nperia

Iconography and
ofthe Inca Coca
 Abstract . .
W ithout a system of writing,
the Incas (ca. 1476-1534 CE.)
presided over an empire of orality
and performance that stretched
along the Andes Mountains from
southern Ecuador to northern
Chile. The Incas relied heavily on
visual signals to impart information
and organize their civilization.
Textiles, among other crafted
objects, were made to perform as
visual emblems displaying ideas
about imperial ideology and the
authority embodied by individuals.
This article explores the capacity of
textiles to carry embedded meaning
through the study of several
Keywords: Inca, coca, Andes, Peru, weaving, communication, emblems,
llama
LAUREN FINLEY HUGHES
Lauren Finley Hughes specializes in the art of
ancient Peru and has lectured and written widely
on ancient Andean textiles, Inca iconography,
and Colonial Andean imagery. As the McDermott
Curatorial Fellow in the Department of the Arts of
Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific at the Dallas
Museum of Art, she worked closely with the Nora
and John Wise collection of Andean Textiles.
Lauren received her M.A. in Art History from
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Iaurenfhughes9gmail.com
specimens of Inca coca bags in the
collections of the Dallas Museum
of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston. Widespread throughout
the Inca Empire and now housed
in museum collections around the
world, members of the Inca elite
wore these elaborately woven bags
to carry the leaves of the coca plant,
a significant medicinal herb and
sacrificial item. This article offers
an iconographie analysis of the
coca bag's surface embellishment
and will establish the function of
the coca bag both as a quotidian
container and as a symbolic
emblem.
Textiie, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 148-179
DOI: 10.2752/175183510x12791896965538
Reprints available directly from the Publishers.
Photocopying permitted by licence only.
2010 Berg. Printed in the United Kingdom.
Weaving Imperial Ideas:
Iconography and Ideology of
the Inca Coca Bag
From the extreme altitudes of
mountain peaks to Amazonian
lowlands and dry desert coastlines,
the Incas dominated an enormous
and highly diverse empire. A feat
accomplished in only about one
hundred years, 1476 C.E. until
the arrival of the Spanish in 1532
(D'Altroy 2002: 2), the Inca empire
was the largest of pre-Columbian
South America; one that extended
5,500 kilometers (Stone-Miller
1995:181) along the Andes
Mountains from southern Ecuador
to northern Chile. The Incas'
expansive state relied on a high
degree of organization that largely
depended on the manufacture and
regulation of textiles. The primacy
of textiles in the Inca Empire meant
that they were much more than
just a means of covering the body
or keeping warm. Fiber art was
a critical aspect of economics,
religious and ceremonial life, social
organization, imperial ideology,
and, above all, fiber was a means of
communication (Murra 1962: 722).
Although textiles certainly cannot
be treated as texts, fiber objects
functioned as communicative
devices through their iconography
ond structure.
Traditional studies of Inca
textiles tend to emphasize the
standardization of tunic patterns
or the economic function of textiles
within the Inca state; however,
this study looks at how a certain
type of textile bag, one woven to
hold the leaves of the coca plant,
communicated ideas about Inca
ideology, social practice, and
the embodied physicality of Inca
rulership. With no written language,
the Incas experienced their world
in a way which gave power to the
sense of sight (Classen 1990: 725).
Visual symbols had the power
to express much more than the
mundane, and political authority
was often vested through visual
means. For the Incas, textiles were
the medium which supported
these visual manifestations of
symbolic power (Hogue 2006:114,
Salazar and Roussakis 1999: 273).
Figures associated with the Inca
state demonstrated their imperial
relationship through the colors,
textures, and patterns of their
clothing; their authority recognized
through the sense of sight. The
primary figurative function of the
coca bag was as a visual symbol
of authority. As such a symbol,
the coca bag incorporated specific
iconographie forms to visually
express Imperial power.
Coca bags were employed
throughout the vast Inca Empire
and most extant examples were
collected along the south coast
of Peru. Woven coca bags were
produced and used in Peru from
ancient times through the Colonial
Period. It is difficult to date
these extant examples precisely;
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag 151

however, most were probably made
between 1450 CE. and 1600. Coca
bags take on a variety of forms.
Some are very simple incorporating
only a small rectangular pouch of
fabric and a strap (Figure 1), others
are much more complex consisting
of several separate woven
components, some non-functional,
sewn together (Figure 2). The
complex and multipart coca bags,
sometimes called "pendant bags,"
are the subject of this study, as
their structure and iconography
illustrate Inca approaches to the
figuring and dissemination of
imperial authority. Pendant coca
bags are now housed in museum
collections around the world. Fine
specimens of these elaborately
woven containers are found in the
collections of the Museum of Fine
Arts Boston, the Dallas Museum of
Art, the Harvard Peabody Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology,
and the National Museum of
Archaeology, Anthropology and
History of Peru, among other
institutions. The examples from
the Museum of Fine Arts Boston:

Figure 1
Coca bag with shoulder strap. South
coast, Peru. Late Horizon; Inca,
U76-1534 C.E. Nora and John Wise
Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L.
Hamon, the Eugene McDermott
Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows
and the Meadows Foundation, and Mr.
and Mrs. John D. Murchison. Dallas
Museum of Art, B1359, T41299.46.
Photo courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.
152 Lauren Finley iHughes

Figure 2
Bag with corner tassels and pendant.
South coast, Peru. Lafe Horizon; Inca,
1476-1534 C.E. Nora and John Wise
CoUection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L.
Hamon, the Eugene McDermott
Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows
and the Meadows Foundation, and
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison. Dallas
Museum of Art, B1104, 1991.380. Photo
courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.

number 51.2542 (Figure 3) and and between 15 and 21 centimeters

the Dallas Museum of Art: B1103 wide.= As a group they exhibit
(Figure 4), B1104 (Figure 2) and intricate multipart construction
and elaborate woven designs,
B1105 (Figure 5) comprise a group of
four similar pendant coca bags thatsome figurai and some purely
will be the focus of this article.'geometric. These bags are made
up of at least four separate textile
components and are constructed
Weaving Technique from seven different loom and hand
and Construction weaving techniques. The fibers
The pendant coca bags examined used to construct the coca bags
for this study each measure are predominantly camelid fiber
between 41 and 59 centimeters long and cotton; however, a portion of
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 3
Coca bag with butterflies and llamas.
Inca, UOO-1600 C.E. Elizabeth Day
McCormick Collection. Museum of Fine
Arts Boston, 51.2^52. Photograph
2009 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
the MFA example was woven with
a fiber that has been provisionally
identified as human hair.
The anatomy of each coca bag
consists of four separate parts: the
bag proper, a decorative pendant,
either a single tassel or two corner
tassels, and long red fringe. The
mouth, or opening, ofthe coca
bag is made of a network of
cotton fibers edged with thick
hair-like fiber, probably unspun
camelid fiber. The bag proper, that
is the area that actually contained
the coca leaves, of each example
was woven on cotton warps.
153
first in weft-faced plain weave to
form a panel of white above the
decorative section of interlocked
tapestry. Each bag displays camelid
motifs in the tapestry section of
the bag proper. The rigid pendant
section of each example presents
horizontal rows of camelids that
154 Lauren Finley Hughes

Figured
Pendant bag witii black and gold
checkerboard llamas. South coast,
Peru. Late Horizon; Inca, U76-153 CE.
Nora and John Wise Collection, gift
of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon,
the Eugene McDermott Family,
Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and
the Meadows Foundation, and
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison. Dallas
Museum of Art, B1103, T41299.43.
Photo courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.

reverse direction and alternate hand-plied red camelid fiber fringe.

color from one face to the other.
Tassels, constructed from the
same technique as the pendant or
in other cases stem-stitch, have
been attached just beneath the bag
proper so that the tassel is in line
with the camelids of the pendant
section of the bag. The final section
of pendant coca bags consists of
Each strand of fringe consists of
several (between six and twelve)
single S-spun yarns that have been
Z-plied together.
Cultural Context
Coca leaves come from a small
shrub-like plant which grows in
 Weaving imperial Ideas: iconography and ideology of the inca Coca Bag 155

rigure 5
Pendant bag with green and gold
llamas and crosses. South coast, Peru.
Late Horizon; Inca, 1476-1534 CE. Nora
and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr.
and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene
McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs.
Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows
Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. John
D. Murchison. Dallas Museum of Art,
B1105, T41299.44. Photo courtesy
Dallas Museum of Art.

the near tropical conditions of
the Andean mountain valleys
(Mortimer 1901: i5i).3 Coca leaves
were harvested every fourteen
months and packed in bundles
weighing eighteen pounds and
transported to the highlands by
llama pack trains (Rowe 1946: 242).
Prior to chewing, the coca leaves
and ttipta, lime from the ash of
burnt cactus, bone, seashells, or
limestone (Mortimer 1901: 9,155),
were combined probably within the
coca bag itself." Lime is an essential
ingredient needed to activate the
alkaloid in coca which produces its
physical effects. The alkaloid from
coca leaves is the very same that is
used to produce cocaine. The amount
of this alkaloid present in one coca
leaf is minute, thus the chewing
156 Lauren Finley Hughes
of coca leaves is much less potent
or dangerous than cocaine use
(Mortimer 1901: 433).^ Any tourist
to the Andes region will attest that
the effects of chewing coca are
much like that of drinking a single
espresso. The Incas were aware
of the energizing effects of coca
and during the colonial period, as
Pedro Cieza de Len notes, always
carried "small leaves of some sort"
in their mouths which they chewed
from morning until night to assuage
hunger and to give them strength
(Cieza 1959: 259).*
Spanish chronicler Garcilaso de
la Vega points out that coca was
also a precious commodity that
figured largely in the ceremonial
life of the Inca. Coca leaves
were present in nearly all ritual
ceremonies and sacrifices. Often
paired in sacrifice with cloth, chicha
(maize beer), gold, and silver, coca
was highly valued and had much
socio-religious significance (Cobo
1990:137).' Coca was an important
gift as well. Gift-giving for the
Incas was ceremonial in nature and
was often used as a way to show
political power and its reciprocal,
submission, social favor, or familial
connections (D'Altroy 2002: 200-1,
264-5).^ Juan de Betanzos, in his
1557 chronicle of the Inca conquest,
describes the significance of
coca as a gift. Betanzos explains
that following a ritual in which
participants honored the Sapa Inca
(Inca king) as the son of the Sun,
lords of Cusco and other caciques
who had gathered in the central
plaza of Cusco were given chicha
to drink and large amounts of coca
(Betanzos 1996: 56). The gifts of
chicha and coca were certainly
meant as celebratory aspects of
an imperial feast, but these gifts
were also meant to solidify and
demonstrate ideas about rulership.
Access to a sumptuary good such
as coca given in such an important
and visible context demonstrates
the power bestowed upon these
individuals by the Sapa. The coca
leaves are a symbolic means
of expressing the authority of
the Sapa that has been given to
these elites. On the other hand,
by receiving the coca leaves the
various elites acquiesce to the Sapa
and accept the authority given to
them.
The ethnohistoric documents
are clear that coca was a prized
commodity as a gift and as a
religious offering, but it is perhaps
most important for the purposes
of this study to recognize the
connection between coca
consumption and elite status.
It should be noted that in the
aforementioned descriptions of
the socio-religious use of coca
by Guaman Poma, Father Bernab
Cobo, Garcilaso de la Vega, Cieza
de Len, and Juan de Betanzos it
is Inca nobles who have access to
coca. Indeed, Coca consumption
is associated with elite status. As
a commodity grown in the Andean
lowlands far away from the
highlands of Cusco, coca leaves
required long-distance travel to
obtain (D'Altroy 2002: 200-1).
Those who could command long-
distance trade to access a good
obtained from such a distance
were most certainly elites.
Guaman Poma's drawing of Manco
Capac, the first Inca king, includes
a coca bag attached to his right
wrist (Figure 6), suggesting that
coca was an item associated
with the Inca elite from the very
beginning of the empire
 Weaving innperial ideas: iconography and ideology of the inca Coca Bag
Figure 6
The First Inca, franco Capac Inca.
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.
El primer nueva cornica y buen
gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl. KgLs.2232,4.
Det Kongelige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].
(Stone-Miller 1994:178). Cieza de
Len found that coca was regarded
as a symbol of divinity and was at
first only available to Incas of royal
status (Cieza 1959: 260). It is widely
believed that in Pre-conquest Peru
coca use was limited to the nobility
and religious rites. It was only after
the conquest when the Spanish
expanded the production of coca
that its use spread to all classes
ofthe Inca (Rowe 1946: 292).'
The association between coca
DE IMAS
and elite individuals is reinforced
by documentary evidence which
describes Inca dress. Through
these descriptions it becomes
apparent that wearing a coca bag
as an element of costume was
likewise limited to Inca nobles.
Guaman Poma's chronicle provides
a clear image of Inca dress through
its many illustrations. Although we
may not take these illustrations
to be exact representations of
the tunics and other garments
157
worn by the Inca, they do allow
the general costume of the Inca
to be established. According to
these drawings and Cobo's written
descriptions Inca men wore tunics,
called unkus, which generally fell
to the knee. Over the tunic, a cloak
or mantle was often worn around
the shoulders (Cobo 1990:186-7).
Men, especially higher-ranking
officials, usually carried a chuspa,
or bagpresumably to carry coca
in their hand or wore the bag across
158 Lauren Finley Hughes
their chest (Cobo 1990:187). Cobo
writes.
Underneath this mantle and
over the tunic they carry a small Era document
bag called a chuspa which
hangs around the necii. it is
more or less one span in length
and about the same in width.
This bag hangs down by their
waist under their right arm,
the strap from which it hangs
passes over the left shoulder.
(Cobo 1990:187)
Figure 7
Juan Tinge with chuspa. Folio 51 recto.
Prado-Tello Dossier, c.^\560-^6i0.
Det Kongelige bibliotek, Kbenhavn
[Copenhagen].
Likely a model for Guaman Poma's
illustrations, the brief commentary
provided by Guaman Malque in
the Prado-Tello Dossier, a Colonial-
pertaining to land
rights in the Chupas Valley, offers
a descriptive illustration of an Inca
male, Juan Tingo, dressed in his
uni<u, mantle, and chuspa (Figure 7)
(Phipps2oo4:142).'
The regularity of Inca dress
as illustrated by Guaman Poma
suggests that Inca costume was
standardized or regimented by
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag 159

the Inca government. It is true "as a symbol of office carried a conquered territories to maintain
that the fineness of the cloth, the bag or pouch of the type used for control over the infrastructure of
pattern of the cloth, and the style holding coca leaves... in this the empire (D'Altroy 2002: 232).
of garments were restricted and way their warrant was recognized Local elites governed on behalf
mandated according to the status and respected in the whole of our of theS7po Inca (the Inca King)
and profession of the individual country" (Guaman Poma 1978: 98). and at the same time retained
(Murra 1962: 720-1). Through The word warrant in this statement their resident elite status and
their color, pattern, and degree of implies personal contact between right to rule. A governor, who
fineness Inca tunics could visually the Inca constables and the Sapa was an ethnic Inca and who also
describe their wearer's familial Inca. It implies that there has been spent time in Cusco, managed
association, geographic location, or an official transfer of power from the affairs of each province, but
political status (Pillsbury 2006:126). the body of the Sapa Inca to these employed intermediate elites,
Betanzos describes lords of Cusco officials. The coca bag might be usually hereditary local elites, called
and caciques, local officials, as physically invested with the power curacas, to act as administrators
wearing garments that were given to that came from the presence of on behalf of the Sopo Inca at the
them by the Inca (Betanzos 1996: 56). the Sapa Inca. Moreover, Guaman household level." The structure
Betanzos also relates that Inca Poma's statement, "in the whole of Inca administrative rule is
Yupanqui ordained that caciques of our country," suggests that the particularly important in regard to
could not wear fine clothing or other constables were acting on behalf of the coca bag because coca bags
accoutrements unless they had been the Sapa Inca in provincial regions have been found in the provinces
given to the cacique by the Sapa of the empire. Throughout Guaman of the Inca Empire. Most of the
himself. Violation of this rule would Poma's thousand-page letter to the officials who wear the coca bag
result in death (ibid.: 105). The King of Spain he illustrates Inca in Guaman Poma's chronicle are
mandated clothing worn by caciques administrators and officials wearing lords of regional Inca provinces
allowed their power to be highly the coca bag (Figures 8-13) which governing on behalf of the Inca
visible and easily recognizable. asserts that the coca bag was indeed in places other than the highland
This rule also kept people who were a signifier of imperial authority. capital of Cusco. Moreover, Guaman
not approved by state from trying Guaman Poma's evidence supports Poma specifically describes persons
to gain statusequalto thatof the that the coca bag was worn by wearing the coca bag as lords of
caciques (ibid.)." officials associated with the service "native tributaries," as curacas,
Coca bags were certainly one of the Sapa Inca, but who were not or as "provincial administrators."
of the types of textile accessories members of the royal family. His drawing of a provincial
that were under the jurisdiction The Inca domain, called "administrator of ten native
of the Sapa Inca. As stated above, Tawantinsuyu meaning the four tributaries," who is presumably a
Guaman Poma's drawing of Manco parts together, was divided into four curaca, depicts a colonial-era lord
Capac, the first Inca king, includes a regions based on geographic and with a coca bag across his chest
coca bag attached to this right wrist ethnic boundaries that converged (Figure 9). It can be deduced that the
(Figure 6) which demonstrates that at Cusco, the capital of the realm coca bag, a component of costume
the coca bag was a component of (D'Altroy 2002: 88-9). The Incas for official Inca administrators,
royal Inca dress (Stone-Miller 1994: built roads, provincial centers, and served as an emblem of power
178). Guaman Poma's chronicle way stations to connect the quarters within Cusco and throughout the
persuasively establishes the coca of the empire and to strengthen provinces of the Empire.
bag as an imperial accoutrement the control of the state (D'Altroy Material evidence is also
indicative of elite status and 2002: 231). Within this expansive persuasive in suggesting that the
contact with the Sapa. His chronicle and diverse kingdom provincial coca bag functioned as an imperial
describes the coca bag as part of elites played an important role in emblem outside the capital.
the official garb of Inca constables. maintaining Inca rule. The Incas Although the collection of many
He writes that the Inca constables. worked through local lords of coca bags has been imprecise.
160 Lauren Finley Hughes

Figure 8
Poma, of the Pueblo Chipao, ofAllauca
Huanaco lineage mitmaq descendant
of Inca-Era immigrants, pisqa
kamachikuq administrator of five
native tributaries. Felipe Guaman
Poma de Ayala. El primer nueva
cornica y buen gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl.
Kgl.s.2232,4. Det Kongelige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].

dating from the period of the
Second World War when sanctions
concerning looting and protecting
items of national patrimony were
not in place, it is believed that
most coca bags have come from
the south coast of Peru near the
lea and Nasca Valleys. As the driest
desert in the world, the climate
of this region has allowed for the
preservation of the textiles. The
pendant coca bags examined in
this study, because of their state of
preservation, most likely came from
this dry south-coast region of Peru;
however, this is not to suggest that
coca bags like these did not exist
in other places in the Inca Empire.
Because of its more temperate
climate, highland textiles have not
enjoyed the same protection as
south-coast textiles. Textile bags
such as the examples presented
here probably were used in the
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 9
Chiara of the Pueblo of Muchuca,
chunka kamachikuq, administrator of
ten native tributaries. Felipe Guaman
Poma de Ayala. El primer nueva
cornica y buen gobierno. 1615. Ms. GL
Kgl.s.2232,4. Det Kongelige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].
highlands, but unfortunately the
climatic conditions of the highlands
has prevented the material
evidence from being conserved.
Most likely the coca bag was worn
in many parts of Tawantinsuyu
including Cusco, evidenced by
Guaman Poma's depiction of Hurin
and Hanan Cusco administrators
wearing the coca bags as part of
their official garb (Figures lo and li).
More recently, coca bags have
been documented in high-altitude
sacrificial burials. The so-called
"Ice Maiden" discovered byjohan
Reinhard, was probably ritually
killed and then buried with precious
objects as offerings. Accompanying
the Ice Maiden was a feather bag
containing coca leaves (Reinhard
2005: 97) similar to an example at
the DMA, number B499 (Figure 14).
161
Although this coca bag is much
different than pendant coca bags,
as a feather object, at the top of
the hierarchy of fiber arts, the
bundle type coca bag found with
the Ice Maiden is a sumptuary
good indicative of the prestige and
importance of human sacrifices.
Other high-altitude human
sacrifices at Llullaillaco were also
found with coca bags (Reinhard
162 Lauren Finley Hughes

