Basketry for the Dead: The Technology of Wari Cane Boxes

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although Peruvian basketry remains unexplored, recent investigations at Castillo de Huarmey offer insights into this ancient craft. Dating back to the Middle Horizon (600-1000 AD), the site served as a multifaceted locus, encompassing administrative, religious, and funerary functions for Wari culture. In 2012, the site yielded the burials of numerous aristocrats, accompanied by over 1,200 artifacts. In 2022, further excavation revealed the tombs of artisans affiliated with the imperial court. The baskets found in the graves were lined with textiles, and decorated with camelid wool yarns. Their content, primarily associated with textile production and ceremonial practices, also encompassed personal effects, including bronze implements, wooden utensils, rattles and Spondylus shells. This paper aims to present the preliminary results of research focused on reconstructing the chaîne opératoire of Wari cane boxes. Traceological studies involving stone and metal tools, microscopic examinations, and analyses such as HPLC-MS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy were employed to identify the raw materials used in crafting the baskets. These included cane, resin, cotton, and camelid wool dyed with flavonoids and cochineal, among others. The combination of archaeometric studies and experimental archaeology will make it possible to reconstruct archaeological artifacts and understand the gestures of ancient craftspeople in the past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53591