in accord with what Young (1985:40) describes as the typical Chancay decorative pattern, which features small-scale motifs repeated throughout the fabrics. As part of the Chancay artistic canon, she also points to (1) the importance of color alternation, (2) the value placed on contrasts, (3) the alternation of two motifs, and (4) the central role of diagonal patterns (1985:40). She further argues that birds were the primary motifs in the fabrics she analyzed and notes that cats, human beings, monkeys and snakes were also sometimes depicted. Other standardized elements of Chancay textiles include frontal depiction of human beings and profile representation of birds, often repeated in horizontal and vertical alignment on the decorative field (Young-Sánchez 1992:46). According to Lehman, there is a clear relation between the environment in which the weavers lived and the designs they wove into the fabrics (2005:26). She categorizes these iconographic elements into various groups: (1) marine figures including sea-birds, fish and waves, (2) zoomorphic designs such as monkey-like creatures, fishes, snakes, felines and frogs, and (3) human figures with raised hands.
In the collection analyzed by Kula (1988:123), iconographic features are divided into different groups. The first group of motifs includes very simple geometric designs, such as triangles, rectangles, hooks and steps. The second group comprises zoomorphic figures, which include birds (the most common), serpent-like characters, monkeys, and felines. The third group corresponds to anthropomorphic motifs, present on two
tapestries.
Jiménez Díaz (2006:183) reports that the textiles from the Museo de América were mostly adorned with sequences of small and medium size zoomorphic motifs, such as birds, felines, fish, monkeys, interlocking serpents, and frogs. These were usually arranged horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Other types of design Jiménez Díaz identified include waves and hooks that were used as secondary motifs; she also notes the presence of a single fabric adorned with anthropomorphic iconography.
On the fabrics from Zapallan, Lothrop and Mahler (1957) note that the decorative
patterns were limited to warp stripes, although five specimens display changes in color of the warp that creates stripes and plaids. In one tapestry, they report the design is simply geometric, while in the other one the beginning of a conventionalized cat motif was recognized.
Commenting on the decoration of the textiles in the Ancón textiles, Young-Sánchez (2000:242) mentions that iconographic figures are displayed in great variety and
complexity on earlier fabrics. Contrary to this, in textiles of the later period, patterns are limited to stripes, geometric elements, stylized birds, and abstracted rectangular motifs.