Technological and Stylistic-Typological Analyses of the Coca Bags From the Yauca Valley in Southern Peru

The paper discusses the results of technological and stylistic analyses of coca bags (chuspas; a term derived from the Quechua word ch'uspa, the Aymara equivalent is wallqipu) -richly decorated and elaborately woven textile pouches -from the San Francisco cemetery in the Yauca valley (Caravel province).The research results revealed the applied weaving techniques of single S/Zspun yarns and S(2z) yarns including warp-faced plain weave, complex warp-patterned weaving, complex cylindrical braiding, and the application of square braids.It also enabled us to determine the typology of forms and decorative motifs characteristic of these artefacts.A great variation in the weaving techniques, pouches' shapes and locations of their openings, as well as in the forms and colours of decorative motifs were observed.We found that in most burials containing more than one chuspa bag, all pouches were decorated almost identically, and the differences concerned only details.A variety of chuspas woven in warp-faced plain weave, recorded in the contexts of San Francisco may suggest that this cemetery was a multi-ethnic burial area.Radiocarbon dating determined the chronology of these materials as the 15 th and 16 th centuries, i.e., the Late Horizon

Archaeology · Coca · Geography · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · History