The Paracas culture was an Andean society that lived from about 800 BCE to 100 BCE in what is now the Ica Region of Peru. The Paracas people had a strong understanding of irrigation and water management and made important advances in textile arts. Most information about their lives comes from excavations at the large seaside Paracas site on the Paracas Peninsula, first studied in the 1920s by Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello.
The Paracas Cavernas are tombs carved into the top of Cerro Colorado, each containing multiple burials. Evidence shows these tombs were reused over time. In some cases, the heads of the deceased were removed, likely for rituals, and later reburied. The associated ceramics include incised polychrome designs, "negative" resist decoration, and other items from the Paracas tradition. The textiles found include complex weaving patterns, as well as detailed plaiting and knotting techniques.
The necropolis of Wari Kayan included two groups of hundreds of burials placed closely together inside and around abandoned buildings on the steep north slope of Cerro Colorado. The associated ceramics are finely made plain wares, some with white or red coatings, others with pattern-burnished designs, and other items from the Topara tradition. Each burial consisted of a conical bundle wrapped in textiles, usually containing a seated individual facing north across the bay of Paracas, along with grave offerings such as ceramics, food, baskets, and weapons. Each body was tied with cords to maintain a seated position before being wrapped in many layers of intricate, ornate, and finely woven textiles. The Paracas Necropolis textiles and embroideries are considered some of the best ever made by Pre-Columbian Andean societies. These items are the main works of art associated with the Paracas culture. Burials at Wari Kayan continued until about 250 CE. Many of the mortuary bundles include textiles similar to those of the early Nazca culture, which developed after the Paracas.
Political and social organization
The Paracas people did not have a central leader or government. Instead, they lived in local groups led by chiefs. These groups shared religious beliefs and traded goods but kept control over their own economies and politics. Early Paracas communities were part of the Chavín area of influence and created their own versions of religious practices. During the middle period (500–380 BCE), Chavín’s influence on Paracas decreased, and communities began developing unique identities. Conflicts between groups are shown by evidence such as battle injuries, trophy heads, and obsidian knives found at Paracas sites.
Within the Paracas area, smaller regions formed through local connections, including the Chinca Valley, the Ica Valley, and the Palpa Valley. The Chinca Valley was likely the political center of Paracas culture, with the Paracas Peninsula possibly serving as burial grounds. The Ica Valley was a less central area connected to Chinca. The Chinca Valley had many roads, large geoglyphs, and religious centers that brought people from coastal and highland areas together for social, political, and economic activities. Large mounds were built for ceremonies, but these sites were not permanently inhabited. People farmed and fished in the surrounding land. Extensive irrigation systems helped grow crops, a feature common in Paracas settlements and monuments.
The site Cerro del Gentil in the Upper Chincha Valley dates to about 550–200 BCE and was used for feasts that brought people from across the Paracas region. Though a smaller site, it has been studied extensively and provides insight into Paracas political development. The site includes a large platform mound with two sunken courts surrounded by farmland. Strontium isotope testing of offerings shows that people traveled long distances to attend feasts, suggesting early alliances were formed with distant groups rather than local ones. A ritual marking the end of the site’s use occurred around 200 BCE, involving large amounts of pottery, baskets, and other offerings, along with a feast. The variety of items, such as bird feathers from northern Peru, shows the site was used by many different people.
Scholars like Helaine Silverman believe the Nazca culture and its symbols developed from Paracas traditions. The Nazca people shared religious beliefs with the Paracas and continued practices like making textiles, taking heads as trophies, and engaging in warfare during early times. Hendrik Van Gijseghem notes that Paracas remains are rare in the Río Grande de Nazca drainage, the main area of Nazca culture, but are common in the Ica, Pisco, and Chincha valleys, as well as the Bahía de la Independencia. He also points out that the southern Nazca region, which became the most populated area of Nazca culture, was not important to Paracas. He suggests that the arrival of Paracas people and later population growth marked the start of Nazca society.
Many Paracas sites were later occupied by the Topará tradition, and the decline of Paracas is often linked to the arrival of the Topará culture in the north around 150 BCE. This idea is based on Topará-style pottery found at late Paracas and early Nazca sites. However, recent research challenges this view. Evidence from the termination ritual at Cerro del Gentil and other Chincha Valley sites shows that Paracas decline began before Topará arrived. These sites show no signs of fighting or resistance to an invading culture. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the earliest Topará site, Jahuay, was occupied about 165 years after Cerro del Gentil was abandoned. This suggests that the decline of Paracas and the shift to Nazca culture were already happening when the Topará tradition began.