Figrelo
Chief Law Enforcement Official
of Hurin Cuzco, chanay kamayuq,
torturer. Felipe Guaman Poma de
Ayala. Et primer nueva cornica y buen
gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl. Kgl.s.2232,4.
Det Kongelige bibliotek, Kbenhavn
[Copenhagen].

2005: 326-7; Ceruti 2003:124). demonstrates the sacred nature of

The burial of this high-status item
with a human sacrifice supports the
notion that coca bags, as a category
of object, were items reserved for
elite contexts.
Although different in style
from the complex type of coca
bags that are the subject ofthis
study, a fiber bag stuffed with coca
leaves from the Dallas Museum
of Art, number B217 (Figure 15),
coca and its container. Assuming
that this bag was recovered from
a tomb, as is likely the case with
each ofthe coca bags discussed
here, it illustrates the sacred role
of coca and its container, the coca
bag. Guaman Poma illustrates a
burial in Cuntisuyu, the eastern
quarter ofthe empire, in which a
figure appears to place a coca bag
with the body ofthe deceased. His
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag 163

Figuren
The Incas Council, Hanan Cuzco Inca,
principal lord Quapaq Apu Wataq,
Court magistrate who apprehends
rebellious lords. Felipe Guaman
Poma de Ayala. El primernueva
cornica y buen gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl.
Kgl.s.2232,4. Det Kongelige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].

illustration suggests that coca bags
were included in burials. It can be
surmised that coca bags existing
in collections today were found
in tombs, although no Spanish
chronicler directly states that coca
bags, specifically, were placed in
tombs.'3
While coca bags were emblems
of imperial authority in life, they
were also indicators of elite status
in death. Elite Inca burials are
identified by the wealth goods that
are present within the tombs. Fray
Cristbal de Castro and Diego de
Ortega Morejn provide an account
dedicated to the Chincha Valley,
on the central coast of Peru, and
describe the practices of elites
therein. Their 1558 account offers
some important information on Inca
burial customs (Castro and Ortega
Morejn 1936: 227). The authors
write that elites were buried with
wives, servants, and goods such as
cloth (Castro and Ortega Morejn
1936: 231, 242-3). Guaman Poma
also offers information on elite Inca
burials. For example, he explains
the burial customs of Kollasuyu
where the nobles were buried in
their finest clothes accompanied by
their most precious possessions.
In addition to cloth. Cobo mentions
that the bodies are found with
"implements of their occupation"
164 Lauren Fintey Hughes
Figure 12
Provincial Administrator, T'uqriykuq,
royal official. Felipe Guaman Poma de
Ayala. El primer nueva cornica y
buen gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl.
KgLs.2232,^. Det Kongetige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].
(Cobo 1990:19). The fineness of
the pendant coca bags indicates
that they were wealth items
and their function as imperial
emblems is indicative of their
owner's profession.
The chronicles make it clear that
an object such as the coca bag, an
object representative of status and
profession, would be the kind of
wealth good placed inside a tomb
(Castro and Ortega Morejn
1936: 227). Archaeological
explorations of the Chincha, lea.
and Ancon Valleys corroborate
the chronicles' descriptions of
Inca tombs of the central and
south coasts. Cieza de Len
describes burials at lea that
contained "great treasures," and
that the Spaniards found rich
tombs in the Nasca Valley (Cieza
1959: 348-9). It should be noted
that Cieza de Leon's chronicle also
relates that Nasca was an Inca
administration center on the south
coast with "great buildings and
many storehouses" (ibid.: 349).
 Weaving Imperial ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 13
Old Man, one often native magistrates,
town criers, or executioners of this
Kingdom. Felipe Guaman Poma de
Ayala. El primer nueva cornica y buen
gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl. Kgl.s.2232,4.
Det Kongelige bibliotek, Kbenhavn
[Copenhagen].
The provincial elites who lived at
the Inca administrative center of
Nasca would surely have been
buried with wealth items indicative
of their status. Max Uhle found
wealth goods such as gold and
silver implements and Inca-style
ceramics in tombs within each of
these valleys (Uhle 1924; Kroeber
and Strong 1924a, 1924b; Strong
1925). Indeed, Uhle found that the
Inca-style ceramics allowed for the
distinction between elite burials
and those of commoners. Goods
with Inca iconography were present
in the elite status burials, whereas
commoner tombs contained local
styles of ceramics (Kroeber and
Strong 1924a: 127-8). The MFA
coca bag, and other pendant
coca bags like it, with its Inca
iconography, probably functioned
165
in a mortuary context like the Inca-
style objects that Uhle describes.
Their iconographie and technical
connection to Cusco indicated their
owner's high status.
Spanish chroniclers of the late
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
writing about life in Peru reveal that it
was the noble class of Inca who wore
coca bags as emblems of their office,
but they also show that these officials
166 Lauren Finley Hughes

Figure H
Coca bundle with feathers. Late
Horizon; Inca, 1476-1534 CE. Nora
and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr.
and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene
McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs.
Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows
Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. John
D. Murchison. Dallas Museum of Art,
B499, T41299.45. Photo courtesy Dallas
Museum of Art.

