Rather, the emulation of textile patterning in adobe reliefs feature large 昀椀elds of one or two colors, minimally inter- is explicit and intentional, and likely related both to the tra- rupted by a band or bands of geometric ornamentation. dition of hanging elaborate textiles in architectural interiors This is not to say that these compositions are devoid of and to the inherent value and function of textiles in Andean an iconographic referent—some Inca designs bear names 12 cultures. Indeed, by evoking textiles, these adobe reliefs that tie them to certain concepts—rather, that larger ideas may have been making connections to deeper beliefs about power are surely conveyed by the forms alone. The about the sanctity or preciousness of the textile medium. meanings of the designs are poorly understood today, but Since the pre-Hispanic period in the Andes, sacri昀椀ces and their formal strength, if not their speci昀椀c ideas, is readily precious things have been wrapped in 昀椀nely woven tex- comprehensible and certainly would have been so in the 13 past, including by populations newly under Inca control. tiles. This emphasis on textile imagery may have served a votive or even a protective purpose, conveying certain The Inca called their realm “the land of the four quar - properties to the architecture. In this light, the walls of the ters,” and they maintained a complex administrative and palaces at Chan Chan are metaphorically tightly wrapped ritual system from their highland capital, Cusco. The empire in a precious and sacred material. encompassed remarkably diverse terrain, including the The Chimú kingdom grew wealthy in part through western portions of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and expanding trade networks but also through its workshops, Argentina, from the dry coastal desert to the high Andean where, in addition to textiles, ornaments and vessels of peaks and lush intermontane valleys. Uni昀椀ed by a road silver and gold were created. Prosperous Chan Chan system operating from Quito in Ecuador to Santiago in became a target for the rapidly growing Inca Empire, and Chile, the state attempted to enforce, with varying degrees the Chimú kingdom was defeated by the Inca around 1470. of success, a rigid organization of its territories and com- Following the Inca practice of dismantling conquered pol- munities, including a program of forced population reset- ities, members of the Chimú population were dispersed tlements and strict labor taxes. The Inca state’s extreme and forcibly resettled in other parts of the Inca Empire. control is also visible in its textile production. Inca tunics, Communities of Chimú weavers were relocated to Peru’s for example, display remarkably little variation in size, sug- South Coast, among other destinations, where they were 16 gesting tight management of manufacturing. On the con- 14 pressed into service for their new lords. sumption side, these luxurious textiles were restricted by Traces of Chimú weaving practices are discernible in sumptuary laws to the emperor, members of the nobility, parts of the Inca Empire, but technically—and to a certain and revered non-elites who received them as royal gifts. degree formally—Inca weavers drew more heavily from We know considerably more about the Inca than we highland traditions, particularly Wari tunics. Inca weavers do about their predecessors, as textual accounts by the took the style of abstraction present in Wari textiles one 昀椀rst Spanish conquistadors, administrators, priests, and step further, however, creating striking compositions. missionaries, as well as later accounts by both Spaniards The visual power of these garments was not lost on the and Andeans, add to the archaeological record to form Spanish. Francisco de Jerez, secretary to the conquistador a more complete picture of the empire. These sources Francisco Pizarro, described the fateful meeting between underscore the importance of 昀椀ber arts in Inca culture: no Atahualpa, the Inca emperor, and Pizarro’s contingent in political, military, social, or religious event was complete Cajamarca, Peru, in 1532, noting that the 昀椀rst regiment of without textiles being exchanged or gifted, burned or sac- the Inca army wore checkerboard livery, visible from a ri昀椀ced. Textiles adorned rock outcroppings at sacred sites great distance. These garments are most surely the 昀椀ne, and served as votive offerings in themselves. Precious tapestry-woven black-and-white checkerboard tunics tapestry-woven tunics were bestowed on warriors who with a deep red V-shaped yoke, some two dozen of which distinguished themselves on the battlefield and were 15 are now in museum collections internationally (昀椀g. 21). given as diplomatic gifts by Inca rulers in their campaigns Wildly successful in their imperial ambitions, the Inca to expand their vast empire. managed to conquer much of western South America, The 昀椀nest cloth, or cumbi, was produced by both men from what is now the southwestern border of Colombia and women in the Inca Empire. Cumbi could have as many to Santiago, Chile (some 2,600 miles), in roughly a cen - as three hundred wefts per inch, and garments made tury. The compositions of their tapestry-woven tunics often of it were created by either acllas, the “chosen women” of 20