Ceramics
Paracas ceramics are different from the Topará culture and the Paracas-Nazca transition because of the type of slip used to make and decorate the ceramic pieces. The Topará ceramic style is mostly made with monochromatic designs, often using an orange or neutral-colored clay slip. Nazca ceramics focus on polychrome designs, which are created by applying a slip made of clay and pigments from minerals like manganese found in their environment. The Paracas ceramic style uses a clay-based slip before firing the polychrome pieces. Although the Paracas culture often used post-fire painting, a method that involves adding resin and pigment after firing to create colorful designs, this technique helped distinguish Paracas ceramics from those of the Topará and Nazca. Paracas ceramics also include geometric, animal, and human shapes, often with abstract styles. These ceramics show architectural features through their designs, which reflect the culture and history of the Paracas people.
Ceremonial burial was very important in the Paracas culture. The discovery of specific burial sites helped determine the order of the art items found in these places. Paracas Cavernas, Paracas Necropolis, and Ocucaje are burial sites along the southern Peruvian coast built about 2,000 years ago. The Paracas ceramic style is closely linked to the Cavernas and Ocucaje burials, while the Topará style is associated with the Necropolis burials, with some presence at Ocucaje. The shift from Paracas to Nazca ceramics was clearly marked at Ocucaje. These burial locations helped identify different stages in the development of Paracas ceramics.
The first phase (840–500 BCE) represents the early period of Paracas ceramics, found along the coast or in valleys. This phase includes ceramics from Ocucaje and was influenced by the Chavín culture, as seen in certain features similar to those of the Chavín people. The Paracas culture developed separately from the Chavín, but it included some elements of Chavín art, such as the feline-eagle motif, which resembles the falcon frieze at Chavín de Huántar, a Pre-Incan ceremonial site in the Peruvian highlands. A common feature in Paracas ceramics is the depiction of a full-faced feline.
The middle Paracas period (500–380 BCE) was a time when the Paracas culture grew and became distinct from the Chavín culture. During this time, the Paracas people expanded their trade networks and built religious structures that supported the construction of large burial sites filled with many ceramic items. The late Paracas phase (380–260 BCE) was marked by the standardization of Paracas ceramics and an increase in people visiting religious sites along the southern coast of Peru. This period also saw the growing presence of the "Oculate Being," a creature important to the Inca valley.
Studying these phases helps analyze the images and colors used on Paracas ceramics. However, the availability and use of pigments varied in different regions of the Incan Valley. At Ocucaje, the early and middle phases of Paracas ceramics used pigments rich in iron, mostly red and green. In the late phase, the Paracas culture began using less vibrant colors and a more neutral palette, showing a change in their ceramic style.
Mummy bundles
The dry climate of southern Peru's Pacific coast helps preserve organic materials when they are buried. Mummified human bodies were discovered in a tomb on the Paracas peninsula of Peru, covered by layers of cloth textiles. These bodies were wrapped in cloth bundles called "mummy bundles." They were found at the Great Paracas Necropolis along the south Pacific coast of the Andes. At the Necropolis, there were two large groups of closely packed pit tombs, containing about 420 bodies. These tombs date to around 300–200 BCE. Each mummified body was wrapped in textiles. Making these wrappings took many hours because the cloth was large, finely woven, and decorated with embroidery. Some larger mummy bundles had many layers of brightly colored clothing and headdresses. Both men and women wore jewelry made of sheet gold and shell beads, and some had tattoos. The shape of these mummy bundles is similar to a seed or a human head.
The textiles and jewelry in the tombs and mummy bundles were valuable. This made them a target for looters. The Paracas Necropolis was heavily looted between 1931 and 1933 during the Great Depression, especially in the Wari Kayan section. The amount of stolen items is unknown. However, Paracas textiles began appearing on the international market in the years that followed. It is believed that most Paracas textiles outside of the Andes were taken out of Peru illegally.