were curacas, or Inca administrators found in the tomb of a provincial Inca

working in the provinces on administrator. As the possession
behalf of the Sopo Inca. Similarly, of a local elite, the pendant coca
archaeological evidence indicates bag served as an insignia of the
that the coca bag was the possession relationship between its wearer
of not only individuals of royal status, and Cusco. However, as a portable
but also of those who attained elite accessory the wearer had control
status in the provinces of the Inca over precisely when and where this
Empire. The finely crafted pendant relationship was manifested. In life
coca bags, found in the south-coast as in death, the Inca coca bag, as a
region of Peru, probably near lea or textile object which was regulated by
Nasca, are indicative of the type of the state, established its owner as a
wealth object that would have been privileged member of the Inca elite.
 Weaving Imperial ideas: Iconography and ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 15
Square coca bag stuffed with leaves.
Late Horizon; Inca, U76-1534C.E. Nora
and John Wise CoUection, gift of Mr.
and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene
McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs.
Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows
Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. John
D. Murchison. Dallas Museum of Art,
B217, T41299.47. Photo courtesy Dallas
Museum of Art.
The Coca Bag and the Inca Body
Tattoos, earplugs, and lip plates
are among the most widely studied
body ornaments of indigenous
cultures.*'' These ornaments change
the appearance ofthe individual
and act as a means of symbolic
communication to express certain
cultural ideas. For example. Inca
officials often wore large gold
earspools as emblems of their
office; called orejones, or big ears,
the large reflective surfaces ofthe
gold earspools made an important
ideological representation ofthe
Sun; they represented the labor
commanded by the orejones
to have them made; they were
significant of ageas older men
had larger earspools; and they were
indicative of ethnicity (Vega 1966:
55-6).'5 Although the Inca coca bag
decorated the body in a different
and less permanent fashion
than tattooing or piercing, coca
bags may be considered as body
ornaments, works that patterned
the body and conveyed ideas
about Inca ideology, cosmology,
and cultural self-image. Just as
the earspools demonstrated the
position of orejones as members
ofthe Inca nobility in a variety of
ways. Inca textiles had the ability
167
to communicate information
about their wearer. The coca bag
and other Andean textile apparel,
like body ornaments, acted as a
means of embellishing the body
itself and carried messages of
symbolic content in order to
convey certain concepts. Anthony
Seeger, a social anthropologist
and ethnomusicologist, writes that
"Body ornaments above all make
intangible concepts tangible and
visible" (Seeger 1975: 221).'' The
coca bag does just this; it had the
capacity to convey information
about the imperial ideology of the
Inca and how its wearer functioned
168 Lauren Finley Hughes
within this system. However, it
is important to consider that, as
bodily accessories, coca bags
functioned more plastically than
permanent body modification.
Their meaning was easily shaped,
transferred, or changed by the
context in which they were enacted.
The Incas presided over an
empire of orality and performance.
In this world, the visual immediacy
and thematic richness of visual
objects assumed important roles
in conveying social identity and
imperial legitimacy (Bray 2000:
169). Two elements, red fringe
and llama motifs, are perhaps the
most important message-bearers
apparent in the coca bag and their
interpretation in relation to the
body will demonstrate how the
coca bag carried meaning and
imparted information. In addition
to understanding how the Incas
expressed ideas through cloth,
this discussion will hinge on ideas
about the royal body and the
relationship between the Inca body
and the cosmos, understanding
the performative culture in which
the Incas established their imperial
ideology and how the Incas figured
authority will also be essential
to the analysis of the coca bag's
function as a body ornament.
In Inca cosmology the body
served as a symbol and mediator
ofthe cosmos (Classen 1993: 3).
It was through the body that the
processes ofthe earth and sky
could be understood and, to a
degree, controlled. As the son of
the Sun, /nf/, the Sapa Inca was
the corporeal embodiment of a
cosmological feature and as such
served as an intermediary between
the sacred aspects ofthe cosmos
and the terrestrial world. The Sapa
Inca was the center at which the
earth and sky met. In the Andean
native Pachacuti Yamqui's diagram
(Figure 16) ofthe main altar ofthe
Coricancha the human figures in
the center ofthe diagram represent
mediators between the earth and
the sky through which power can
flow (Classen 1993: 22). From
Pachakuti Yamqui's diagram it is
clear that the Inca body was not
separate from the cosmos, rather
it was an essential part ofthe
universe through which the natural
phenomenon could be interpreted
and explained. Moreover, the Inca
body was the temporal center of
Inca power which embodied the
sacred in order to organize and rule
the earthly empire.
Central to the ideology of the
Inca body. Inca cosmology, and how
authority was figured in the Inca
Empire is the understanding ofthe
word cuzco. The capital ofthe Inca
Empire was the city of Cusco in the
central highlands of Peru; however,
the word cuzco might not have been
the Inca designation for the name
ofthe city. Rather, the term cuzco
referred to a person who was the
center of the Inca world. Evidently,
it was customary for the Inca
people to refrain from using the
Emperor's given name, hence they
used the term cuzco to refer to
the imperial individual (Ramirez
2005:19). Following this tradition
the first Spanish chroniclers in the
early 1530s used the word cuzco
to describe a person, not a place.
El Cuzco referred to a living center,
the Inca Emperor, rather than a
specific location. Cuzco translates to
mean center, or navel, and the Inca
Emperor was literally the navel of
the universe connecting the people
of his empire to the Sun and Moon
 Weaving Imperiat Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 16
Drawing of the Main Altar of the
Coricancha. Juan de Santacruz
Pachacuti Yamqui. c.1613.
(Ramfrez 2005: 7). The center of
the Inca Empire, geographically,
was wherever the Inca emperor
happened to be (Houston and
Cummins 1998: 364).
As the Inca emperor was the
embodied center of Tawantinsuyu
some tunics may have centered
his body within an abstract
representation of the empire
(Houston and Cummins 1998:
374). The tunic of the Sapa Inca
characterized him as an individual
at the center of the empire
containing tocapu motifs that would
have communicated his divine and
imperial status (Stone 2007: 38).
Tocapu are individual square units
filled with various highly geometric
motifs that were used to create
standardized patterns. Tocapu
designs on textiles were part of a
"system of graphic communication"
and their patterns, combinations,
and bodily relationships made the
expression of certain information
possible (Zuidema 1991:151). Elena
Phipps conjectures that the Inca
Royal Tunic at Dumbarton Oaks,
a tunic covered entirely in tocapu
motifs, was itself an abstract
representation of the empire,
its individual tocapu referencing
subordinate Inca officials and
ethnic groups contained within
Tawantinsuyu (Phipps 2004: 8).
The Sapa Inca, by appropriating
symbols of conquered peoples'
clothing, demonstrated his place
at the head of the empire (Hogue
2006:111-12). The tunic expresses
its meaning through its relationship
with the body. The abstract
patterns represent the people of his
169
empire, and placed on his body, the
Sapa's authority over these people
becomes an obvious point.
Apart from patterns that might
signify different ethnic groups that
had come under the hegemony of
the Inca, patterns that occur in the
Royal Tunic are also those of Inca
officials. Tocapu tunic patterns of
the so-called military tunic
and the Inca key pattern appear
within this abstract representation
of the empire. A miniature version
of the black and white checkerboard
military tunic with a red yoke
(Figure 17) is repeated several times
over the Royal Tunic, probably to
illustrate the Sapa's control over his
army and his position at the head
of the army. The Inca key pattern, a
diagonal bar with small squares on
either side, is a motif that regularly
170 Lauren Finley Hughes
Figure 17
Tunic with checkerboard pattern and
stepped yoke. Late Horizon; Inca,
1476-1534 C.E. The Eugene and
Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.
in honor ot Carol Robbins. Dallas
Museum of Art, 1995.32.MCD. Photo
courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.
appears on tunics. Rebecca Stone
suggests that the wearers of
key-patterned tunics were Inca
administrators, probably enjoying
a status higher than that of soldiers
(Stone 2007: 28-31). The abstract
patterns of the checkerboard and
the Inca key act as emblems that
reference the Sapa Inca. As insignia
bestowed upon individuals by the
Sapa they visually represent the
connection between the wearer of
the emblem and the authority of
the Sapa. Thus, just as the Sapa
Inca's tunic graphically expressed
his domination over the empire, so
by wearing these patterned tunics
the Inca soldiers or administrators
could illustrate their relationship
with the center of the Inca Empire,
their authority emblazoned on
their tunics for others to recognize.
Wearing these culturally coded
tunics the Inca administrators acted
as cuzcos, as centers allowing
the divine power of the Inca to be
invoked when the Sapa Inca himself
was not present.
The foremost emblem of the
Sapa Inca, emphasizing his
uniqueness and his place at the
center of Tawantinsuyu, was the
royal fringe headdress called
the mascapaycha (Dean 1999:
130). Guaman Poma's depiction
of Manco Capac (Figure 6) clearly
displays all of the elements of
the imperial headdress, most
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag 171

