Paracas (culture)

The word paracas from Quechua translates as "rain from the sand" ( para - rain, aco - sand). So residents figuratively described the mushroom-shaped peninsula of Paracas ^[2] .

Basically, our knowledge about the life of the Paracas culture is based on the excavations of a large seaside necropolis , which was first investigated by the Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello in the 1920s. The necropolis at Wari Kayan consisted of many large underground burial chambers, each of which housed an average of 40 mummies . It is assumed that each cell belonged to a separate family or clan and has been used for many generations. Each mummy was tied with a rope to its place and then wrapped in several layers of fabric, decorated with rich ornaments. These fabrics are famous as one of the best examples of pre-Columbian art.

Usually the dead were buried in a sitting position, with knees raised to the chest; the body was pulled together with ropes or wrapped in mats. Fishing items were placed in men's burial places, and spindles with spindles , pieces of fabric, and skeins of hair were put into female burials ^[1] .

Archaeologists distinguish two main periods in the history of the civilization of Paracas: the earlier " Paracas - caves " and the later " Paracas - Necropolis ". During its formation, it experienced a significant influence of Chavin’s culture, but unlike it, it has never covered a large territory in its entire history ^[3] .

In 2014, a group of archaeologists led by Charles Stanisch, near the city of Chincha Alta, discovered an ancient observatory , which supposedly belongs to the Paracas culture, which is about 2500 years old. It is a line of geoglyphs drawn on the surface of the earth on an area of ​​forty square kilometers 71 and five man-made hills located around them. Straight lines of geoglyphs are directed to the point where the summer solstice occurs in the southern hemisphere of the Earth ^[4] .

Fabrics

In the days of Paracas culture, a rather developed type of hand loom already existed ^[1] . Weaving has reached a high level like nowhere else in the world at that time. Europeans still found fabrics made of cotton and wool, which, by their elasticity, smoothness, lightness and silkiness, exceeded the most expensive varieties of silk. Clothes made from the fluff of bats for Sapa Inca were especially beautiful. To this day, fabrics are striking not only with ornaments, but with the durability of bright colors. Images were not imprinted on the fabric, but were interwoven with a pattern. The plots contain a picturesque "narrative" about some events in the life of society or plots from mythology. Nevertheless, marine subjects prevail on Paracasian fabrics: fish, often snake-like, sometimes fish-like snakes, octopuses, crabs ^[3] .

• Paracas culture fabrics
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Skull Warp

The highly developed art of surgery made it possible to carry out various operations and craniotomy using tools carved from stone and bronze ^[3] .

The burial sites found indicate that the people of Paracas had the unique ability to deform human skulls . At birth, special bandages and tires were applied to the head, which over time gave the skull an elongated shape. This was done to modify the appearance in order to highlight on a religious basis. Special masters knew the secrets of how to change the shape of the skull without damaging the brain.

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  Deformed skulls from the Museum of Paracas, Ica

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  The method of skull deformation used in the culture of Paracas and Incas

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  In the museum Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú, Lima

• Nazca (archaeological culture)
• Lima Culture
• Chavin
• Nazca Culture
• Puma Punku
• Tiahuanaco
• Mochika

• Culture Paracas
• The Paracas Textile (neopr.) . Brooklyn Museum .
• Gallery of Paracas objects
• Impactos del Turismo en Paracas (neopr.) . Blogger (12/22/2007).