8

Housewives, Chosen Women, Skilled Men:

Cloth Production and Social Identity
in the Late Prehispanic Andes
Cathy Lynne Costin
California State University, Northridge

ABSTRACT

Cloth was the most economically, politically, and rituaUy valuable item in the late prehispanic Andes,
and it might be expected that producers, distributors and consumers of this valuable would compete
to capture the symbolic significance of these goods as an attribute or identity for themselves. Much
has been said of the elite patrons of the textile arts in the Andes; far less has been said of the
producers. Cloth production traditionally employed domestic — largely female — labor for both utili-
tarian and wealth production. The Inka state expanded textile production by taxing conquered
households and by developing two new categories of specialist weavers. In reorganizing the economy,
the Inka redefined the social identities of cloth producers to ensure that the symbolic significance of
cloth accrued to the state, rather than to producers. The traditional category of domestic producers
were dissociated from their products, likely seeing their own status diminish as the value of their
products increased. The aqUakuna category of female specialist weavers enjoyed an idealized high
status commensurate with the value of the exquisite cloth they wove, but at a high personal cost, as
they remained sequestered virgins under control of the state.

Cloth was the most economically, politically,
andrituallyvaluable item in the late prehispanic Andes,
In the Inka empire, cloth was a utilitarian good, me-
dium of taxation, and conspicuous sign of wealth
and political favor. Textiles expressed social rela-
tionships and social identity. Social connections were
constructed and expressed in the dynamics of tex-
tile distribution. As an item of exchange, cloth flowed
in many directions among individuals and institu-
tions of different rank and power, reflecting the
nature of the social relationship between giver and
receiver. Textiles circulated among consanguinal and
affinal kin to mark adjustments to social networks
during key rites of passage such as birth, puberty,
marriage, and death. The bestowal of cloth to so-
cial or political inferiors signified reward and pa-
tronage; the prestation of cloth to political equals or
superiors demonstrated alliance and fealty (Murra
1962, 1975 1989; Gayton 1973; Niles 1992).
The form and decoration of cloth itself —
apart from the social relationships it mediated -- ex-
pressed components of social identity such as gen-
r> emn c t
^ ^ y> a n d social status. So central was this
principle to the Inka ideology of material culture
that indigenous creation myths described the first
people as entering the world already dressed in gar-
ments that identified their gender, ethnicity, and so-
cial (elite) status (Guaman Poma 1980[1615]:84;
Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui 1968[1613]: 284-287).
At the time the Spanish conquered the Inka empire,
strict sumptuary laws were aimed at ensuring that a
person's clothing would immediately signal appro-
priate rank, ethnicity, and place of residence. Con-
quered populations were required to retain their dis-
tinctive "traditional" local dress styles after incorpo-
ration into the empire (Cobo 1979[1653]), as a way
of controlling the population and maintaining eth-
nic distinctions within the empire. This was an im-
perial strategy in which only select portions of the
empire were "Inkanized" after incorporation into
the empire (cf. Costin and Earle 1989) so as to dis-
courage alliances among conquered people and de-
ter rebellion. Commoners were forbidden to wear
a range of garments and materials reserved for
political elites, including feathers, vicuna, and metals,
Penalties for not wearing the proper costume or
unauthorized wearing of sumptuary articles ranged
124 Cathy Lynne Costin
from beating to death (Moore 1959:165-173). For cally, culturally, and linguistically distinct backgrounds.
provincial elites and ethnically Inka individuals, cloth- Although many works on the Inka have stressed poli-
ing indicated ones' place within the dominant cul- cies of homogenization and standardization in im-
ture. Particular kinds of cloth were a badge of of- perial rule (most recently Rowe 1982; Julien 1988),
fice and insignia of rank. After imperial conquest, recent studies suggest that imperial leaders adopted
some local elites were coopted into the Inka bu- a range of nuanced economic and political strate-
reaucracy — often dubbed "Inka-by privilege" — and gies to achieve imperial goals of pacification and
formed a new class of state administrative retainers. revenue maximization (e.g., Morris 1988; D'Altroy
These individuals were enculturated in part through 1992; Malpass 1993; D'Altroy and Hastorf 1998).
a direct subsidy of Inka-style cloth (Betanzos What is clear is that in the process of subjugating a
1987[1551]: 179; Murra 1989) and through gifts of diverse population, the Inka coopted and altered in-
women (as concubines and second wives) trained in digenous ideologies of gender relations (e.g.,
the production of this fine state-style clothing. Silverblatt 1987), reciprocity and redistribution (Mor-
Most studies of cloth in the Inka empire have ris 1982), and household/community self-sufficiency
looked at the meaning of cloth from the point of (Murra 1980).
view of consumption, and not from the point of Of particular interest has been the ways in
view of the circumstances of production. Nearly which imperial institutions produced or commanded
everyone in the empire participated to some lesser goods within the imperial political economy (e.g.,
or greater degree in cloth production, either in the D'Altroy and Earle 1985; LaLone and LaLone 1987;
procurement and processing of raw materials or in LeVine 1987; D'Altroy 1992; Spurling 1992;
spinning, weaving and finishing. However, not all Hayashida 1995; Costin 1996a). In addition to gen-
individuals or categories of persons participated eral tribute requirements enacted on the populace at
equally in cloth production in terms of labor in- large, several categories of state workers — some
vested, definition of symbolic content, or social rec- permanent, some not — produced a range of goods
ognition of their labor. Given the variety of cloth for the use of state institutions, personnel, and the
types and uses in the Inka empire, it should come as ruling elite.
no surprise that a range of social actors produced
cloth within households and for the state. Because INKA CLOTH: TYPOLOGY, VALUE
all imperial subjects participated in the "making and
meaning" of socially significant cloth — but did so
AND MEANING
in vastly different ways — it seems worth exploring The 16th century chroniclers describe several
the relationship between cloth production and so- types of cloth produced in the Inka empire. Chusi is
cial identity. a term sometimes used to denote extremely coarse
In this paper, I argue the social identities of cloth used for blankets, rugs, and carrying and stor-
weavers were not inconsequential in terms of the age sacks. Most commonly, the 16th century chroni-
values of various types of cloth or in terms of socio- clers distinguished between two types of cloth used
political relations within the empire. I argue the so- for garments, a rough cloth called 'awasqa and a finer
cial identities of weavers were related directly to the cloth called qompi. Geoffrey Spurling (1992:215-219)
meaning and relative political significance of textiles argues that this European categorization of cloth
in the Inka empire and that to fully understand the into either 'awasqa or qompi obscures a more com-
social and political roles of textiles in Inka society plex Andean system of cloth typology and nomen-
we must understand the organization and relations clature. He notes that some chroniclers used modi-
of cloth production and distribution. I will suggest fiers to distinguish among different types of 'awasqa
there was a strong correlation among the social iden- and qompi, and that early dictionaries listed a large
tities of weavers; the functions of cloth; imperial number of native terms for weaving technologies
strategies to manipulate gender, class and ethnic iden- and styles. I recognize that not all 'awasqa was of the
tity as a method of social control and engineering; same coarseness nor all qompi of the same degree of
