Fringed Textile Fragments
Title: Fringed Textile Fragment
Culture: Paracas Culture
Origin: South Pacific Coast of the Central Andes
Date: 300-200 B.C.E
Materials: Natural Dyes, Wool and Cotton
Dimensions: H: 6 ¾ in. W: 41 ⅜ in.
Current Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Fringed Textile Fragments found in South America was discovered back in the 1920's by archaeologists. The discoveries of these textiles lead archaeologist all the way back to The Great Paracas Necropolis Culture on the South Pacific Coast of the Central Andes. The area was a vast communal burial site that held around 420 bodies all in which dated back to around 300-200 B.C.E. Each mummified body that they found was adorned with these colorful and woven textile fragments. Each textile helped to communicated how that person was in life. From their native beliefs of sharing religion, to even indicate the status or even the authority of different people. Other textiles were every extravagant being over 34 meters long and would take a ton of people to make it. Textiles were usually made out of camelid wool from either a llama or an alpaca and some plant fibers. To get the vibrant colors they used natural dyes from the earth which included indigo, greens, browns, pinks and white. However, the natural dyes and even the textiles themselves don't stand the test of time when exposed to the elements like light or moisture. So when archaeologist found these fringed textile fragments after spending over 2,000 years exposed it was amazing. It is believe that they lasted as long they did because of the dry conditions of the underground burial chambers in which they were found in. These textile I find to be absolutely beautiful. There's so many different colors and designs. Each one was especially designed for each individual person as well. Unlike other cultures who rapped their dead in plain white fabric the Paracas culture rapped their dead in colorful and beautiful fabric.
Culture: Paracas Culture
Origin: South Pacific Coast of the Central Andes
Date: 300-200 B.C.E
Materials: Natural Dyes, Wool and Cotton
Dimensions: H: 6 ¾ in. W: 41 ⅜ in.
Current Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Fringed Textile Fragments found in South America was discovered back in the 1920's by archaeologists. The discoveries of these textiles lead archaeologist all the way back to The Great Paracas Necropolis Culture on the South Pacific Coast of the Central Andes. The area was a vast communal burial site that held around 420 bodies all in which dated back to around 300-200 B.C.E. Each mummified body that they found was adorned with these colorful and woven textile fragments. Each textile helped to communicated how that person was in life. From their native beliefs of sharing religion, to even indicate the status or even the authority of different people. Other textiles were every extravagant being over 34 meters long and would take a ton of people to make it. Textiles were usually made out of camelid wool from either a llama or an alpaca and some plant fibers. To get the vibrant colors they used natural dyes from the earth which included indigo, greens, browns, pinks and white. However, the natural dyes and even the textiles themselves don't stand the test of time when exposed to the elements like light or moisture. So when archaeologist found these fringed textile fragments after spending over 2,000 years exposed it was amazing. It is believe that they lasted as long they did because of the dry conditions of the underground burial chambers in which they were found in. These textile I find to be absolutely beautiful. There's so many different colors and designs. Each one was especially designed for each individual person as well. Unlike other cultures who rapped their dead in plain white fabric the Paracas culture rapped their dead in colorful and beautiful fabric.