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From Twining to Triple Cloth: Experimentation and Innovation in Ancient Peruvian Weaving (ca. 5000-400 B.C.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

S. J. Doyon-Bernard
S. J. Doyon-Bernard*
Affiliation:
Department of Art, The University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32514
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Abstract

A chronological sequence for the introduction of the major categories of loom weaves in the Initial period and Early Horizon of prehistoric Peru reveals a process of experimentation that begins with primarily suprastructural and discontinuous decoration and culminates with the achievement of designs that are wedded materially to the weave. Three major innovations allowed for this dramatic advance: (1) the use of multiple heddles, which is found surprisingly early in the sequence; (2) the recognition of the full potential of the “cross” to vary the selection of the warps from the fixed order in the heddles, and (3) the related application of the complementary principle, in which one colored yarn is substituted for its partner in a contrasting hue. Through the elaboration of these truly revolutionary discoveries, the last limits to artistic freedom were removed and weaving technology rapidly advanced to include the full repertoire of loom-weave classes known in the Andes.

Résumé

Résumé

Una serie cronológica, anotando la introducción de cada categoría mayor de textiles telados durante la Epoca Inicial y el Horizonte Temprano del Perú prehistórico, revela un proceso de experimentatión con la nueva tecnología del telar, el que empieza con la decoratión hecha principalmentepor hilos suplementarios o discontínuos, y culmina con la ejecución de diseños en los cuales los hilos forman parte material de la confección básica del tejido. Tres inovaciones importantes permitieron este desarrollo dramático: (1) el uso de lizos múltiples, que aparecen asombrosamente temprano en la serie; (2) el reconocimiento de que elpunto donde se cruzan las urdimbres (“el cruce”) puede servir para escoger hilos particulares, y así variar el ordenfijado en los lizos; y (3) el empleo de una práctica conexa, el principio complementario, en que un hilo Colorado está substituido por su pareja de tinte opuesto. Gracias a la elaboratión de esos descrubrimientos realmente revolutionaries, los últimos obstáculos técnicos fueron eliminados, el espíritu artístico fué emancipado, y la tecnología del telar se desarrollo rápidamente hasta que llego a dominar el repertorio completo del telar conocido en los Andes.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 68 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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