The textile tradition was very old in prehispanic Peru and goes back more than eight thousand years B.C. The raw materials used in the textiles were "cabuya", cotton and camelid fiber.

The first stammerings of textiles occurred before pottery was known. At that time, the fibers used were what as called "cabuya" (Cuban hemp) by the Spanish, bulrushes (Scirpus sp; Fourcroya andin; Thyphya angusfolia, etc.). These were used in the form of ropes, net bags, braids and coarse blankets. Hemp is followed in time by cotton (Gossypium barbadense) of two varieties, white and native, the latter in rich brown tones.

A fiber of great importance was camelid fiber, the coarse hair came from llamas and the fine from alpacas and vicuņas. In the years around 500 B.C. weaving achieved full development and garments from that time can be appreciated in museums.

The development reached in textile art and the great demand for it must have urged a series of appropriate technologies. Thus the role of basic spinning stands out, not only to cover the necessity for weavings, but also to obtain the perfection we observe in the pieces and funerary mantles discovered by archaeologists and treasure hunters. To achieve that excellence a thread spun finely and evenly was indispensable and was only obtained by experts in the material.

Equally important was the knowledge of dyes whose colors still conserve all their freshness. In a list that indicates the different types of specialized Andean artisans in 1571 we find the tanti camayoc, that is "Indians who made colors from plants".

There were various types of looms; the most common is the backstrap loom still being used even in our day. Another type was the horizontal loom formed by four stakes and employed for large pieces. Fixed looms, such as the one mentioned by the chroniclers, can be vertical or horizontal.

In addition, there were numerous textile techniques like brocade, tapestry, double cloth and gauzes, which for their beauty and the perfection of their execution are exhibited in museums.

In the great variety of textiles there were two types given: fine cloths called cumpi or cumbe manufactured with alpaca and vicuņa fiber and the coarse ones used by the common people, manufactured with llama fiber. The ones of cumbi, for their fineness, colors and perfection belonged to lords, priests and idols and were used for funerary trousseaux. They offered textile garments of small size which they later burned; perhaps the idea was to economize on the work.

The cloths of cumbi were made by specialists and there was a difference between highland and coastal customs. According to Fernando de Oviedo "men not women spin wool because there are officials for spinning" and Cobo mentions those "called cumbicamayos who do not understand anything other than weaving and embroidering cumbi. These were ordinary men although also the mamaconas used to weave them."

Some luxurious garments were covered with slender embroidered or plain plates. Also they used the sacred red seashells of mullu (Spondylus spp.) to adorn mantles and shirts.

Textiles during the Inca period

The Inca state needed a great number of garments for its organizational system and invented a way to obtain them instituting the Aclla Huasi or feminine workshops where the mamaconas dedicated themselves to manufacturing fine and coarse garments and prepared drinks for celebrations and offerings.

The institution of reciprocity demanded a great number of fine garments to give to the lords involved in the system. Furthermore, the soldier mita was obligated to cover demands for the army, for which the State saw itself in an urgency of massive production as much for fine garments as for hems. An Inca textile specialty was the manufacture of the so-called tocapu, which consisted of small figures of a large pattern with certain drawings repeated; they adoned the most luxurious garments with them. It is possible the tocapu originated during the Wari culture.