and state strategies to control politically charged fineness, but for purposes of this discussion I main-
goods and privileged knowledge. tain the simplified categorization of cloth garments
into 'awasqa and qompi.
'Awasqa was plain weave cotton and llama-
THE INKA EMPIRE wool cloth woven from relatively coarse thread.
'Awasqa was the cloth used for the everyday clothing
The Inka Empire — Tawantinsuyu — domi- of commoners and most soldiers.
nated the western coast and Andean highlands of Qompi was decorated cloth made of fine wool
South America during the Late Horizon period (usually alpaca or vicuna, although there is one refer-
(1400-1533 C.E.). At its height, it incorporated 8- ence to a royal garment woven of bat wool [Cobo
12 million people from dozens of politically, ethni- 1979[1653]:245]) or perhaps cotton. Most qompi was
Late Prehispanic Andes
made of multi-colored, dyed thread woven in de-
signs of varying elaborateness. Some "plain" qompi
was completely faced with small colored feathers
or metal disks that covered the cloth surface entirely
The Andean peoples as a whole developed an in-
credible repertoire of techniques for making and
decorating cloth (see d'Harcourt 1962) although cer-
tain techniques were culturally favored at certain times
in certain places. John Rowe (1979) has suggested
that the term qompi was used by the Inka to refer to
tapestry weave cloth and that tapestry might be re-
garded as a "state" technology Sophie Desrochiers
(1986) has argued that the term refers to all cloth
finished on both sides. Lechtman (1993) suggests
that textile technology was central to its meaning and
value in the Inka empire, pointing out that among
the Inka, structural techniques such as tapestry,
double- and triple-cloth, and warp-patterned weaves
predominated. These are techniques which integrate
the design into the structure of the fabric such that
structure and design cannot be separated. Ultimately,
"proper" Inka garments combined appropriate tech-
nology with appropriate use of particular designs
and symbols (see below).
Cloth had a multiplicity of values and mean-
ings in the Inka empire. In a way analogous to
Spielmann's (this volume) discussion of how ritually
powerful objects acquire their power, I identify five
ways material objects acquire their sociopolitical
meaning and value. These are:
1) the rareness and/or inherent value of
the materials used to make them;
2) the amount of labor invested in their
production;
3) the symbolic meanings of the materi-
als and design motifs;
4) the social identity of the person(s) who
manufactured them;
5) the social identity of the person(s) who
distributed or initially used them.
All of these strategies were used to impart value
and meaning to Andean cloth. Many of the materi-
als used to make cloth were ubiquitous — especially
llama wool and cotton — although the state ostensi-
bly controlled access to them (Murra 1965). Other
materials used in particularly fine cloth — including
alpaca and vicuna wool, metal thread, and tropical
bird feathers — were rare and therefore intrinsically
valuable. State control over these materials and
sumptuary laws limiting their display reinforced their
significance. The large amounts of labor that went
into the production of some of the finest woven
pieces -- including the amount of time and number
of hands - clearly increased the worth of this cloth
in the value system of the Inka (compare Niles
1992:51). Beyond their general preciosity, some
125
materials had symbolic connotations. For example,
gold and silver - both the metals and the colors -
were associated with the sun and the moon, them-
selves powerful signifiers of the main Inka deities
(Lechtman 1979; Morris 1995). Design elements,
too, were important signifiers of rank and status (see
discussion below and Stone-Miller 1997). More-
over, the social identity of those involved in distri-
bution networks affected both the value and the
meaning of objects produced in the Inka empire
(Morris 1986; Costin 1993).
Textile Design and Symbolism
Late Horizon textiles can be divided stylisti-
cally into State Inka, Provincial Inka, and a myriad
of hybrid styles. The latter two differ from the
former in many ways, including their formal (over-
all dimensions and proportions); technological
(method of spinning and plying thread; direction
of warp; type of weave; type of loom; type of
fiber; thread count); and stylistic (overall design; types
of motifs; placement and organization of motifs;
amount of standardization; color scheme and pal-
ette) characteristics (A. Rowe 1984; 1992). Such di-
visions have implications for the organization of
production, as they inform us about patterns of
training and access to the knowledge necessary to
create appropriate and meaningful garments.
Studies of surviving examples of tapestry-
weave qompi (almost all of them men's tunics \unqu
in Quechua]) suggest the design structure of State
Inka-style tunics was based on the use of a concep-
tual grid defining square or slightly rectangular blocks
on the tunic field. It has been suggested that the use
of such a standardized grid facilitated accounting
for the labor that was invested in textile manufac-
ture (e.g., Durland 1991; Niles 1992), since tribute
and work obligations in the Inka empire were often
expressed in terms of labor input rather than unit
output (Murra 1975:143-146).
Perhaps the simplest expression of the grid
was the black and white checkerboard pattern tunic,
of which there are at least six published examples
(Figure 8.1). Ann Rowe (1978) and John Rowe
(1979) have documented a high degree of standard-
ization in the format, metric attributes, manufactur-
ing techniques, and formal design layout among the
extant examples of checkerboard tunics. This sug-
gests a relatively high amount of supervision in manu-
facture and standardized usage by some categories)
of persons with relatively large affiliation and simi-
lar social status.
A more complex expression of the grid is the
use of design elements called t'oqapu to fill some or
all of the grid blocks. T'oqapu consist of abstract,
geometric, and occasionally figurative design mo-
126 Cathy Lynne Costin
design elements may be limited to a band at the waist
(Durland 1991: Figure 15; Reid 1986: Figure 57) or
incorporated into an over-all pattern (Levenson
1991: Figure 451). The extant multiple-t'oqapu tu-
nics have not proven as amenable to analyses of
standardization as have the tunics that use a single
t'oqapu element. While this may be a function of the
comparatively small sample size relative to the num-
ber of t'oqapu elements used by the Inka and to the
apparent diversity of their arrangements, it is more
likely an indication that the muluple-t'oqapu tunics
were woven for specific individuals who possessed
a relatively unique combination of rank and office.
Cloth garments defined people and groups by
indicating aspects of their social identity. Through
regulation and distribution of cloth, the state actively
controlled visual messages and the public percep-
tion of the social identities of subject populations.
The 16th century chronicler Francisco de Jerez
(1917[1534], cited in Morris 1991:522) indicated that
people dressed according to their social status, posi-
tion in the state bureaucratic hierarchy, and the du-
ties they performed. Cloth patterns signaled group
membership and visually distinguished among the
12 royal lineages and between the ruling family and
other nobles (Murra 1962; Morris 1991). Defeated
warriors were stripped of their own garments and
Figure 8.1. Military checkerboard patterned tu- given new ones to indicate their conquered status
nic. Redrawn from Rowe 1979: Figure 1. (Lechtman 1993:256). Elites of newly incorporated
regions were given "gifts" of cloth (Diez de Miguel
tifs. T'oqapu are arranged on tunics in two ways, 1964[1547]; Ortiz de Zuniga 1967 [1562]) as insig-
each with two subvariants. In the first, one or two nia of their new (changed) position within society
t'oqapu motifs are repeated on the garment, either in
a band at the waist (Figure 8.2), or, more rarely, in
an all-over (or nearly all-over) design (Figure 8.3).
Not surprisingly, the extant examples of garments
which use repeats of one or two t'oqapu elements
are highly standardized in terms of design layout
and size (A. Rowe 1978; J. Rowe 1979). A set of
