Chancay Culture (Peru)
(1000 to 1400)
What happened?
The Chancay were a Pre-Columbian civilization that developed between the coastal valleys of Peru from about 1000 to 1470. Not much is known about this civilization. The culture arose after the fall of the Wari civilization (500-1000), in the later part of the Inca Empire. At the beginning of the 1400s, parts of the southern Chancay area was conquered by the Chimu and about 1450 the Incas occupied both areas. Chancay culture declined due to the expansion of the Incas.
It is likely that the Chancay had a centralized political structure. The center was about 80 km north of Lima. It is a desert area but has fertile valleys that are flooded by rivers. Resources enabled extensive agricultural development. The economy was based on agriculture, fishing, and trade. The Chancay had intense trade ties with other regions. This happened by land to the Peruvian highlands and jungle, and by sea to the north and south of their borders. In this way they encountered other cultures.
Chancay Textile
± 800 to ± 1200
The Chancay culture is the first Peruvian culture to mass-produce ceramics and textiles for household and ritual purposes. This beautiful Chancay woven textile panel with interlocking bird motifs was woven with vibrant colors. The wear and fraying are consistent with the age of the fragment.
The best known of the Chancay artifacts are textiles consisting of embroidery, paint-decorated fabrics, gauze, and three-dimensional groups of dolls. Shades of yellow and brown, scarlet, white, lavender and olive green were the colors used. Birds and a deity with a crescent-shaped headdress have been the most popular decorative motifs.
Much of their textiles have been preserved. Their textile production must therefore have been exceptionally extensive. The quality of the textile has not suffered. The material is always well finished and carefully made. They mastered plain weave, brocade, and openwork textiles in which open spaces were deliberately woven into the cloth as part of a decorative design.
Llama wool, cotton, chiffon, and feathers were used for their textiles. Sometimes motifs were also painted on the canvases. Cloths or gauzes were mainly used for religious and magical purposes. They covered the heads of the dead in the form of headdresses. The threads had to be spun on these fabrics in the shape of an “s”. This thread had a magical character. The garments were imbued with supernatural powers. They served as protection in the afterlife.
Fragment. Found: Chancay, Peru (JN0599)
Mummy-Wrapping Textile
± 1200 to ± 1600
This incredible pre-Columbian textile fragment comes from Peru. It was once used as a mourning cloth to wrap the dead. For archaeologists, historians, and enthusiasts, this is a South American treasure. It probably comes from a Chimor or Chancay culture. Our tribal piece dates to 1200 to 1600. Pieces of textile of pre-Columbian origin are rare. They usually perish easily. It is even rarer to find one associated with a mummy. Our decorative handcrafted specimen has been remarkably preserved. It was probably made of wool, cotton, or some other common good of that region.
Little is known about Chancay culture. Tombs may shed new light on an important culture on the northern coast of the central Peruvian coast. The mummy and accompanying offerings confirm several points hinted at from analysis of looted material. There was a presence of elites, metals were used, and they made incredible textiles. With such finds one can form a better picture of the context.
In addition to a mummy, graves contain various offerings, including whole barrels, fruits, and other goods. The deceased was wrapped in layers of cloth and various offerings were placed in the layers. This includes bales of different colors of cotton, ground corn and corn on the cob, a bag of metal and a bag of vegetable material.
The textile layers are meticulously rolled back layer after layer by a team of anthropologists, textile specialist, metal expert and a pathologist. Everything is documented. Apparently, the Huaura Valley maintained internal cohesion during those times of turmoil and imperialism. There is a visible continuation of regional architecture, artifacts, and art styles. Such a tomb provides information about the social structure and interactive of the Chancay with other great powers during this period.