King, Mary Elizabeth 1983 (Sprang in the Paracas Period of Peru)

5/24/2018 King, Mary Elizabeth 1983 (Sprang in the Paracas Period of Peru)

I first met Anne Blinks 30 years ago , in the early '50's, in Washington,D C The Blinkses were residing temporarily in Washington, and Annecame to the Textile Museum to find something to occupy her time. I wasthen a young Museum Assistant. Irene Emery, who had only recently beenhired as Curator of Technical Studies , immediately seized upon Ann e's offerof her time and skills and set her to weaving examples of fabric structures.Irene's samples were all woven with the same weight and ply of whitestring (although I seem to recall a problem in getting what she wanted) andto the same size. They were then painstakingly lit and photographed toprovide the illustrations for her Primary Structures of Fabrics (1966). I haveno idea how many of the illustrations were woven by Irene herself and howmany by Anne , but I do remember Anne toiling over the loom in what wasthen the museum library.

Anne was always fascinated by odd techniques, and I also remember herstruggles with a vantsom mitten and her interest in sprang. Irene shared herinterests , which led to many lively technical discussions. In the acknowl-edgements portion of Primary Structures, Irene gave Special thanks . toMrs. Anne Blinks , who took an enthusiastic and active part in severalaspects of the investigation . (1966:xiv). Sprang was something thatinterested all of us , and later, when I was working on my dissertation ,Textiles and Basketry of the Paracas Period, lea Valley, Peru (1965), we setup a sprang frame , of sorts, in Irene 's office. Some of the Peruvian sprang,notably that from Nazca , is extremely complicated, being double obliquetwining n my spare time , I would play with the sprang frame , trying toachieve this wonder. One day I succeeded The only problem was that Ididn 't know how I had done it , and I could never do it again. Fortunately ,Peter Collingwood (1974:202ff and PI.43) has since worked it out and givesdetailed instructions.

This article , then , is for Anne, on her 80th birthday, with love andadmiration.

Portions of this article are abstracted from my dissertation (King, 1965).

SPR NG IN THP R C S PERIO OF P RU

BY MARY ELIZABETH KINGSprang is a fabric consisting of a single set of elements. In the manufactur

ing process , these elements are fixed at both ends to a frame. In his work, TheTechniques of Sprang , Peter Collingwood (1974:31 ) notes , As an inevitableresult of the warp being fixed at both ends, corresponding but contrary movements of the threads appear simultaneously at its other end. Sprang can alsobe done on a circular warp. Working from the center, the fabric builds fromboth ends toward the middle . While the work is in progress, the elements areheld in place by a series of sticks. The fabric produced is often lace-like openwork, but it can also be compact and braid-like. A characteristic of sprang isthe finish line or meeting line which usually consists of a chained row at thecenter designed to hold the elements in place. Occasionally, the fabric is cut atthis point and knotted.

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Figure 1. The South Coast of Peru,showing location of sites. (afterSawyer, 1966).

The word , sprang, is Scandinavian . According to Collingwood (1973:34 ,sprangning originally meant any openwork textile. Sprang is now used,in Scandinavia, to refer to the processes Emery (1966:69) calls frame interlinking , oblique frame interlacing , and oblique frame twining. It tends alsoto be used in English for the fabric itself, for which the correct term would besprangning

I will use sprang as a collective term for these frame-made structures anduse Emery's terms for the individual techniques.In any case, sprang, especially the form Emery calls frame interlinking,appears to have a long known history, with a series of dates in the firstmillennium B.C. in both the Old and New Worlds. Unfortunately, unless themeeting or finish line is present, sprang cannot be distinguished from

ordinary interlinking, oblique interlacing braiding or plaiting), or obliquetwining. Interlinking and oblique interlacing both appear very early in mostareas, but they certainly cannot be definitely said to be sprang. The origins ofsprang are, of course, lost to us. Since textiles are so very perishable, it isunlikely that we will find many examples earlier than those we now havedating from about 8000 B.C. in both Old and New Worlds. In neither case issprang one of these earliest known techniques.

Since a frame is necessary for the production of sprang, it probably cannotbe counted among the earliest techniques known to man. These are almostcertainly those that require no tools or apparatus other than human hands andperhaps something, such as a tree or bush, to which to tie a suspension cord.Once the concept of a knotted cord was mastered , the way was paved for morecomplicated structures. The single element techniques -linking, looping, andknotted netting - must almost certainly be the earliest, perhaps together withthose techniques made with a single set of elements, such as interlinking,oblique interlacing and oblique twining. Although the case cannot, of course,be proven , two-single-element constructions, such as looping and linking onfoundation cords, may precede the two-sets-of-interactive element techniquessuch as twining . Once a frame is required, sprang would easily proceed fromknown set-of-element techniques. Thus one might expect it to follow closelyon the advent of twining.