wooden templates recovered from excavations at
the coastal administrative center of Manchan sug-
gest weavers were given instructions on design lay-
out (Mackey 1984:Fig 3). There is an unprovenienced
tapestry tunic fragment in the American Museum
which bears a design layout almost identical to that
found on one of the Manchan templates. Since it is
unlikely that the American Museum tunic came from
Manchan, it is reasonable to assume that tunics of
similar design were manufactured under state su-
pervision in several different parts of the empire.
The homogeneity of single or double-t'oqapu tunics
suggests that, like the checkerboard tunics, relatively
large numbers of these garments were woven gen-
erally for later distribution to a class of persons of
equivalent rank or office.
In the second use of t'oqapu, many design ele-
ments are combined on one garment. As with the Figure 8.2. Diamond t'oqapu waist band tunic.
single-t'oqapu tunics, in muhiple-t'oqapu tunics the Redrawn from Rowe 1979: Figure 10.
Late Prehispanic Andes 127
as ideograms for spinning, twining, and weaving. She
suggests that other foqapu are emblematic of the
ethnic groups from which the weavers were recruited,
drawing an analogy with the makers' marks found
on adobe bricks from the North Coast Moche cul-
ture (Hastings and Moseley 1975). While I disagree
with her specific interpretation that the foqapu rep-
resent textile production techniques and the ethnic
origins of the women who made them, the impli-
cation that the design of these high status garments
reflect the identities and interests of the weavers -
the producers — rather than only those of the secu-
lar and religious elites who wore them is important
for those who analyze the "meaning" of material
things. The significance is this: nonverbal commu-
nication through material culture is not a unitary act
where the artisan is a passive, transparent, nonreactive
conduit channeling the ideas and intents of the spon-
sor of production. Rather, the process that begins
with the desire for or conceptualization of an ob-
ject and ends with its use or display in a series of
acts that involve multiple personae and multiple
voices intermingling in the creation and dissemina-
tion of what we often facilely regard as a singular
"message." Thus, in our search for meaning in ma-
terial culture, we must consider consciously the of-
ten competing strategies and goals of the message
Figure 8.3. "Inka key" t'oqapu tunic. Redrawn creator (here the weavers) and the message bearer
from Durland 1991: Figure 20. (here, the person commissioning or wearing the tu-
nic).
(Morris 1995:431). Thus, social identity was strongly Virtually all of the intact Inka garments that
signaled and manipulated by state controls of dress have survived from prehispanic times are in muse-
to meet state ends. ums or private collections. Few were scientifically
In speculating about what the t'oqapu design excavated or carry reliable provenience. These con-
motifs meant in a literal sense, some archaeologists ditions potentially limit our ability to understand the
and art historians have suggested that the t'oqapu can contexts in which various foqapu designs were used
be "read" as a text of some sort. To this end, they and the exact meaning of variability in terms of motif
have been variously interpreted as a syllabary (Barthel amount, structure, and content. However, we are
1971; de la Jara 1975; Glynn 1981), as heraldic (Rowe not clueless about the social and political significance
1946; Zuidema 1982), as caiendrical (Zuidema 1977, of foqapu structure. One of our primary sources
1982), as indicators of ethnicity and origins (Zuidema of information about the contexts in which vari-
1982), and as pictographic (Reid 1986). A few spe- ously patterned textiles were worn is the early colo-
cific foqapu have recognizable referents. For example, nial writings and drawings of the native Andean
in the famous "royal" tunic at Dumbarton Oaks chronicler Guaman Poma de Ayala (1980[1615]).
(Levenson 1991:Figure 451; Stone-Miller 1997), one The specificity of Poma's drawings and descriptions
foqapu element repeated 33 times accurately depicts suggest he was familiar with garments that belonged
the checkerboard military tunics described above, to particular individuals — including many Inka rul-
complete with the stepped red yoke, neck slit, and ers who "survived" in the form of the royal Inka
zig-zag band at the hem. Stone-Miller (1997), point- mummies which were periodically paraded during
ing to stylistic affinities between some t'oqapu and public ceremonies — and could thus accurately de-
design motifs found on the textiles of earlier Andean scribe their contexts of use and the garments worn
cultures, argues that at least royal foqapu refer to the by particular individuals. John Rowe (1979) has ana-
people and places conquered (and to be conquered) lyzed the contexts in which various design types and
by the empire. configurations are shown in Guaman Poma's draw-
In a thought-provoking analysis, Durland ings. Because Guaman Poma's text often identifies
(1991) has argued that many foqapu designs are ex- the office or social role of individuals portrayed in
plicitly representative of the cloth-making process. the drawings, Rowe has been able to identify con-
For example, she identifies certain design elements sistent associations between certain aspects of tunic
128 Cathy Lynne Costin
decoration and social identity. I summarize his find- and many foqapu on textiles are not found in Guaman
ings here. Rowe suggests checkerboard pattern tu- Poma's drawings. This suggests to me that knowl-
nics are associated with ranking warriors and distin- edge of how to create and specifically "read" these
guished military personnel (Figure 8.4a). A zig-zag symbols was restricted and lost in the first few gen-
line at the bottom-edge of checkerboard tunics dif- erations after conquest, when they lost their relevance
ferentiates between Inka royalty, nobility, and ethni- and utility. Thus, Guaman Poma may have been
cally-Inka persons of rank on the one hand and com- familiar with the general tradition of who wore what,
moners and provincial nobles on the other. This but not with the actual meaning of the symbols, in-
distinction is not just an artistic convention on Poma's dicating the strong dividing line between what the
part; examples of checkerboard tunics with (Rowe general populace knew and what only the royal elite
1979: Figures 2,3) and without (Rowe 1979: Figure and their select artisans knew.
1) an embroidered zig-zag line exist. Many soldiers are Hierarchy and social identity was expressed in
represented in tunics without decorative elaboration, clothing in other ways as well. Low status individu-
suggesting that even the checkerboard may have been als wore undyed clothing. Only higher status indi-
a signal of relative social rank, seniority, and/or ability viduals wore colors, and the number of colors in-
demonstrated in previous campaigns. corporated into a garment also indicated status.
T'oqapu tunics were worn by bureaucrats, Certain colors -- especially red and yellow — were
nobles, and royalty. Low-level bureaucrats wore rela- tied more closely to the state (A. Rowe 1992).
tively simple designs (Figure 8.4b). Multiple t'oqapu Individuals of higher social status with more
tunics ate always associated with persons of rela- roles and greater responsibilities likely owned sev-
tively high social rank or bureaucratic office. The eral tunics with different designs, representing dif-
amount and positioning of t'oqapu seems loosely tied ferent aspects of their social identities or perhaps
to rank as we understand it: in Guaman Poma's changes in social identity over their life span. For
drawings, all-over multiple-/'^/)/* tunics are restricted example, a burial from the Nazca drainage on the
to royalty (Figure 8.4c), although royal figures do south coast yielded two state Inka tunics buried with
not always wear all-over multiple t'oqapu tunics. Un- one individual (Levenson 1991-.Figures 449-450). A
fortunately, many of the t'oqapu that Guaman Poma red and white checked tunic likely represented his
illustrated are not found on extant textiles (indeed, military status, while an Inka key tunic (compare Fig-
some are European symbols, letters, or numbers) ure 8.3) probably represented his role in the state

