This pretentiously titled monograph actually deals with 376 pieces of weaving in the Chilean National Historical Museum excavated in 1912-1913 by Max Uhle from cemeteries on Punta Pichalo. Fuentes employs frequency analysis of elements in the textiles to infer the course of cultural development in the Pisagua area. He posits continuous local development strongly influenced from the Andean highland civilizations.
Differences in raw material (alpaca, vicuna, and llama wool mainly) and technical characteristics (number of yarn strands, twists per meter, threads per centimeter, weave, finish, color, and design) demonstrate differences between cultural-temporal units which Fuentes adopted from Uhle’s chronological theories. Amending Uhle’s relative dating, Fuentes reasons only from the textiles without the Carbon-14 dates that could be obtained from these materials. Since the frequency analysis omits that portion of Uhle’s finds sent to the University of California, it cannot be taken as absolutely accurate. Yet the study constitutes a solid contribution to detailed reconstruction of prehistoric technology in arid Chile. It is abundantly illustrated with clearly printed photographs plus helpful diagrams.