The earliest known examples of interlinking definitely made on a frame arefrom the Danish Bronze age (ca. 1400 B.C . ) and consist of a cap and a hairnet.There are also European Iron Age examples, and later, Coptic examples fromEgypt. Most , if not all, of these early pieces are hairnets, caps or bags. Morerecent historic European examples also include stockings, mittens, col lar s,cuffs, belts and sashes, garters, carrying bands, borders, and even skirts andjackets Collingwood 1974:37ff).In the New World, the earliest certain examples of sprang are from theMiddle Paracas period (ca. 200-100 B.C.) of the South Coast of Peru, Engel(1963:38 ) has claimed to have examples of sprang from the late PreceramicCentral Coast site of Asia (ca. 1100 B.C. ) in Peru. He does no t , however , seemto understand the technique, and some of his technical identifications arehighly dubious. He states that cylindrical bags , with a starting point in thebottom center , are sprang, th ough they are probably cross-knit looping, Oneexample has an interlinked rim. Other pieces (for example , Engel, 1963: Figs .64, 65, 87) could be sprang, but neither in his illustrations nor descriptions is afinish line indicated . His description of sprang is as follows : In loom-plaiting,sets of yarns are plaited together according to the desired pattern (Engel,1963:38).

Wallace (1962 and 1982 personal communications) found one example ofsprang at the South Coast site of Cerillos, not in his earliest levels, but in theLa Isla (ca . 500-300 B.C.), or early Paracas, level. This may be the earliestknown examp le in the New World. It has a simple geometric design in interlinking. The center finish line is present.

Although it is possible that the use of sprang dates to the Preceramicperiod, it might also have arisen in the Chavin period from a base of Preceramic interlinking.


Examination of Engel's materials by a textile specialist should prove thepoint.

Sprang has been well known from Paracas since the early 1930's.O'Neale(1937:197 and 1942:161-162) described two headdresses fromParacas Caverns as twined and o ora nge wool . She did not illustrate theseheaddresses in full, but she included sketches of the design of one, interlockingsnakes and fish motifs (MN 8430; Fig. 11 ), and of the technique (MN 8430; Fig.10). They are clearly of oblique interlinking rather than twining. D'Harcourtalso illustrates MN 8430 (1962:PI. b ) and describes it as . plaited of brownwool in accordance with the technique by which the yarns are fastened at theirends and twisted together (1962:161). I have notes on a sprang fragment in thecollections of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Lima (MNAA13 l52 ),which is of gold-tan wooL but it was too fragmentary to determine its shape orfunction. It was also, however, from the Paracas Caverns.

The original site of Paracas, from which the above pieces came , is locatedon the neck of the Paracas Peninsula, on the South Coast of Peru (Fig. 1). JulioC. Tello, who began to excavate the site in 1925, found two types of graves.On the basis of these , he established a Paracas culture , which he divided intoParacas Cavernas and Paracas Necropolis. The former produced a widevariety of techniques, while the latter is known chiefly for its elaboratelyembroidered garments. The textiles were found wrapped around seated bodiesin "mummy bundles .

There is a time difference between these two Paracas phases . Cavernas isnow considered to be Middle Paracas (ca. 200 B.c.-100 B.C., or Ocucaje 9 );while Necropolis is late Paracas (ca. 100 B.C.-A.D . 1, or Ocucaje 10 and Nazca1). Other Paracas phases and sites have since been identified . One of them, thesite of Ocucaje, on the Hacienda Ocucaje about 25 km south of the city of lea,was first visited by Max Uhle in 1901 (Uhle, 1914).

Although Ocucaje has produced materials from a longer time range thanthe site of Paracas itself , the bulk of the textiles from Ocucaje appear to beclosely related to those from Cavernas.

The textiles that are discussed in this paper are from a collection purchasedjointly by the Textile Museum of Washington, D.C., and the AmericanMuseum of Natural History, New York City, in 1957. The total collectioncontains about 700 artifacts and includes some 250 textiles or textile fragments.

The Ocucaje collection contains four examples of sprang. Two are hoods(TM 91.895 and AMNH 41.2/5982 , rectangular pieces of sprang folded alongthe central chain line and sewn along one long side and across the end (Fig. 2).A third fragment (TM 91.867) may also be from a hood . The fourth example(AMN H 41.2 / 6164 appears to be a fragment of a bag.