EIQVARTOCWTAA

Figure 8.4. Guaman Poma's representations of tunic design and social status, (a) Military leader wearing
checkerboard patterned tunic, (b) Low-level bureaucrat wearing t'oqapu waistband tunic, (c) Emperor Topa
Inka wearing all-over t'oqapu tunic. Redrawn from Guaman Poma 1980[1615]: 128, 328, 90.
Late Prehispanie Andes 129
bureaucracy. The fact that the burial also contained cloth at some point in their lives. The early colonial
a mantle woven in a hybrid Inka-Nazca style (A. chroniclers recorded the customary divisions of la-
Rowe 1992:29) suggests this individual retained ties bor along axes of age and gender in the Inka em-
to the local community in which he served/origi- pire. Many of these tasks were associated with tex-
nated. tile manufacture. Young boys and girls herded the
Women did not wear the unqu tunic with sewn flocks of llamas and alpacas that provided much of
seams. Rather, they wore a long rectangular cloth — the fiber. Young girls collected the flowers and herbs
called aqsu — which was wrapped around their body used to make dyes. Adult men and women worked
and held secure by a woven belt at the waist and (at the cotton fields and processed the cotton fiber.
least among elite women) fastened at the shoulders Females of all ages and some age categories of males
with metal pins. Over this dress they often wore a spun thread. All adult women and some adult men
rectangular mantle folded-around the shoulders and wove.
also secured with a (metal) pin. I would like to note In the late prehispanie Andes, cloth produc-
that Guaman Poma illustrated many high-ranking tion figured largely in both the domestic/subsistence
women with what appear to me to be bands of and political economies. I focus here primarily on
foqapu on their belts, at bottom of their aqsu, and on the weaving stage of cloth production, because it
their mantles. Rowe does not comment on the use was at this stage of production of Inka-style cloth
or significance of t'oqapu for women's relative sta- that the greatest labor value was added and mean-
tus.1 ing was encoded. For purposes of this discussion, I
While we cannot yet resolve the explicit, emic identify four broadly defined categories of social
meanings of the state-style t'oqapu, it is clear that tex- persons who made cloth. Commoner women wove
tiles were a powerful form of nonverbal commu- rough cloth ('awasqa), used by their families and given
nication that proclaimed aspects of the social iden- as tribute to clothe and shelter the army. Elite women
tity of those who wore them. As Craig Morris of conquered provinces wove finer cloth (probably
(1991:523) has stated, qompi) that was sent to the emperor in Cuzco each
year. Two named groups of specialists -- one male
It seems probable that the designs of these and one female — produced vast quantities of cloth
tunics were related to the status of the (primarily qompi) directly for state religious, military,
wearers and, in some cases, to the situa- and political institutions.
tions in which they were worn. This would
be consistent with the use of visual insig-
nia of group membership as one of the Part-time "Specialists"
essential functions of garments. The use
of bright and highly visible designs would All women in the Inka empire were cloth-pro-
tell knowledgeable observers at a glance ducing "specialists," since it was their obligation to
the ethnic identity and other essential so- produce thread and cloth beyond their own needs,
cial and political characteristics of the for the use of their households and the state. Women
people they encountered. It would also traditionally made clothing and blankets for their
allow them to quickly assess the compo- immediate families. The Inka state increased their
sition of a large group ... This capacity to work load by requiring that they produce thread and
communicate social information rapidly cloth as part of their tribute obligations. This chusi
was essential, given the variety of the com- and 'awasqa cloth was distributed to the army — sol-
ponents of the empire. diers were entitled to clothing, blankets, and tents —
and to some crews working on state construction
Clothing thus mediated the actions and reac- projects (Betanzos 1987[1551]:61-63).
tions of observers towards the wearers and the in- Commoner "housewives." Women and
teractions among them. As the insignia of rank and cloth production were intimately connected in
office, cloth garments were "keys" to social, eco- Andean societies (cf. Conklin 1990; Moseley 1992;
nomic, and spiritual prerogatives in Late Horizon Gero 1992; Donnan 1995; Costin 1995), and the
society. Consequently, they embodied crucial social Inka administrative structure recognized the impor-
information whose dissemination and ownership tance of all women in meeting the extremely high
needed to be controlled and limited. demands for cloth to be redistributed by the state.
In his delineation of female census categories, the
early colonial chronicler Guaman Poma listed mar-
CLOTH PRODUCERS ried women first.2 Women of this category were
called awakuq rvarmi in Quechua. Guaman Poma
Virtually everyone in the Inka empire had a (1980[1615]:190) glossed the term in Spanish as
role — albeit often minor ~ in the production of texedora [sic], or weaver. Guaman Poma
130 Cathy Lynne Costin
(1980(1615]: 190) stated that the primary responsi- ductive and reproductive lives - at least from the
bility of women in this census category was to spin point of view of the state — was as makers-of-cloth.
and weave "para el Ynga y demas senores capac Guaman Poma's discussion of the awakuq
apoconas y capkanes y para soldados" (for the Inka warmi is not the only indication in his work of the
and also for powerful men, captains, and soldiers importance of cloth production to female identity.
[translation by the author]). It is apparent from the Of the 10 female census categories enumerated by
rest of text that the category included all women of Guaman Poma, eight (ranging in age from 5 to more
this age — roughly 25-50 years old — and not some than 80 years old) emphasize textile production-re-
limited specialist group of weavers. These women lated tasks among their primary economic responsi-
were clearly identified as tribute paying women bilities (Table 8.1). The text discusses in detail the
("mujeres de tribute"). Taking apart the term, we type(s) of thread and/or cloth each category of fe-
see that warmi translates as married woman, and males was expected to produce and for whom the
awakuq may be derived from the same root as goods were produced (i.e., family, "community,"
'awasqa, or rough cloth. The primary identity of this state institutions).
large category of women in the prime of their pro-

GUAMAN POMA'S
SPANISH GLOSS
CENSUS CATEGORY (ENGLISH) AGE CLOTH PRODUCTION TASKS

I: Awakuq Warmi tejedora 33 weave 'awasqa

(weaver) spin thread for qompi

II: Payakuna viejas 50 weave rough cloth

(old women)

HI: Punuq Paya vieja dormilona 80 weave bags

(senile old woman) spin rough thread

IV: Unquq K'umii enferma jorobada n/a weave

(handicapped) spin

V: Sipaskuna mujeres jovenes 33 [shown spinning]

(young women)

VI: Qhuru Thaski de cabello corto 12-18 learn to spin and weave
(short-haired) herd camelids

VII: Pawaw Pallaq que recoge flores 9-12 collect flowers for dye
(flower collectors)

VIII: Pukllakuq Wamra juget6n 5 learn to spin

(playful child)

IX: Lluqhaq Wawa nina que gatea 1

(child who crawls)

X: K'irawpi Kaq Wawa de cuna 1 month

(in the cradle)

Table 8.1. Inka female census categories and tasks related to textile-production. After Guaman Poma
1980[1615]: 190-209.
Late Prehispanic Andes _ _
One of the most valuable components of
Guaman Poma's work is the more than 450 line
drawings he made to illustrate his text. The accu-
racy of these drawings has been noted by modern
scholars (e.g., Adorno 1986). The image Guaman
Poma used to illustrate his discussion of the arvakuq
tvarmi is a woman weaving (Figure 8.5a). The em-
phasis on the female role in textile production and
the symbolic association between females and cloth
is reinforced in other drawings by Guaman Poma
that accompany his text on female roles and respon-
sibilities. Six of the ten female census categories were
131
illustrated with images of girls or women engaged
in activities related to cloth production: two weav-
ing, two spinning, one spinning while herding lla-
mas, and one collecting plants for dyes (Figure 8.5).
Of the drawings that do not make reference to tex-
tile-related activities, one illustrates the category of
women over 80 years old and the other three repre-
sent girls under nine years of age. Thus, only the
very youngest and very oldest females were not rep-
resented in a way that clearly associated them with
cloth production.