Textiles
According to Anne Paul, the shape of the object might have been intentionally chosen by the people, with the seed representing new life. Paul also explains that the detailed and high-quality textiles found in the mummy bundles suggest these fabrics were used for important religious or ceremonial events. Both native Andean cotton and the hair of animals such as wild vicuñas and domestic llamas or alpacas naturally come in many colors. Yarns were also dyed in a wide range of colors and used in weaving and other techniques. This mix of materials shows that people traded with communities at different elevations.
The images on the textiles showed religious practices. Some pictures showed a fallen person or someone flying. Some figures had face paint and held severed heads, called trophy heads. These heads were taken during battles or raids. It is possible that people believed the head was where the spirit lived. These textiles not only showed symbols from the Paracas beliefs about the world but may also have been worn to show a person’s gender, social rank, power, and the community they belonged to.
Different color patterns are found in the textiles of Paracas Cavernas, early Paracas Necropolis, and later Nazca-related styles. The dyes came from many areas in the Andes and show that people at different elevations exchanged goods. The red color came from a bug called cochineal, which lives on a prickly pear cactus. The bug was crushed with tools called mortars and pestles to make red pigment. Yellow dyes were made from the qolle tree and quico flowers, while orange dyes came from a type of lichen called beard lichen (Usnea). Green was made by mixing a plant called cg'illca with a mineral called collpa. Blue dyes were made from a plant called tara, and the deeper the blue, the more collpa was added. Creating dyes could take several hours. Then, women spent about two hours boiling and dyeing the fibers. After this, the fibers were spun and woven.
The textiles of Paracas were woven on backstrap looms and often had solid colors. These fabrics were decorated with embroidery in two styles. The earlier style used running stitches that followed the pattern of the weaving. Colors like red, green, gold, and blue were used to create images of animals that appear to rise from the background with open mouths, while the stitches formed the empty spaces around them. These designs are very abstract and hard to understand. The later style used block-color embroidery, where curvilinear shapes were outlined and filled with bright colors using stem stitches. Figures that look like animals and humans were shown in great detail with carefully chosen colors.
Cranial modification
The Paracas culture, like many ancient Andean societies, practiced artificial cranial deformation. Among the skulls found at the Paracas Cavernas, most showed visible modifications. These skulls were mostly one of two shapes: Tabular Erect or Bilobate. Tabular Erect was the most common shape for both males and females, but Bilobate skulls were more frequently found in female remains. This connection to gender is supported by Paracas pottery, which shows men with Tabular Erect heads and women with Bilobate heads.
Some archaeologists believe that Andean beliefs about gender and the world might have led to a system with four types of gender roles (masculine–masculine, masculine–feminine, feminine–masculine, and feminine–feminine). This system may explain why different skull shapes were chosen for each sex. However, evidence suggests that skull shape was not linked to social status (based on burial items) or family relationships (based on how remains were grouped).
The Paracas culture also performed trepanation, a procedure in which parts of the skull were removed using stone tools. This practice may have been used to treat skull fractures, which were often found in Paracas remains. These injuries might have been caused by weapons like slings, clubs, and atlatls, which were sometimes found with mummies. However, many trepanations removed large sections of the skull, making it hard to find direct evidence of injuries. Both trepanations and skull fractures were most common on the front of the skull, which indirectly supports a link between the two.
By studying the healing of bones in trepanned skulls, archaeologists estimate that about 39% of people died during or shortly after the procedure (no bone healing was seen), and nearly 40% survived long-term (with strong bone healing). However, the actual frequency of trepanation in the Paracas culture is likely lower than 40%, due to possible sampling bias, the large number of unopened mummy bundles, and the high death rate from the procedure.
Geoglyphs
In 2018, archaeologists used RPAS drones to study cultural evidence in Palpa province, discovering many geoglyphs. These geoglyphs are being linked to the Paracas culture and are believed to be about 1,000 years older than the Nazca lines. The idea that the Paracas culture later became the Nazca culture supports this connection. Additionally, Paracas geoglyphs differ from Nazca lines in their subjects and locations. Many Paracas geoglyphs are found on hillsides, not on the desert valley floor. Archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo explains that this difference had practical effects. The Nazca lines may have been meant for the gods and were hard to see from the ground. In contrast, Paracas geoglyphs were easier for people to see. Their images might have been used to mark land boundaries.