notably the mascapaycha which Palace" appropriated the fringe as the coca bag was part of a standard
is unmistakably visible just above a body ornament. He writes, "As costume for Inca officials: curacas,
Manco Capac's eyes. The scarlet their badge of rank these officials administrators, and messengers.
fringe of the mascapaycha hung [Mayors of the Palace] wore a Likewise, the addition of red fringe
over the forehead just above the fringe similar to the Inca's so as to to pendant coca bags asserts that
eyes of the Inca. The red fringe impress powerful offenders with their owners were higher-ranking
headdress was unique to the Sapa the absolute nature of the authority officials, the red fringe indicating
Inca. Others might wear fringe on delegated to them" (Guaman their closeness to the Sapa Inca
their head, but it would not be red Poma 1978: 97). In this way the himself. The red fringe of the coca
in color. For instance, yellow fringe Inca mayors were performing an bag mimics the mascapaycha, the
was worn by the crown prince.'' authoritative role like the Sapa Inca foremost component of imperial
Placing the mascapaycha on his himself by donning the Imperial garb, and incorporates its form so
head the Sapa Inca took possession fringe. Thus, there could be many that the relationship between the
of the empire (Zuidema 1991; places in the empire activated wearer of the coca bag and the
100-1). Asserting this phenomenon not only through the presence of Sapa Inca could be communicated
Guaman Poma writes, "The one the Sapa Inca, but also through to others. Thus, the textile bag
who was designated miraculously something associated with his has become a vehicle for graphic
by the Sun, even if he were the imperial status (Houston and communication in which design,
youngest of the brothers, put on the Cummins 1998: 374). color, and iconography function
imperial fringe and became from The attachment of red fringe together to express cultural
that moment the supreme ruler" to pendant coca bags was a information.
(Guaman Poma 1978: 81). Perhaps, conscious choice, an effort to invest The red fringe establishes the
above anything else, this body imperial power into the object. The connection between a provincial
ornament designated the Sapa appropriation of this iconography elite and the Inca King, but the
Inca as a center of imperial power.
shifts imperial power toward the llama imagery of pendant coca
Attached to the body the fringe was
wearer of the coca bag, and more bags illustrates how the wearer's
enacted as a visual symbol vestingspecifically to his center. Rather body can be understood to invoke
the Inca with the power of the Sunthan adorning the head like the the temporal center of Inca power.
and connecting him to the cosmos. mascapaycha, the red fringe of I believe that the multicolored
The red fringe placed his body the coca bag decorates the body, llamas contained on the bag proper
at the center of the empire and perhaps indicative of the wearer's symbolize the ritual significance
established him as a conqueror of satellite relationship to the head of the llama and the coca bag-
other peoples. of the Inca state. As an ornament wearer's participation in these
The mascapaycha, separated that decorates the body, the coca ceremonies, whether through gift
from the other components of the bag emphasizes the provincial or in person. The polychromy of
imperial headdress, appears on quality of its wearer. The red these llamas, and indeed the coca
the Second Coat of Arms of the fringe on the coca bag functioned bag as a whole, demonstrate the
Inca during the Colonial Period similarly to the tunics that employ wearer's access to fine cloth and
(Larea i960:114). This use of the tocapu motifs. Just as these tunic his elevated status that allowed
mascapaycha displays the powerful patterns designated their wearers' him this privilege.'^
singularity of the symbol, but bodies as satellite centers of Inca Llama and alpaca were as
also, although conceived during Imperial authority, so the red fringe central to the economy of the
the colonial period, exemplifies of the coca bag approximated an Inca Empire as cloth. Llamas were
how the mascapaycha could be item belonging to the Sapa Inca the principal pack animal of the
understood as a piece of the Sapa and allowed its wearer to act on Andean Highlands and an important
Inca that could be approximated behalf of the Sapa Inca. It has been sacrificial animal (Murra 1965:185).
elsewhere. Guaman Poma established that coca use was They supplied wool for clothing and
describes how "Mayors of the reserved for Inca nobility and that leather for sandals, and were the
172 Lauren Finley Hughes