>Q!M£M OiLLE . QVARTX CALLE

IKWRMt

-i-r—-r *"»•* (c)

QVKIX CALLE SESXA CALLE SBTJMA CALLE

CIBASCOMA 0)Rp.TASaW

Figure 8.5. Guaman Poma's representations of feminine labor and cloth production, (a) awakuq warmi
weaving; (b) payakuna weaving; (c) unquq k'umu spinning; (d) sipaskuna spinning; (e) qburu tbaski herding
camelids; (fypawawpaJ/aq collecting flowers for dye. Redrawn from GuamanPoma 1980(1615]: 191,193,196,
198,200,202.
132 Cathy Lynne Costin
In contrast with the characterization of female activities associated with cloth production. The lack
labor in Guaman Poma's treatise on Inka society, of association between males and textile produc-
only four of the ten male census categories listed tion is underscored in the line drawings that accom-
tasks related to fiber procurement, processing, or pany the text. Only one of the ten male census cat-
weaving as part of their basic roles and responsibili- egory illustrations depicts an activity related to cloth
ties (Table 8.2). Of these four categories, three listed production. He is a 12 year old boy shown trap-
the activity of herding camelids. This contribution ping birds while herding. Discussions in other colo-
was not related exclusively to cloth production, as nial documents confirm the limited male role in non-
these animals were quite important in the Andean specialist textile production (e.g., Diez de Miguel
world as pack animals and as a source of food. In 1964[1547]:61).
addition to herding, prepubescent boys collected There is no question but that the commoner
feathers and some were expected to spin. Ill and women of the Inka empire — especially the awakuq
handicapped men were obliged to weave. Impor- warmi — produced enormous quantities of doth for
tantly, men in the prime of their productive and re- the state while performing their tribute-labor obli-
productive lives were not required to participate in gations. Using the most conservative of estimates,

GUAMAN POMA'S
SPANISH GLOSS
CATEGORY (ENGLISH) AGE CLOTH PRODUCTION TASKS

I: Awqa Kamayuq guerrero 25-50

(warrior)

II: Puriq Machu viejo que camina 60

(old man who walks)

III: Ruqt'u Machu viejo sordo 80

(deaf old man)

IV: Unquq Runa hombre enfermo n/a weave

(handicapped man)

V: Sayapayaq mandadero 18 watch camelids

(messenger)

VI: Maqt'a joven 12 watch camelids

(young man) collect feathers

VII: T'uqllakuq Wamra nino cazador 9 collect feathers

(boy hunter) watch camelids
spin?

Vffl: Pukllakuq juguetdn 5

(playful child)

DC: Llullu Wamra nino tierno 1

(young child)

X: K'irawpi Kaq de cuna 1 month

(in the cradle)
-

Table 8.2. Inka male census categories and tasks related to textile-production. After Guaman Poma 1980[1615]:
170-189.
 Late Prehispanic Andes
it seems likely that hundreds of thousands of pieces
of 'awasqa could have been mobilized through this
form of dispersed corvee each year. Assuming a
population of 8-10 million people in the Andes at
the time of the Spanish conquest, an estimate of 1
million households is highly conservative. The
chroniclers report that each household was required
to produce one blanket and one tunic each year, al-
though yearly tribute requirements likely varied geo-
graphically and over time (LeVine 1987; Costin 1993).
Given that the size of the Inka army stood in the
hundreds of thousands and the large number of
men that were to be remunerated with cloth after
serving on state construction and mining projects, it
probably did take all the households in the empire
to provision the state with rough cloth. Women
pursued this work in a domestic context using their
own local, traditional techniques (Costin et al. 1989).
No additional skills beyond those expected of all
women were required to produce this cloth. The
undecorated 'awasqa cloth collected as tribute car-
ried little symbolic load — beyond the significance
that it was redistributed through the state redistribu-
tive channels and represented expropriated female
labor — and was little standardized. Although dis-
tributed by the state, it was essentially the same stuff
people had at home.
I have dealt elsewhere with the effects of Inka
conquest on the productive labor -- as it was ex-
tracted in thread and cloth — of commoner women
(Costin 1993, 1995, 1996b). Notably, my archaeo-
logical data from the Upper Mantaro Valley suggest
they worked significantly more on textile produc-
tion-related tasks than they had before they were
forcibly incorporated into the Inka empire. Tax-
related demands on their labor were not compen-
sated by reductions in other obligations or expecta-
tions. Commoner women appear to have benefit-
ted little in material terms from the enormous contri-
bution they made to the political economy. There is
no evidence that any prestige accrued to them for
their "contributions" to the state. This stands in con-
trast with many commoner men, who received cloth
during their military service (Murra 1962; Spurling
1992) and extra rations of highly valued maize or
chicha (maize beer) when they performed corvee la-
bor for the state (Hastorf 1991).
It is likely that much of the female labor con-
tributed to state textile production went socially un-
recognized. Despite a strong emphasis on the Inka
cloth industry in the colonial descriptions, there is
little discussion of spinning. There are no terms for
"spinning" or "spinners" in early Quechua dictio-
naries (Spurling 1992:244) and there is no term for
spinning specialist among the detailed lists of spe-
cialists compiled by Falcon (1977 [1571]) and Munia
(1946[1590]). Discussions of state weaving special-
ists (see below) rarely identify the source of thread
133
used by those weavers. At the time of Spanish con-
quest, state warehouses were filled with spun thread
(as well as raw fiber and finished cloth), suggesting
thread was mobilized from the tributary popula-
tion, presumably women. Lack of reference to this
work likely made it largely invisible in the scheme of
social recognition and importance.
Elite Provincial Women. In the highland
chiefdoms of pre-Inka times, elite household-based
(female) labor may have been the primary source
of the elaborate, labor intensive cloth that circulated
in local and regional political economies. The
ethnohistoric documents describe women weaving
in polygynous elite households (e.g. Polo de
Ondegardo 1940[1571]:141; Falcon
1918[1565]:154), and my analyses of archaeological
data from the Upper Mantaro Valley indicate weav-
ing was much more intensive in elite households than
in commoner households before the region was
conquered by the Inka empire (Costin 1993). After
conquest, the intensity of weaving in elite households
did not increase as much as it had in commoner
households. In commoner households, debris in-
dicative of textile production increased more that
300% after Inka conquest; in elite households it in-
creased by slightly less than 50%.
The greatest impact of Inka tax demands on
elite women was the change in distribution networks
for the cloth they wove and in the new symbolic
and legal relations among producers and consum-
ers. I have argued elsewhere that after the Inka con-
quest the products of elite women's labor were at
least partially redirected from household and lineage
use to state ends (Costin 1996b). Elite men who
were recruited into the Inka bureaucracy were en-
titled to cloth from the state; the ethnohistoric records
suggest that some of this cloth was made by their
wives and they were "allowed" to keep it (Mackey
1984). Legally, however, no one was allowed to
wear qompi unless it had been granted by the em-
peror. Thus, although this cloth was transferred
physically as it had been before the conquest (i.e.,
within the household), under Inka domination the
transmittal of this cloth from weaver to wearer was
mediated symbolically and legally by the state.
The ethnohistoric documents also describe
"presents" of doth made by the wives and daugh-
ters of provincial elites which were give to the em-
peror and his representatives (Polo de Ondegardo
1940 [1571]:146; Rowe 1979). These gifts are treated
as though they were nearly obligatory, striking me
that they were in fact part of the tribute obligations
of the conquered populations, although they were
not technically labeled as such. It is somewhat un-
clear exactly what kind(s) of cloth elite provincial
women wove for "gifts" to the state. The Inka em-
perors impressed conquered populations by appear-
ing in local dress when they visited the provinces
134 Cathy Lynne Costin
(Saramiento 1960[1572]:249; Betanzos rewards to some men in return for exemplary mili-
1987[1551]:181; Murra 1962:721) suggesting that tary or bureaucratic service to the state; and as pro-
some of the cloth intended for the emperor as gifts ducers of goods important in political and religious
or tribute was woven in indigenous pre-Inka styles. rituals, especially maize beer and cloth.
Rowe (1979:239-240) suggests that provincial elite The aqllakuna are everywhere asserted to be
women may have consciously created distinctive gar- female. They were recruited into state service at a
ments in order to catch the attention and favor of relatively young age, about 10 years old. Those who
the emperor. These relatively unsupervised, partially were not chosen as sacrifices or given as rewards
"Inkaniaed" women may also account for the sur- ostensibly lived out their lives as aqllakuna in special
viving textiles that have been classified as stylisticallyfacilities called aqllawasi ("house of the aqlla"). The
Provincial Inka or Inka-related hybrids of local and term wasi itself may tell us something about aspects
state styles. Although the chroniclers mention the of the social identities of the aqllakuna, as in addi-
"favor" bestowed upon the wives and daughters tion to "house" it can also mean storehouse (espe-
of elites who sent these "gifts," the change in the cially for valuables such as chicha) or jail (Guaman
nature of the relationship between producer and user Poma 1980[1615]:1105-1106). The chronicler Munia
from a kin-based to a class (state) based system un- (1946[1590]: 191) specifically referred to the aqllawasi
doubtedly affected the status of and rewards en- as storehouses. Several compounds identified as
joyed by provincial elite women. aqllawasi have been investigated archaeologically at
Inka provincial centers (Morris 1967, 1974; LeVine
1985; Morris and Thompson 1985). The com-
Full-time Weaving Specialists pounds are highly distinctive, with small, cell-like
rooms, limited access to the rest of the community,
In addition to the vast quantities of cloth ex- and high densities of artifacts related to textile pro-
tracted as tribute from the women of conquered duction.
households, the Inka procured large amounts of The aqllaivasi seems to have been a place where
cloth through patronage of two groups of special- female sexuality stood in marked contrast with that
ist weavers whose products went exclusively to the of married commoner women. Those aqllakuna
state. These two groups represent a set of stark who were not sacrificed or given out as wives or
contrasts in terms of social identity (Table 8.3). concubines — in other words, those who remained
Aqllakuna. Aqlla (plural aqllakuna) means state weavers — never married; they were expected
"chosen female." The aqllakuna who wove for the to remain virgins for life. Loss of virginity by a
state were a subset of a group of women recruited sequestered aqlla was punishable by death for both
to serve three key services to the state: as sacrificial the woman and her lover (Cieza 1959 [1553]:21-22;
victims; as women specially trained in the feminine Moore 1957:165). Female "victims" of acts defined
arts (weaving and brewing) who were distributed as by Inka state law as sexual crimes, such as rape, in-

