Chincheros Incas Textile Techniques

---

http://www.heygo.com 26th February - Chincheros Incas Textile Techniques.



Another trip I didn’t want to miss, these virtual trips are often more than one date but I had missed out earlier and just by chance managed to book one thus afternoon.



To the Incas gold was merely an adornment. Far more valuable were their alpacas, Vicuña which produced an ultra-soft fleece that they wove into clothing, rugs and tapestries. These textiles – not gold – were used as currency throughout the empire. Soldiers and high-ranking officials were paid in alpaca garments, and clothing woven from vicuña wool was so highly prized that only members of the royal family were allowed to wear it.



The Inca had developed this ultra-fine fleece through centuries of selective breeding. They culled all but the best male alpacas and separated vicuñas and alpacas from llamas and guanacos, whose wool was much coarser.



Once a year, they shear the animals, harvesting five pounds of wool from each female and eight pounds from males, for a total of around 5,000 tons. Female villagers retain a portion to make sweaters, rugs, hats, gloves and coats using ancient weaving techniques. The excess is sold to textile manufacturers in the cities.



Alpacas come in 22 natural earth tone colors, but white is preferred because it’s the easiest to dye.



We arrived at a small community where the ladies & children wearing brightly coloured traditional clothing welcomed us.

The interest of visitors and the growth in tourism over the years encouraged these women to form these units which not only sell textiles, but leads visitors through the process of making them.



With the current lack of visitors due to Covid they were so happy to be showing us their traditions all be it virtually.



One young lady spoke English and explained and demonstrated some of the process in creating these beautiful textiles.



From when they shear the animals to when they begin to weave, the wool passes through a process that lasts two days.

After washing the wool the weavers use natural dyes, prepared using wild plants, to colour the wool. For the red they use cochineal, for the green they use chilca or ragwort, with drops of lemon for a more intense color.



We were then shown the spinning & weaving process, you certainly need nimble fingers. None of the patterns are written down they are passed down through the generations and are remembered by young & old.



They also demonstrated how they carry their babies/children on their backs using these traditionally made blankets.



As we left they say a traditional song and waved us goodbye.

Visiting here virtually today certainly brought home how this pandemic has affected tourism so much.

---