The hoods , which are presumably what O'Neale called headdresses , area type of garment not previously reported from Peru. Since they resemblenothing so much as a shallow bag or pillowcase, one would not ordinarilyassociate them with something worn on the head. However , Pablo Soldi, whoassembled the collection, reported that they were sometimes found over theheads and hanging down the backs of mummies, and they are shown beingworn on some figurines .In addition to the sprang examples, there are also two double-cloth hoods(TM 91.873 and 91.877) which match a double-cloth mantle (TM 91.872) andconstitute the only known matching garments from Ocucaje.

The two sprang hoods each have a row of multicolored fringe sewn aroundthe open edges . Two of the hoods are of wool; the fragmentary one is ofcotton. Two (one wool and the other cotton) have interlocking snake motifs;the third has an elaborate design of cat-headed figures (Photos 1 and 2).

Although the figurine suggests otherwise, it is possible that these hoodswere meant only for burial and were never worn in life.The fourth sprang fragment (AMNH 41.2 / 6164 is also of considerableinterest. It appears to be a bag fragment (Photo 3); and it contained a second,

smaller bag (?) of plaid plain weave. Unfortunately, the finish line is missing

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a bFigure 2. Diagram of the constructionof the Paracas hoods . a. Sprangtype; b. double-cloth type .


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Photo 1. Detai l of a sprang hoodTM 91.895). Photograph courtesy ofThe Textile Mus eum Washington D C

Photo 2. A complete sprang hoodfrom Ocucaje Textile Museum91.895 , with an elabo ra te cat-headedfigure motif. Photograph courtesy ofthe Textile Museum Washington D C

Photo 3 . Sprang bag fragment fromOcucaje American Museum ofNatural History 41.2/6164 .Photograph courtesy of the AmericanMuseum of Natuml History . NewYork


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Figure 3. Diagram of the obliqueinterlinking form of sprang used inParacas hoods.

Photo 4. A Nazca sprang tassel ofdouble, oblique twining, Texti leMuseum 1959.11.3. Photographcourtesy of the Textile Museum Washington D C

on this piece; however , it is unlikely that it was made by any other methodthan sprang.

This fragment appears to have a geometric design , probabl y simp le openrectangles. The most interesting thing about this bag is that it has a narrow slittapestry border with zigzag lines of cream and green on a black ground. Awider tapestry fragment, also with sprang attached, which cannot be joined tothe bag in any meaningful way now, has a guilloche motif in red, cream, andgreen on a black ground . Tapestry is extremely rare from Paracas.All of the known Paracas sprang is relatively simple oblique interlinking(Fig. 3). Th e designs, however , range from simple to complex. Although wecannot be sure what device was used to string the warps, Johnson (1958 :206)reports that in modern Mexican and Guatemalan sprang production , the backstrap loom is often used as the frame. We may presume that the same was truein preconquest Peru .

It is clear that the technique had been totally mastered by the Paracasperiod. Thus one might expect to find still earlier examples of sprang, from theChavin period and, perhaps , from the Preceramic period . By the Nazca period(ca. A.D. I -A.D. 500 ), which follows the Paracas period, sprang had beendeveloped to incredible lengths. Th e typical Nazca sprang examples (Photo 4)are curious bell-shaped tassels , which d'Harcourt 0962:81-82, 161, and Pis.57, 58) called neck coverings . D'Harcourt correctly described them as loomplaiting , but did not diagram them. These tassels (and we still do not knowexactly how they were used) occur in pairs attached to a very narrow, longband. They are always double cloth and sometimes have four interchangedcolors (in two layers). When they are completed, they are folded in haiL andthe finish line is covered with embroidery . The technique is double obliquetwining (see Collingwood, 1974:202, Fig. 111, [bj). Collingwood (1974:202)indicates that oblique . intertwining is the least used of the thread structuresproduced by the sprang method; in fact it is only recorded (historically) fromPeru. It has, however, been reported et hnologicall y among the Guajiro inColombia, who use it for hammocks (Collingwood, 1974:202).It is a technique that inspires admiration for its makers. D'Harcourt(1962:81) remarks that the construction of these pieces . presupposes thecomplete mastery of a technique that is in this case particularly complex.Collingwood (1974:217-218) says of double oblique twined sprang:


The Peruvian examples use a variant of intertwining which is difficult toanalyse. They were very advanced technically and often included areas ofinterlacing at the beginning and end of the fabric and of interlinking betweenver tical color boundaries. . Examples exist in w hich two double intertwinedsprang fabrics were worked one in front of the other. At various levels , thethreads of the two double fab rics changed places completely. So what was, say,a red and black fabric with, say , a green and blue fabric behind it , became agreen an d blue fab r ic with a red and black fab ri c behi nd it. Th ese are probablythe most complex sprang fabrics ever produced.The pr oduction of such a n inc redi bly co m plex fa br ic, for wha t seems to us

relative ly unimportant art icle of cloth ing, is very like the ancien t Peruv ia ns,seem to have reveled in experiment ation of the mo s t invo lved so r t,

Sprang is ea rl ier in Peru tha n in any other pa rt of th e New Wo rld, but thisbe due simply to acc idents of preserva tion. The techn ique is kn own inco a nd G uatemala today (see John son, 1958) and may we ll have been

t p rehistorically. It occurs relative ly late in the p rehistory of the South Uni ted States and persists in the form of Ho p i wedd ing sashes (see

t,1957:603 -605).If indeed, the techn ique is eventual ly found in early Preceram ic periodin Peru, it would suggest that it was o ne of the techniques brought with

the ea rl y migrants from Asia. On the other hand, the apparent absence of thetechnique from that part of the world suggests even more strong ly that sprangwas independently invented in Europe or Africa and in Peru.

REFERENCES ClTEDCollingwood, Peter. The Techniques of Sprang: Plaiting on Stretched Threads. New York:

Watson-Guptill Publ ications, 1974.Emery, Irene. The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification. Washington, D.C.:The Textile Museum, 1966.Enge l, Frederic. A Preceramic Settlement on the Central Coast of Peru: Asia, Un it 1 . Trans-actions of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 53, Part 3, 1963.

Harcourt, Raoul d'. Textiles of Ancient Peru and Their Techniques. Seattle: Unive rsity ofWashington Press, 1962.

Johnson, Irmgard. Tw ine -Pla iting in the New Wo r ld . Proceedings of the 32nd InternationalCongress of Am erican ists pp. 198-213. Copenhagen: 1958 .Kent, Kate Peck. The Cultivation and Weaving of Cotton in the Prehistoric SouthwesternUnited States . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Vo l. 47, Part 3, 1957.

Ki ng, Mary Elizabeth. Textiles and Basketry of the Paracas Period Ica Valley. Peru. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Arizona, Tucson , 1965.

ONeale, Lila M. Tejidos del periodo primitivo de Paracas. In U na exploracion en CerroColorado , by E. Yacovleff and J.c. Muel le, pp. 60-80. Revista del Museo Nacional. Vol. 1.No.2, pp. 31-102. Lima , Peru: 1932.--- -- . Archaeological Explo rations in Peru. Part Ill, Textiles of the Early Nazca Period . ieldMuseum of Natural History Anthropology. Memoirs Vol. 2, No.3, 1937.-- ---. Textile Periods in Ancient Peru: II , Paracas Caverns and the Grand Necropolis .Uni versity of CalifonJia Publicatiolls ill Al1lericall Archaeology alld Etllliology . Vol. 39,No.2, 1942, pp. 143-202. Berkeley, California: 1942.

Saw yer , Alan. Anciellt Peruviall Ceralnics: Tile Natlwrl Cw ,,,i gs Collection. New York: TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, 1966.Uhle, Max. The Nazca Pottery of Ancient Peru . Proceedings of the Davenport AcaderrlY ofSciences Vol. 13 , 1914, pp. 1-16. Davenport, Iowa: 1914.

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N CELEBR TION OF THE CURIOUS MINDA estschrift to honor nne Blinks

on her 80th birthday

edited byNora Rogers Martha Stanley


AcknowledgementsSpecial thanks go to Barbara Conklin for facilitating the posthumous article by Junius Bird; to Lloyd Rule

photographer of the Denver Art Museum and his staff for accommodating our tight deadlines in more than oneinstance; to lillian Elliott Pat Hickman and linda ligon for strong encouragement and assistance through all stages ofpreparation and compilation; to lillian Elliott for designing the cover Allen Deyo for the cover photographs andTerry Gritton for the frontispiece photograph Thanks go to Anne for her cooperation and controlled curiosity aboutthe progress of the Festschrift.

I p 11Copyright 1983Interweave Press Inc.306 North Washington AvenueLovel and Colorado 80537All rights reserved.library of Congress Catalog Number 83-80123.

( SBN: 0-934026-11-4.

Cover: Replica made by Anne Blinks ofwristlet woven by Mayoruna Indians ofupper Amazon Basin Peru. Photo Allen

Oeyo Oesign: Lillian Elliott .

King, Mary Elizabeth 1983 (Sprang in the Paracas Period of Peru)

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