AQLLAKUNA QOMPIKAMAYOC

GENDER female male

ETHNIC IDENTITY diminished reinforced

SOCIAL STATUS high (honored, holy) low (commoner)

MARITAL STATUS virgin/unmarried married

AGE OF RECRUITMENT child adult

FAMILY/KINSHIP permanently removed from family lived and worked in traditional

and natal community social groups

T a b l e 8.3. Contrasts in social identity between aqllakuna and qompikamayoc.

Late Prehispanic Andes 135
cest, and "forced" adultery, were exiled to the Royal women (by birth) were involved directly
aqllawasi. However, they did not themselves join the in the training and management of the aqllakuna. The
ranks of the aqllakuna, but rather were servants there titular (and perhaps real) head of the aqllawasi in the
(Valera 1945:58-59; De Las Casas 1892:204-211; imperial capital was a sister or half-sister of the
Guaman Poma 1980[1615]:307). emperor (Valera 1950[1590]:169), although prob-
While the chroniclers often mention the spe- ably not the one who served as his principal wife.
cific ethnicities or provincial origins of many state Other royal and noble women served as mamakuna,
specialists and retainers, suggesting that certain eth- the senior-most aqllakuna who were teachers and
nic groups or polities were particularly well-regarded administrators within the aqllawasi.
for certain skills or specialties, ethnic appellation was There were likely several reasons for the dis-
not applied to the aqllakuna. Aqllakuna were recruited proportionate conscription of elite women into the
from all ethnic groups throughout the empire and ranks of the aqllakuna. First, we cannot underesti-
their ethnic identity seems to have been superseded mate the political significance of the act of the state
upon their entry into the aqllawasi (compare Silverblatt appropriating the productive and reproductive po-
1987:94). Given the Inka preoccupation with main- tential of the daughters of former rulers, taking
taining ethnic distinctions among conquered popu- from conquered elite households the creators of
lations, it is notable that the aqllakuna were treated wealth (as weavers) and producers of heirs and at-
differently than other categories of people who pro- taching them symbolically to the household of the
duced for the state. Their "ethnic" identity was su- emperor.3 Indeed, what local leaders often expressed
perseded by their identity as persons of the state. as their deepest resentment of Inka rule was their
All were regarded metaphorically as wives of the obligation to send their daughters and other female
Sun or of the Emperor (Silverblatt 1987:92-93; relatives in service to the state. Second, by recruit-
Garcilaso 1966:200), who was himself son of the ing girls of native high status, the state had to work
Sun. Given the Andean practices of lineage and less hard to fabricate high status and prestige for
ethnic endogamy and brother-sister marriage among these girls and women, something which served state
the royalty, the aqllakuna were thus drawn into the ends whether the women themselves were distrib-
household and lineage of the ruler. uted as rewards or retained to weave high value cloth
Of course, although the aqllakuna were col- for use by the state in rituals and redistribution.
lected from all conquered ethnic groups, we don't Third, it was probably not insignificant that elite girls
know how they were meted out to the various po- were those most likely to have been raised in sur-
tential fates: we have no evidence one way or an- roundings where they would be familiar with and
other whether some ethnic groups contributed dis- already partially-trained in the more elaborate and
proportionately to the tf^//tf£#«tf-as-sacrificial-victim labor intensive weaving technologies, and thus could
cohort while others were singled-out for weaving, become proficient more quickly in the fine weaving
brewing, or sexual skills. Since the archaeological required of the aqllakuna.
record clearly indicates more elaborate weaving tra- Qompikamayoc. The qompikamayoc are the
ditions in some parts of the Andes than in others, it final category of cloth workers to be discussed here.
is unlikely that all Andean girls were equally well- The qompikamayoc stand in sharp contrast to other
trained, knowledgeable, or even exposed to fine categories of weavers in the Inka empire, largely be-
weaving prior to their recruitment by the state. cause qompikamayoc are everywhere assumed to be
While ethnicity — usually a component of so- male (Spurling 1992:221-222). The Quechua term
cial identity of extreme importance in the state - is usually translated as "man skilled in the making of
was downplayed for the aqllakuna, their social rank fine cloth."
was important. Aqllakuna were accorded high pres- The qompikamayoc differed markedly from the
tige in the state ideology. This high status was both aqllakuna in many aspects of their social identity be-
"real" and constructed by the state. The aqllakuna yond their gender. First, qompikamayoc were adult
may have been drawn disproportionately from po- and presumably married. Under Inka law, with the
litically important (that is, elite) households in the notable exception of the aqllakuna, only able-bod-
conquered provinces. The ethnohistoric documents ied, adult, married persons were required to pro-
which discuss criteria for selecting the aqllakuna al- vide labor service to the state or could be taken as
ways include social rank as an important criterion yanacona (retainers of the state). There is nothing in
(e.g., Ortiz de Zuniga 1967[1562]:37, 47; Cieza the early chronicles or other colonial documents which
1959[1553]:294; P. Pizarro 1968[1571]:497; Garcilaso would indicate that the qompikamayoc were not al-
1961 [1609] :315) along with age, beauty, and virgin- lowed to marry, have children, or live with their fami-
ity. Their elevated status was also manipulated by lies. The position of kamayoc (specialist) generally
the state. As metaphorical wives, sisters, and daugh- was hereditary (Murra 1980:154-163; Rowe
ters of the Sun and of the emperor, they held a 1982:102-105), implying such specialists married and
position at the apex of the Inka status hierarchy. had children who then followed in their parents' (fa-
136 Cathy Lynne Costin
triers') roles. The qompikamayoc settled at Milliraya in discussions in the early colonial documents, artisans
the Titicaca basin live in traditional household group- with the title kamayoq were generally of low social
ings (Spurling 1992). Although they produced for status (Murra 1980: 156, 163). Moreover, kamayoc
the state, the Milliraya qompikamayoc were not sup- are not among those categories of persons who re-
ported by state stores. Rather, they were granted ceived the special rewards - land, women, cloth(!)
agricultural lands from which they were expected to - from the state that indicated high favor (see dis-
support themselves. This pattern was repeated for cussion in Cobo 1979[1653]:210).
state artisans in other parts of the empire as well
(Espinosa Soriano 1970, Rostworowski 1970).
In contrast with the aqllakuna, it is possible that DISCUSSION
the qompikamayoc were recruited from only a few
ethnic groups (perhaps those which traditionally sup- In the introductory section of this chapter, I
ported male weavers!). While aqllakuna were dis- noted that access to Inka-style goods was highly regu-
tributed throughout the empire, the various chroni- lated and I suggested that the social identity of cloth
