ABSTRACT
On the Paracas Peninsula on the south coast of what is now Peru, in the Early Horizon Period around 900 BC, concerns the dead became centered on a series of now famous cemeteries. In these immense necropolises, bodies were interred wrapped with beautifully made woven cloth, many covered with images. This tendency continued into the Early Intermediate Period, from 100 BC through AD 200, when these kinds of textiles were still being buried with elite members of Paracas-Topar society. This dry southern coastal region was the site of important developments in the Ica and Nasca valleys. These southern rivers have much less water, and many of the tributaries flow only seasonally. It is probable, then, that the Wari, like the other political entities the chapter has been discussing here, contributed to more generalized regional practices that emphasized fertility and pending production, at least as they expressed themselves ceremonially.
