Colors and dyes of archaeological textiles from Tarapacá in the Atacama Desert (South Central Andes)

Abstract

This work concerns the study of colors and dyes identified on archaeological textiles from the Atacama Desert. The different garments and ornaments come from the excavation of two important pre-Columbian cemeteries of the Tarapacá region: Tarapacá-40 attributed to the Formative period (1100 BC - 660 AD) and Pica-8 to the Late Intermediate period (900 - 1450 AD). For the first time, a multi-analytical approach with non-invasive techniques using Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) were applied on samples of less than 2 cm of length for physicochemical characterization of the raw materials and the dyes employed in the textile production of northern Chile. The fibers are from animal origin. Blue, green, and yellow are identified as indigo, but we cannot discard a mixture with other dyes to vary hue and shade; while carminic acid and alizarin - to a lesser extent - are found on red, orange and brown samples. This research provides new elements for the discussion about the textile technology developed in this desertic region, its changes and continuities along with the history. Our results are compared to recent findings on neighbouring regions from northern Chile, to improve the current knowledge and discuss the existence of dyeing textile cultural traditions.

Combined, sequential dye analysis and radiocarbon dating of single ancient textile yarns from a Nazca tunic

“…Wouters improved upon those studies by using HPLC-DAD analysis of HCl/MeOH/water extracts of dyed yarns from textiles originating from a number of ancient South American cultures, including the Nazca [51]. Michel and coworkers used mass spectrometry to investigate blue and purple dyes in Peruvian textiles [52], and an array of Raman spectroscopies have also found their place in the analysis of dyestuffs from pre-Columbian Peru [5,6] as has reflectance spectroscopy [6]. The combination of LC separation and MS detection of Peruvian textile dyes has been recently practiced by several researchers [11,38,53,54].…”

“…These modern dyestuffs can help to refine the dating of authentic museum textile artworks [2] or can unmask clever forgeries of purportedly ancient textiles [3,4]. Despite significant progress in molecular techniques like Raman [5,6] and UV-Vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopies [6], liquid chromatography with diode array detection coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MS) has been described as the technique par excellence [7] for this type of analysis because of its small sample requirement, high sensitivity, and comprehensive analysis of all extractable components [8][9][10][11].…”