clers only mention kamayoc — including qompikamayocworkers was integral to Inka imperial strategies to
— in certain parts of the empire (Rowe 1979), per- rule their conquered populations through manipula-
haps in provinces well-known for their weaving. tion of class, gender, and ethnic differences and
However, we don't always know if the kamayoc men- through control of politically charged goods and
tioned were recruited from the local population. We privileged knowledge. Weavers in the Inka empire
need to take care here in our identification of the varied considerably in many of the aspects of their
ethnic identities of the qompikamayoc because of the social identities: gender, age, marital status, ethnicity,
practice of the state in moving skilled populations and class. I suggest there was a correlation between
to establish productive "colonies" of mitmaqkuna in the types of cloth produced and named categories
areas they felt were not served adequately by local of weavers with very different social identities.
labor. At Milliraya, the well-documented settlement The state clearly viewed workers differently;
of qompikamayoc in the Titicaca Basin, weavers were the terms used by the state to name the various so-
recruited from several villages in the general area. cial categories of persons that produced cloth sug-
The fact that qompikamayoc are found among gest they belonged to different conceptual catego-
the mitmaqkuna — groups of workers forcibly re- ries as well. Among the awakuq warmi census cat-
settled by the state to balance the demand for mate- egory, which likely included the vast majority of adult
rial goods with the amount of labor available to females, work informed social identity, at least as
provide them locally — suggests that the Inka bu- far as the state was concerned. To the state, these
reaucracy recognized some (ethnic) groups as more women were identified by the specific form of their
"appropriate" for this occupation, whether because labor. The aqllakuna were women chosen to per-
of pre-existing ethnic specialties or the normative form "typically" female roles — weaving and brew-
gender of the weaver. While agricultural mitmaqkuna ing — in a sexually and politically hypercharged set-
were moved to redistribute population vis-a-vis re- ting. As such, their specific labor need not be marked
sources developed by the state and for security rea- linguistically in the name of their social category. One
sons (Rowe 1982; LaLone and LaLone 1987), craft could assume that these women were chosen for
colonies were moved to balance demand for craft their feminine skills. In contrast, male qompikamayoc
goods with the availability of appropriately skilled were marked semantically for the special labor they
groups (Espinosa 1970,1987; Murra 1978). Whether contributed to the political economy. Such marking
or not they were recruited for their ethnicity, was necessary because there was little prior cultural
mitmaqkuna kamayoc retained their ethnic identities and expectation that weavers would be male (Costin
community ties even when moved by the state. They 1996b).
retained local dress and other symbols of identity The categories of full-time state weavers —
(compare discussion of relocated potters in D'Altroy aqllakuna and qompikamayoc — are also interesting
et al. 1994). Most of the artisans from Milliraya because they do not reflect customary notions of
returned to their ancestral communities after the fall complementarity and parallelism usually associated
of the Inka state, although the artisan colony had with Inka organizational ideologies (e.g., Silverblatt
been established 40-50 years earlier (Spurling 1992). 1987). Rather, the two groups appear to possess
The general prestige and social rank of the oppositional qualities in terms of their social identi-
qompikamayoc also differed from that of the aqllakuna. ties: female-male; high status-low status; non-eth-
Although kamayoc were persons "dedicada a cumplir nic-ethnic; virginal-(re)productive/unmarried-mar-
trabajo especial" (dedicated to perform special ried (Table 8.3).
work) (Rostworowski 1977:252), it does not appear Rowe (1979:239) asserts that men (specifically
that this "special work" conferred particularly high the qompikamayoc) wove the finest tapestry qompi doth;
prestige upon the artisans. In fact, according to Niles (1992:52) believes the finest qompi was woven
Late Prehispanic Andes 137
by the aqllakuna. Others (e.g., Murra 1980:73; Benson the social personae and sanctification necessary to
1991:595; Stone-Miller 1992:172) argue that the craft items of the highest political and ritual signifi-
aqllakuna wove qompi for elite and religious use, while cance.
the male qompikamayoc wove for military use. I am In some ways, the aqllakuna were an extension
inclined to agree with the latter interpretation of the of pre-Inka patterns of intensive elite household
customary division of labor, although it is likely that production, but with a pernicious twist: as "women
both categories of weavers could be called upon in of the Inka," these girls became a part of the
periods of emergency high demand to make other emperor's (metaphorical) household. The high sta-
forms of cloth. Such emergencies are recounted in tus of the aqllakuna expressed in the chronicles, then,
the colonial documents, and include rebellions and likely reflects the complex nature of their social per-
insurrections, all of which were remediated through sonae, and clearly sets them apart from the other
the distribution of large quantities of cloth (as well weavers. It served the state to enhance their status —
as a show of military force!). indeed, their mystique — but this was likely rooted in
In some ways, the appropriation of particular "real" elements of the girls' social identities before
kinds of labor to make distinct types of goods fits they were recruited. Yet this element of high pres-
into what today we might call the objective logistics tige did not bring with it other prerogatives of high
of the imperial political economy. There seems to social status. The aqllakuna may have been meta-
be a correlation between the amount of control and phorically honored, but as conquered peoples, ulti-
supervision over artisans and the degree of sym- mately they were under the full control of state in-
bolic content of their cloth. Relatively unsupervised stitutions and personnel. Female labor was valued
tributaries — awakuq warmi — wove plain cloth. Pro-for the valuables — cloth and beer — it produced,
vincial elite women wove fine cloth that functioned but the aqllakuna (and the awakuq warmi) also force-
as a sumptuary item, but likely lacked the symbolic fully represented state control over labor and prod-
load carried by the t'oqapu garments woven by state ucts with political and ritual value. Equally compel-
weavers. Attached qompikamayoc wove standard de- ling is that the aqllakuna themselves were considered
signs for the army. It was primarily the sequestered tribute (Silverblatt 1987:93). This contrasts sharply
aqllakuna who were given the task of weaving elabo- with all other obligations to the state, which were
rate t'oqapu tunics for ranking bureaucrats and the phrased in terms of labor. The awakuq warmi and
nobility. One reason for sequestering the aqllakuna qompikamayoc provided labor; the aqllakuna "pro-