main source of animal protein for 2007: 37). Inca festivals in addition
the Incas (Murra 1956: 85). Llamas to Capac Raymi often called for the
were also the means by which sacrifice of llamas, and llamas of
tribute goods from the provinces specific colors were required for
were transported to Cusco. As the each event.'9 Tom Zuidema, in his
Inca realm expanded, conquered analysis of sacrifices performed
lands, rivers, mountains, and llamas in Cusco, relates that 100 llamas
became property ofthe Inca state. were sacrificed at the beginning
Ownership of llamas was, then, a of each month and a different
statement of power itself. Thus, color of llama was selected for
the llama was a symbol ofthe Inca each season.^" The colors of the
crown. Indeed, the llama played a checkerboard llamas' bodies
central role in the ceremonial life might reflect the particular colors
ofthe Sapa Inca. Miniature llamas of llamas associated with certain
of gold and silver were carried by events. During the harvest season
noble lineages during processions llamas with two colors of hair,
celebrating Inca monarchs. Herding either black and white or brown
and llama-chasing were reenacted and white, were sacrificedtheir
during royal initiations, and royal binary color opposition associated
burial was accompanied by a with and dedicated to Thunder
sacrifice of countless llamas (Murra (Zuidema 1992: 65). In intermediate
1956: 59,108). seasons when there was no rain,
Each ofthe MFA and DMA coca wild llamas with multicolored
bags incorporate quite abstract hair and llamas with brown hair
representations of llamas within were sacrificed as dedications to
the tapestry-weave bag proper. Viracocha, the creator god. There
Here, camelid figures have been was also a correlation between
reduced to mere signs which evoke black llamas and the rainy season
the essence of a llamaa snout, and white llamas and the dry
upright ears, legs, body, and season. A ceremony involving each
tail. These llamas have also been of these animals announced the
divided into colored quadrants appearance and disappearance of
which resemble a checkerboard the black cloud constellation ofthe
pattern. Either black and white, llama (Zuidema 1992: 66-7). White
gold and tan, or green and gold, llamas were also associated with
each llama has four corresponding the Inca king. They were regarded
parts. The quarters of the animals as representations of the king and
might represent the four quarters were never killed; rather, they were
of Tawantinsuyu, or their presence allowed to live long lives and upon
might be religiously symbolic their death were buried in a special
(Stone 2007: 37). Their four-part ceremony (Zuidema 1992: 68).^'
design might refer to a ceremony The festival activities associated
that took place during the Capac with multi-colored llamas and the
/?oym; festival, the principal festival sacrifice of these animals are also
dedicated to the Sun and hence indicative ofthe coca bag's purpose
the Sapa, in which llamas were as an item reserved for special
led in circles four times around occasionsthe llama iconography
the plaza of Cusco, ritually killed, of the bag relating directly to a
and their bodies quartered (Stone ceremony in which it was enacted.
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
Figure 18
Feast of the Incas. Felipe Guaman
Poma de Ayala. El primer nueva
cornica y buen gobierno. 1615. Ms. Gl.
Kgl.s.2232,il. Det Kongelige bibliotek,
Kbenhavn [Copenhagen].
The owner ofthe coca bag could
have been a participant in the
festival or merely made an offering
ofthe coca bag."
The iconographie forms
present in the tapestry weave
section of the bags contribute to
the visual manifestation of power,
but more specific to my concern
here are the llama motifs ofthe
pendant section ofthe bag. The
textile component to which the
symbolic red fringe is attached
presents a visual allegory. These
images on the pendant's surface
FIESTA
illustrate an important facet ofthe
coca bag's symbolic function within
state ideology. In each specimen
ofthe pendant sections, the llamas
process like a pack train, a single-
file line of animals progressing
up the switchbacks of the Andes.
Arranged in a caravan, the llama
motifs refer to the transport of coca
from the lowland growing regions
ofthe eastern Andean slopes to the
highlands in llama pack trains.^^
Llama caravans would consist of
hundreds of animals and the lead
llama would be decorated with
173
ear tassels.^" The llamas would
progress across the landscape
in a long single-file procession
carrying the coca leaves on their
backs in cloth bags. The coca bag,
like the llama, is a transportation
device for coca and this narrative
concerning the transport of coca is
replicated in the pattern ofthe bag.
Just as the pack llamas delivered
coca to Cusco, so the llama motifs
ofthe coca bag, led by the animal
depicted on the tassel, carry the
burden of coca leaves for its wearer.
The pendant llamas are oriented
174 Lauren Finley Hughes
toward the wearer of the coca
bag. Worn as a body ornament the
llamas on the coca bag interact
with their wearer's body. When
worn across the chest as Guaman
Poma describes, the llamas woven
into the coca bag would touch the
torso, the center of the body.^^ The
pendant section each of the coca
bags was constructed so that the
llamas appear in alternating rows
on both sides. The alternation
from row to row and from side
to side ensures that the llamas
always process toward the wearer
no matter which side of the bag
was positioned outward. The
llamas on the tassel of the MFA
coca bag change direction as well,
always leading the caravan toward
the body of the wearer. Visually
the llama would seem to walk
toward the wearer's center and
symbolically the llamas process
toward Cusco. This intersection
between physical representation
and symbolic narrative culminates
in the body of the wearer by
positioning his body as Cusco, the
center of the Inca Empire. Thus,
metaphorically, his body has
become a center of imperial power.
The Sapa Inca also performed
as a llama. During the White
Llama Ceremony in late August
the emperor would literally sing
like a llama in an effort to summon
rains (Figure 18).^' During this
dramatization the emperor, rather
than interacting with a symbol
of the llama, acted directly with
animal, performing as the beast
to harness its power. This scene,
I believe, is effectively enacted
by pendant coca bags. The coca
bag does not merely symbolize
the power of llamas and the Inca
nobility, but allowed them to stage
the relationship as a performance.
The coca bag is a llama, it is the
caravan. The provincial lord with his
coca bag was like the ruler grasping
at the reins of the lead llama in an
imperial caravan always making its
way toward the centerhis person.
Llamas, emblems of the state
and sacred religious offerings, were
chosen as decorative elements to
interact directly with the body of
the wearer and attest to the cultural
significance of the coca bag as a
conveyor of an imperial statement
of power. Through the decoration
of the coca bag and its function
as a container and as an insignia
this information about the Inca
state could be communicated. The
textile bag has become a vehicle
for graphic communication in which
design, color, and iconography
function together to express
cultural information. Analysis of
the pendant coca bag as a body
ornament has allowed the object
to speak; to describe concepts
of Inca cosmology of the human
body, the royal body, and cultural
performance. The fringe and
the symbolic caravan of llamas
woven into the bag interact with
the wearer's body to illustrate a
metaphor about imperial ideology
and the ritualism of the Inca state
that established the wearer as a
cuzco, a corporeal center of power
in Tawantinsuyu.
Notes
1. The pendant coca bags
examined from the Dallas
Museum of Art were
acquired by the Museum
in 1976 as part of the Nora
and John Wise Collection,
a pre-Columbian collection
 Weaving Imperial Ideas: Iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
