This finely woven tapestry uncu, or man’s tunic, of cotton and
camelid fiber is decorated with small rectangles known as
tocapu. Such designs are believed to have only been worn by
people of royal or high rank. Dumbarton Oaks, Pre-Columbian
Collection, Washington, D.C.Headdresses served as ethnic markers and told knowledgeable observers about
the ethnic identity, place of origin, and other essential social and political facts
about the wearer. As the chronicler Pedro de Cieza de León remarked,
If they were Yungas, they went muffled like gypsies; if Collas, they wore caps shaped like mortars, of
wool; if Canas they wore larger caps and much broader. The Cañari wore a kind of narrow wooden
crown like the rim of a sieve; the Huancas, strands that fell below their chin, and their hair braided; the
Canchis, broad black or red bands over their forehead. Thus all of them could be recognized by their
insignia. (Cieza 1959 [1553]).The Inca ruler and the nobility, as well as Inca by privilege, donned
standardized, often elaborate, headgear. Inca men wore a headdress known as a