may have been so that they could be entrusted with vided" their selves, their personhood to the state.
the knowledge necessary to create and combine It should not be surprising that social rank ap-
t'oqapu without concern that they would produce for pears to be such an important component of social
outsiders or share their esoteric knowledge. While identity in the division of labor when a category of
the general technological knowledge of weaving was goods spans such a range of social and political sig-
broad-based and while most individuals likely shared nificance as does cloth in the Inka empire (or pot-
a general understanding of what the symbols meant, tery, in the case of the Classical Maya that Reents-
the ability to effectively and appropriately reproduce Budet describes in this volume). We have several
them was likely carefully regulated to make sure that empirical cases which mirror the Inka case, with the
only a few weavers could successfully combine ap- social and political significance of the product tied
propriate Inka technology and t'oqapu symbols. The closely to the social rank of the producers. For ex-
tremendous variation in the design and color arrange- ample, in the Mycenaean World, class was strongly
ment of some of the most elaborate tunics indi- associated with the value and socio-political signifi-
cates tremendous artisan knowledge and discretion cance of the cloth created. Female captives and slaves
in design and execution, both of which (knowledge wove plain cloaks and blankets. Elite women made
and discretion) needed to be controlled. fancy clothing for themselves and their families. The
We can see how both weavers and cloth were production of cloth which encoded esoteric knowl-
symbolic, representing state strategies of dominance edge was limited to high nobility. As Elizabeth Bar-
and rule. There seems to be a correlation between ber (1994:229) has stated, "the recording of the
the status of the weavers and the social value of the mythohistory of the clan [on cloth displayed in public
cloth: "ordinary" expropriated female labor made and ritual settings] would have been a task so im-
"ordinary" cloth for conscripted common soldiers. portant that it could be entrusted only to the queens
Specially marked male specialists (qompikamayoc) made and princesses, with their gold and silver spindles
cloth for honored and high ranking — specially and royal purple wool." Among the Inka, only fe-
marked -- soldiers. Finally, special, "chosen" women male relatives of the emperor — perhaps those serv-
made special cloth for high ranking nobility, royalty, ing as mamakuna — were entrusted with the task of
and others chosen by the state for special favor. By weaving the garments he wore during his investiture
constructing their identity as metaphorical sisters and (Niles 1992:52). In both the Inka and the Mycenaean
wives of the ruler, the aqllakuna were invested with cases, workers of socially appropriate rank were re-
138
cruited to produce items of particular social and
ritual value.
Under the Inka, we observe a proliferation of
categories of weavers and a proliferation of cat-
egories of workers more generally. This prolifera-
tion includes shifts in the social identities of produc-
ers, and thus encourages discussion of the contexts
and implications of changes in divisions of labor.
For some categories of weavers - the awakuq warmi
"housewives" - the responsibility to produce cloth
did not change qualitatively under Inka domination.
However, two important changes did occur. First,
women worked harder or longer as they spun and
wove to meet Inka tribute obligation. Second, and
perhaps more importantly, the social relations of dis-
tribution changed. In pre-Inka times, cloth — espe-
cially utilitarian cloth —flowedprimarily among close
kin: from wives, mothers, and daughters to hus-
bands, fathers, and sons. Under the Inka, men of
military age received cloth not only directly from
their female kin, but also from the state. This cloth
may have been aesthetically and functionally equiva-
lent to that produced within their households, but it
embodied a new set of social relations and political
obligations. Large-scale state distribution of cloth
represented a fundamental disruption of basic house-
hold complementarity, as women's supply and men's
receipt of cloth was mediated to some extent
through state channels. Relations of distribution
changed from a pre-Inka gendered, quasi-egalitar-
ian relation of complementarity (among household
members) to a gendered, politicized, and stratified
relation of expropriation (from women to state) and
remuneration (from state to men). As stated at the
outset of the paper, the mobilization of cloth up
the hierarchy (here from women to state) reflected
servitude, while the redistribution of the cloth down
the hierarchy (here from the state to men) signified
reward. Thus, women and men stood in different
economic and social relations to the state. One can
only surmise that in the process of change, attitudes
towards women's labor and the nature of their so-
cial value derived from their centrality in cloth pro-
duction underwent change. Most fundamentally,
women's production of cloth for the state came to
symbolize and construct their subordinate position.
Our picture of labor in the Inka empire is still
too much a passive one, focusing on imperial strate-
gies and institutional goals, and strategies while regard-
ing the labor pool as acquiescent to state manipula-
tion. Slowly however, we are making progress for
a number of media (e.g., Spurling 1992; Hayashida
1995). By understanding more fully the social iden-
tity of crafters and their varying economic, social,
and political motivations, we will be in a much stron-
ger position to understand the dynamics of Inka
production and consumption as well as state expan-
sion and consolidation more generally.
Cathy Lynne Costin
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all the symposium par-
ticipants for their stimulating ideas. Rebecca Stone-
Miller read an earlier version of the paper and made
several useful suggestions. Harris Wells drew fig-
ures 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3.
NOTES
1 Dransart (1992:155) points out that women's status is sig-
naled in part by dress length: elite women wear long dresses,
while commoner women wear shorter styles.
2 He lists as his first male census category those capable of
serving in the army, thus highlighting the two primary contri-
butions made to the state by men and women. Some English
translators of Guaman Poma (e.g., Dilke 1978) have inter-
preted these groups as age grades, and have rearranged the pre-
sentation to list them in age order, thereby obscuring what was
likely Guaman Poma's intent: to list them in their order of
importance to the state.
3 This practice of recruiting conquered elite girls into the ranks
of the aqllakuna, where they became possessions of the state,
contrasts somewhat with imperial policy on provincial elite
sons. Boys and young men were regularly taken back to Cuzco,
ostensibly for an education in Inka culture and governance, but
actually also as hostages to help ensure the cooperation of their
lineages. However, these young men could expect to be given
ethnically Inka women as wives and eventually return to their
natal provinces to serve as provincial bureaucrats.
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