Widths

There are three times as many weavings with complete widths as with complete lengths; 60 as compared to 20. Clues to the wrappings or blankets of which these breadths were sections are frequently furnished by traces of stitchery and broken threads on the side selvages. As shown by [table 2] and [figure 3], the five narrowest complete breadths (Group 1) are within a range of 4 to 12 inches. Narrow widths can be woven most rapidly on the backstrap loom. Complete breadths in Group 2 (18 specimens) fall within the range of 14 to 20 inches. These widths, also, can be woven without much effort. Seaming together narrow breadths appears to have been preferred to weaving wider ones equal to the two or three which compose some of the rectangular specimens.

[Table 2]

Frequencies of Complete Width Measurements

		Width in inches	Number of occurrences	Total occurrences
Group 1
	4-4029	4.0	1
	4-3889c	5.0	1
	4-3882f	7.0	1
	4-3962	9.0	1
	4-3710m	11.5	1	5
Group 2
	4-3633b, 16-1240, -1256, -1260, -1274	14.0	5
	4-3970, -4075d, 16-1274, -1280 (2)	15.5	5
	16-1240, -1248	16.0	2
	4-4022a (2), 16-1225	17.5	3
	4-3883b (2)	19.5	2
	4-4068b	20.5	1	18
Group 3
	4-3883d	21.0	1
	4-4059a	22.5	1
	4-4068b, 16-1291	23.0	2
	16-1237, -1238, -1242, -1251, -1253	25.0	5
	4-3890a, -4056	26.0	2
	4-3883a, -4068d, 16-1251, -1265	27.0	4
	4-4023 (2), -4027, 16-1257, -1265, -1271, 1272, -1289	28.0	8
	4-3633a, -4055, 16-1261	29.0	3	26
Group 4
	16-1259	30.0	1
	16-1250, -1294	31.0	2
	4-3973d (2), 16-1283, -1304d	33.0	4
	16-1252, -1269b	34.0	2
	16-1266, -1292	35.0	2
	16-1286	41.0	1	12

Group 3, as listed in [table 2], comprises breadths falling within a range of 21 inches through 29 inches. These widths reduce weaving speed and bring about problems in manipulation of the loom parts. The twelve widest complete breadths in the Chincha lot range from 30 inches to 35 inches with a single specimen measuring 41 inches. For this last piece, and possibly for several of the narrower ones in the same group, a two-bar loom not attached to the weaver's waist seems indicated.

Complete widths of Chincha plain-weave fabrics in order from narrowest to widest:

Spec. no.	Inches
4-4029	4
4-3889c	5
4-3882f	7
4-3962	9
4-3710m	11.5
16-1274	13.5 + 14.5
4-3633b	14
16-1256	14
16-1260	14
16-1240	14.5 + 15.5
4-3970	15
16-1280	15 + 15
4-4075d	15.5
16-1248	16
16-1225	16.5
4-4022a	17.5 + 17.5
4-3883b	19 + 19.5
4-4068b	20.5 + 23
4-3883d	21
4-4059a	22.5
16-1291	23
16-1253	24.5
16-1237	25
4-3890a	26
4-4056	26
4-3883a	27
16-1251	27 + 24.5
4-4068d	27.5
16-1265	27.5
4-4027	28
16-1257	28
16-1271	28
16-1272	28
16-1289	28
4-4023	28 + 28.5
16-1261	28.5
4-3633a	29
4-4055	29
16-1259	30
16-1250	30 + 31
16-1294	31
16-1283	33
16-1304b	33
4-3973d	33 + 33
16-1252	33.5 + 33.5
16-1269b	34
16-1266	34.5
16-1292	35
16-1286	41

Seventy-odd individually woven breadths of material are incomplete as to width. The arbitrary groupings in which these fall are as follows:

Under	10 inches in width	3	specimens
	11 inches to 20 inches	42	specimens
	21 inches to 30 inches	22	specimens
	31 inches to 40 inches	7	specimens

Side selvages strengthened by any one of the several methods we know from commercial weavings are rare in textiles from primitive looms. It is not uncommon, however, to find four or five edge yarns drawn more closely together than are the others in the web. Familiarity with these two facts made our discovery of a unique selvage finish a matter of unusual interest. The edges of specimens 16-1228 and 16-1236 have been reinforced by two stitchery techniques. [Plate 8],i shows the ordinary whipping stitches which form the foundation for the second technique. [Plate 8],h shows this second line of work to consist of a double strand twined, but always from back to front, with the tops of the whipping stitches.

On one of the Chincha 4- specimens (4-4068a) the half-inch selvage is distinguished from the body of the fabric by the use of warp yarns lighter in color than those appearing in the body of the fabric and by the two-over-one weave of the right-hand selvage in contrast to the one-over-one weave found elsewhere in the fabric. In specimen 4-4027 the edges are strengthened on each side for some six inches of the length by a single heavy 4-ply warp unit.

In the Chincha 4- specimens, where congestion of edge yarns occurs, its extent in from the edge varies from 5 threads (in 3 specimens) to 24 threads (1 specimen); in the majority of these specimens, the congestion ranges from 6 to 12 threads (8 specimens). Textures in [plate 4],a, c are comparable to those in which maximum congestion occurs.