Mantos Paracas: Textile Legacy of the Paracas Culture

Paracas Mantles

Paracas Mantles

La Paracas culture was developed in the territory of Ica in the Peru, between 300 BC and 200 AD. Their most important legacy is the textiles they used to wrap their dead, known as paracas mantles.

The findings of the paracas cloaks We owe them to Julio C. Tello who between 1925 and 1927 discovered 460 mummies in the necropolis of Cero Colorado, Wary Kayan and Cabeza Larga. Before being buried, the corpses were subjected to a special treatment to ensure their preservation, the internal organs were extracted, and the muscles ripped out through incisions in the extremities. Then the body was left near the fire and finally they were wrapped with several layers of cloaks.

The most elaborate and sumptuous Paracas textiles are those that were used to wrap the mummies of the great personalities of the time. In these, up to 190 different shades were combined and they were woven in camelid wool or cotton fiber. The cloaks featured embroidered designs of animals, mythological beings, anthropomorphic beings, and geometric drawings. Some were even adorned with feather, gold and silver sequins.

To appreciate the Paracas mantles we can go to a series of museums like the Museum of the Nation in Lima; the Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History in Lima; and the Regional Museum of Ica; and the small museum of the Paracas National Reserve.

Further information:  Paracas a beautiful Spa


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