Andean textiles represent a continuing textile tradition spanning at least ten thousand years. Fiber work has been found in Guitarrero Cave, Peru dates back to 8000 BCE. Beginning with non-loom, twined cotton fabric, this textile tradition expanded to include alpaca and llama wool. Today Andean weavers are known worldwide for their skills and rich traditions.
When the Spanish invaders began to establish them selves in Peru in 1430, the height of the Incan Empire, they only had eyes for the abundant profusion of glittering gold. The Incan capital of Cuzco was the most opulently rich city of all the Americas. Its temples were plated with heavy gold, and whole menageries of gold animals lay inside. But of even more value to the Inca, were the rich and varied textiles they created.
Peru has the longest continuous history of textile production in the world, going back almost 10,000 years. Invented long before pottery and just as humans started agriculture, Peruvian fiber manipulation began with simple spun fibers, moving on through cords and nets. By 500 C this rudimentary craft had developed into complex weaving, employing practically every technique known today.
In Paracas, exquisite and delicate textile art can be dated as far back as 600 BC. We know of these textiles because they were wrapped in layer after intricate layer around mummies, and were thought to accompany Paracas people into the afterlife.
Ornate featherwork textiles were also highly prized by the ancient peoples of the central Andes, as well as those in the highlands and along the coast. Many examples of feathered garments and hangings patterned by feather mosaic have been recovered from the arid costal region, where they were preserved for centuries and, often, for millennia.
Though featherwork textiles are no longer common, other weaving traditions of Peru have remained strong, passed down through traditional teaching methods of observation and repetition. While modern methods of textile production have become prevalent as Peru takes its place as a leading producer of high quality textiles, the backstrap loom, still used in the Andes today, dates to pre Inca times.
Textiles continue to play an integral role in Peruvian culture. They are given as gifts in courtship, and are important parts of marriage and coming of age ceremonies. Because most of Peruvian textile creators are women, money earned from this art is more likely to go toward feeding and caring for children, and improves the lives of women as they become larger contributors to household income.
Creating intricate, detailed textile designs, Peruvian artisans draw from the world’s longest textile tradition. With knowledge that stretches back millennia, it’s no wonder that their hands create some of the most beautiful, sumptuous fashion in the world. It is by this path that Peru has entered the world market as a textile superstar.
San Pedro De Cajas is the capital of Peru's artisans and their textile products are widely know all over Peru and the world, San Pedro de Cajas, located in the province of Tarma, Department of Junín, 90% of the population are people who make their crafts manually, with only a machine of wood, which they invented to help them create their colorful, Eccentric blankets, which reflected their creativity and skill.
San Pedro de Cajas is home to artisans, engaged in textiles where the majority are women engaged in manual processing of typical rugs, tapestries, sweaters, socks and scarves others.
The characteristics that each textile difference because they are made from the soft wool from sheep, alpaca and vicuna, along with designs of their own experiences, their landscape, customs and traditions. The villagers wear their handmade works on special dates, being the closest: Christmas, Easter or the festivities of June, where each neighborhood presents the best of craftsmanship and creativity. The technic of their creative textiles have expanded throughout the country.