Fragment Possibly 1000 - 1476

This textile fragment was woven in the Chancay culture of ancient Peru. The culture flourished between 1000 and 1470 AD, in the coastal valleys north of present-day Lima. The Chancay people were prolific weavers, and textiles were an important part of their culture. Textiles were used for clothing, decoration, and even as a form of currency. The fragment shows a repeating geometric pattern that may have had symbolic meaning. Textiles of this kind were often found in graves, suggesting beliefs about the afterlife and a cycle of death and rebirth. Studying fragments such as these in museum collections, along with archaeological reports and ethnographies, helps us to understand the place of art within the broader social, economic, and religious life of the Chancay people. It reveals the ways in which textiles were used to communicate meaning and reinforce social structures.