Description
While gold may have drawn the conquistadores and the Spanish sovereigns to pursue their interests in the Americas, it was not the most valuable material to the peoples who lived there. While luxury items were indeed made of gold and semi-precious stones, textiles were the material held in highest regard. This class will discuss both textiles and jewelry as markers of social status, looking at examples from several ancient cultures of the Andes, beginning with the Moche (c. 100-900 C.E.) and ending with the Inca, whose empire was cut short by the Spanish invasion of the Andes in 1532.