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Paracas, an introduction

Paracas comes from the Quechua word para-ako meaning "sand falling like rain." The Paracas culture flourished on the south Pacific coast of the central Andes in what is now Peru in around 600-150 B.C.E. and is one of the earliest known complex societies in South America.
The Great Paracas Necropolis was discovered by archaeologists during the 1920s on the south Pacific Coast of the Central Andes. It is a vast communal burial site holding 420 bodies, which dates to around 300-200 B.C.E.

Paracas textile, Paracas Necropolis, Peru, c, 300-200 B.C.E. camelid wool (probably llama or alpaca) and plant fibres (identified as cotton), 8 x 8 cm © Trustees of the British Museum
Paracas textile, Paracas Necropolis, c. 300-200 B.C.E. camelid wool (probably llama or alpaca) and plant fibers (identified as cotton), 8 x 8 cm, Peru © Trustees of the British Museum.
These textile fragments would originally have been part of a larger piece of finely woven, brightly-colored cloth found wrapped around mummified bodies in the Great Paracas Necropolis in Peru. They depict flying, supernatural winged figures perhaps representing shamanic flight. Each figure grasps a severed human head by the hair. Together they communicate native beliefs about journeys into the spirit world.
As well as depending on fish and other resources from the sea, the people of the Paracas culture were also farmers and cultivated beans, maize, red peppers, yuca and peanuts. They were also exceptional craftspeople and produced exquisitely worked stone clubs, obsidian knives, gourd bottles, rattles, pottery, shell and bone necklaces, hammered gold face and hair ornaments, feather fans and basketry.
Textiles were valued as a means for sharing religious lore and beliefs. They were worn to indicate status and authority. Some textiles were over 34 meters long and would have required large numbers of people and complex organization to make.
They are made from camelid wool (probably llama or alpaca) and plant fibers (identified as cotton). The bright colors include indigo, green, browns, pink and white. These were all produced using natural dyes and would have been particularly striking against the sandy beige colors of the surrounding landscape.
Detail of a textile from Nazca, Peru, c. 1-500 C.E. © Trustees of the British Museum © Trustees of the British Museum
Border (detail),  Border from an embroidered mantle, 200 B.C.E. – 600 C.E., Peru © Trustees of the British Museum
Natural dyes don’t always last when exposed to light or moisture so the survival of these in such vibrant conditions for over 2,000 years is extraordinary. This survival is likely to be due to the dry conditions of the unlit underground burial chambers in which they were found.
The Paracas and other contemporary communities laid the foundations for the later societies of the Andes, including the Inca.

Dodatkowe źródła (w języku angielskim):
K.O. Bruhns, Ancient South America (Cambridge, 1994).
M. Frame, "Blood, Fertility, and Transformation: Interwoven Themes in the Paracas Necropolis Embroideries," in Elizabeth P. A. Benson and G. Cook (eds.), Ritual Sacrifice In Ancient Peru (Austin, 2001) pp. 119–136.
A. Paul, Paracas Ritual Attire: Symbols of Authority in Ancient Peru (Norman, OK, 1990).
A. Paul (ed.), Paracas Art and Architecture: Object and Context in South Coastal Peru (Iowa City, 1990).
D.A. Proulx, "Paracas and Nasca: Regional Cultures on the South Coast of Peru," in Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell (eds) The Handbook of South American Archaeology (New York, 2008) pp. 563–585.
M.E. Moseley, The Incas and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru (London, 2001).
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