composed of about 2,700 art
objects, many textiles. The
collection includes items from
ancient Mesoamerica, but
predominantly represents
the art of the Andes. In the
early part of the twentieth
century as ]ohn Wise amassed
his collection, Andean
archaeologists such as )unius
Bird, Alfred Tozzer, and
Wendell Bennett lauded it as
the most important collection
of Andean art ever assembled
in the United States or Europe.
Mrs. Eugene McDermott, Mr.
and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows,
Mr. and Mrs. John D.
Murchison, and Mr. and Mrs.
]ake L. Hamon secured the
collection for Dallas.
2. The estimated length includes
the fringe.
3. W.G. Mortimer was a physician
interested in the history and
medicinal properties of coca.
His lengthy tome concerning
coca, first published in 1901,
is still considered the most
definitive work on the coca
plant and its narcotic effects.
4. Father Joseph Acosta is quoted
by Mortimer (1901:155). Rowe
(1946: 292) gives further
details about the production
of lime, stating that it could
be made from limestone and
seashells.
5. Large doses of coca can
produce hallucinations;
however, it does not appear
that this aspect of the plant
was exploited by the Incas. The
hallucinogenic quality of coca
is not documented as a feature
in any of the many ceremonial
and religious rites in which
coca was a part.
6. For his description of coca
consumption among the
Incas, Garcilaso de la Vega
has transcribed a passage
from Padre BlasValera. He
further quotes Valera, writing
that coca, "makes the Indians
stronger and fitter to work and
so satisfied they can work all
day without eating" (Vega: 509).
7. Coca and C/7/C/70 were also
linked in rituals that did not
involve sacrifice. The two
goods frequently appeared
together in ceremonial
contexts.
8. Betanzos indicates that the
lords of Cusco were dressed
in their finest garments while
the caciques, provincial elites
according to Betanzos, were
dressed in clothing that
had been given to them by
the Sapa. The clothes that
were gifted to the caciques
were, most likely, also their
finest. This information about
gifted garments harkens the
significance of the gift and
specifically the function of
coca as a gift. This clothing
worn by provincial elites but
given to them by the Sapa
establishes their submission
to Inca imperial rule and
displays their connection to
his authority. Like costume,
thegiftingof coca was meant
to strengthen political bonds.
9. Cieza describes the
proliferation of coca use during
the Colonial Period and notes
that this widespread use
of the leaf lessened its value.
He writes, "So now this coca
is not worth anything like
what it used to be, but it is
still valuable" (Cieza 1959:
175
260). The enlargement of coca
plantations that took place
during the Colonial period
lessened the value of the coca
leaf because it made the leaf
more readily available. Along
with the cultural changes
that occurred under Spanish
rule, people from all classes
gained access to coca, thereby
diminishing its status as a
wealth good.
10. The Prado-Tello Dossier,
ca.1560-1640, is now in the
possession of the Danish Royal
Library in Copenhagen.
11. According to Betanzos,
standardized costume was,
"To ensure that there would
not be equality and the vassals
could be identified and so they
would not try to be equal to
the lords of Cusco" (Betanzos
1996:105).
12. Another major responsibility
of the provincial governor was
to organize and supervise
labor tribute. Covey (2006:
170) explains that Inca elites
were placed at the top of
local hierarchies, but that
local elites were often left
in positions of authority.
Thus, curacas reported to
their hierarchical superiors,
provincial governors who were
ethnic Incas.
13. The coca leaf is often cited by
Spanish Chroniclers as having
been part of burials; however,
in these documents it was
not indicated whether or not
the leaves were contained in
textile bags.
14. In his study of Suya body
ornaments (Seeger 1975:
211) explains why cultures,
particularly the Suya, choose
176 Lauren Finley Hughes
certain items as symbols.
Seeger introduces his study
by providing examples of body
ornaments of modern cultures
which have been researched.
These ornaments include: lip
plates, scarification, earplugs,
ear discs, and hair styles.
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatofi'has
studied the body ornamentation
oftheTukano Indians,
especially their traditions of
body painting. Ancient studies
of body ornaments are more
limited. Earspools, common
ornaments of ancient Andean
cultures, have been given some 19. Zuidema (1992: 63) writes
attention, especially those of
the Moche culture found in
tombs at Sipan.
15. Orejones is the Spanish
nickname given to Inca
officials whose ears appeared
unusually large due to the
wearing of sizeable earspools.
Garcilaso de la Vega (1966)
explains that the hierarchy of
earspool size was dependent
on age, profession, and
ethnicity. Betanzos (1996:
63-4) describes the ear-
piercing ceremony and how
young men were inducted to
become orejones.
16. Seeger (1975) quotes Terence
Turner on how body ornaments
can act as a symbolic language
expressing information, "Lip
plugs, ear plugs, penis sheath,
hair style, cotton leg and arm
bands, and body painting
make up a symbolic language
that expresses a wide range
of information about social
status, age, and sex." I believe 24. The appropriation of tassels,
the coca bag to be a body
ornament from which similar
information can be gleaned.
17. Zuidema (1991:179) cites
Garcilaso de la Vega for his
information on the fringe
colors of the mascapaycha.
18. Stone (2007: 36) cites Cobo,
who writes, "the clothing
which was worn by the lords
in ancient times was very
elegant and of many very
fine colors." Stone believes
that the "powerful and
inclusive multiplicity of the
ruler was represented by his
polychromy, others' loyal
subjugation by their limited
monochromy."
that, "Llamas were selected
according to breed, color,
sex, hierarchy or purpose,
and distinctions like
fertility/sterility and wild/
domesticated."
20. Zuidema (1992: 64) cites Polo
de Ondegardo, Cabello de
Balboa, Martn de Murua,
Guaman Poma, Cobo, and
Cristobal de Molina.
21. Neither black nor white llamas
were killed during ceremonies
to announce the rainy or dry
season, but these llamas were
featured in ceremonies in the
plaza of Cusco.
22. Stone (2007: 37) posits the
idea that the top of the bag
may represent Cusco.
23. Rowe (1946: 210-11) notes that
coca and cotton were grown
in the same lowland valleys
on the Eastern slope of the
Andes. Llamas would have
transported both coca and
cotton to the highlands.
representative of thest/nfur
paucuar, an element of the
imperial headdress which
 Weaving imperial Ideas: iconography and Ideology of the Inca Coca Bag
included a tassel that fell
on either side ofthe head,
to the lead llama in caravan
exemplifies the authority
vested within the lead animal.
The llama probably wears the
tassels the same way an Inca
administrator wears his fringe
to signify his power and to
associate him with the Sapa
Inca. It is interesting to note
that symbolic appropriation of
imperial emblems may have
extended to animals (ibid.: 239). Santuario Inca de Alta Montaa.
25. To place the coca bag at the
wearer's center the strap
would have to be rather short.
The MFA coca bag and others
like it do not have existing
straps. The straps could have
been lost or their absence
might suggest a different
method of wear. If the coca
bag's owner grasped the coca
in his hand or if he wore the
bag on the wrist, I still believe
the connections between the
body and the center can be
made. The coca bag would be
near the body in any of these
situations, the llamas would
still walk toward the owner of
the bag.
26. Guaman Poma (1978 [1615]:
folio 321) records the song
ofthe Sapa Inca and notes
that he sings, "Y, y, y al tono
del carnero." Zuidema (1992)
interprets this ceremony
and suggests that it was an
invocation ofthe rainy season.
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