11 · South coast · Portable medium

The Karwa textile

A highland image walked on coastal cotton

This textile from the coast carries a painted figure similar to Chavín representations.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of A highland image walked on coastal cotton, Ica Region, southern coast of Peru, attributed provenance, IV–III centuries BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

A fragment of cotton attributed to the Ica region bears, painted with red earth, a being with bird claws, fangs and serpentine hair. Its design approximates Chavín carvings, but the support belongs to the long textile mastery of the coast.

Textiles could carry images, knowledge and prestige between regions more easily than a monolith. The ancient provenance of this specimen was recorded as ‘said to be’ from Karwa: its comparative value is great, but the precise archaeological trajectory is incomplete.

Coastal cotton bears a clawed, fanged, serpent-haired being painted with ferruginous earth. A portable support could carry highland conventions much farther than a monolith.

The museum record notes a provenance attributed to Karwa, not a fully documented modern excavation. Its iconographic comparison is valuable, while the exact itinerary of the piece remains incomplete.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: the Met fragment is cotton painted with ferruginous earth pigment, dated to the IV–III centuries BCE, with motifs related to Chavín. Interpretation and caution: facilitating diffusion is a functional proposal; the Karwa/Ica provenance does not derive from a fully documented modern excavation.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: 4th–3rd centuries BCE
Location: Ica Region, southern coast of Peru, attributed provenance
Material: Woven cotton · refined ferruginous earth pigment
Context: Portable textile, visual circulation and cautious provenance
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Date: 4th–3rd centuries BCE
Location: Ica Region, southern coast of Peru, attributed provenance
Support: Woven cotton · refined ferruginous earth pigment
Documentary coverage: 3 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

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4th–3rd centuries BCE

The Karwa textile

Pre-Inca cultures

Approximate dating according to the record.

Current record

Cotton1 dated object

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4th–3rd centuries BCE
The Karwa textile
Pre-Inca cultures
Approximate dating according to the record.
Current record

1 / 1In the centre: The Karwa textile

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Textiles

Tarkhan Dress · ca. 3482–3102 BCE (95 % probability) · Ancient Egypt
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Hunter’s tunic · early 20th century · Mande Worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Pigments

Engraved ochre from Blombos · ≈77,000–75,000 years · Prehistory
Willendorf · ≈29,500 years · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Kostenki I · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Ceramic stand 1010 · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
The walls of San Bartolo · c. 100 BCE · Maya worlds
Venus in the codex · Preserved manuscript: Postclassic, probably 13th–14th centuries; earlier knowledge · Maya worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Blue that does not yield · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE · Maya worlds
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory

Painting

Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
The walls of San Bartolo · c. 100 BCE · Maya worlds
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Blue that does not yield · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE · Maya worlds
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory

Weaving and fibres

The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

An image that continued beyond the fragment

The Metropolitan fragment preserves only part of a composition that could have repeated indefinitely. The red octagons surround a supernatural being and the serpentine forms end in profile heads; two of them, one inverted, in turn form another mouth with fangs. This play allows reading the image at several scales, moving from detail to a larger being. The slip dates the painting to the IV–III centuries BCE. Understanding the repeatable pattern avoids treating the current broken edge as if it were the artist’s originally designed limit.

Museum · The Met · Textile Fragment, Chavín, 1987.394.704Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

REGIONAL AREA

Ica Region, southern coast of Peru, attributed provenanceCoast, highlands and Altiplano: seven areas and overlapping chronologies, not a frontier nor a single civilisation. The footprint marks the orientative centre of the realm, not a frontier nor an exact point.

Where it is held

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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