Catalogue Ancient Sculptures 1

The collection of pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles in the Danish National Museum consists of around 500 items, which were all found in graves. The textiles are mainly garments that were used for wrapping around the mummies. The mummies were buried in subterranean burial chambers in the sandy desert on the central and southern coast of Peru, from where they were excavated around AD 1900. The burials originate from about 500 BC to AD 1550 and are dated by their style, material, and technology. The pre-Columbian Peruvians mastered all the textile technologies which were known in Europe before the industrialisation -- and even a few more (eg: discontinuous warp, double wrap and possibly some of the supplementary warp and weft techniques). Most of these techniques are represented in this collection.