A woman using a drop spindle spins camelid fiber
in Yanaoca, province of Canas, Cuzco, Peru.
Mariano Chilihuani. TAFOS Photographic
Archive/PUCP, Lima, Peru.The other type of cloth, not as fine as cumbi, was known as ahuasca. Garments
made of ahuasca cloth were produced by commoners in their households, where
the tasks of cloth production—for example, the shearing of the camelids or
harvest and ginning of cotton, the spinning and plying of fibers, and the weaving
of textiles on looms—went on as part of daily family activities. In addition,
households were required to produce textiles with fiber from state storehouses as
part of their annual labor obligation.
In the highlands around Cuzco, raw camelid and cotton fibers were spun by
hand, using a drop spindle (phusca). This device was composed of an
approximately 30.5-centimeter-long (1-foot-long) wooden or cane shaft to the