Chancay Woven Textile Sling

Pre-Columbian Era, Chancay Culture, c. 1000-1470 AD, Peru

A superb and rare Chancay woven sling, expertly crafted from cabuya fiber with camelid fiber accents. This exceptional example features a thickly woven, banded cord in dark brown and beige tones, meticulously designed for both functionality and artistry. At the center, a reinforced cradle is carefully woven to secure a stone, allowing the wielder to launch projectiles with immense bone-breaking force. By spinning the sling overhead and releasing at the right moment, the user could hurl large stones with deadly accuracy, making it a powerful weapon for hunting and combat.

The Chancay civilization, flourishing along Peru’s central coast from 1000 AD to 1470 AD, was renowned for its textile mastery. Chancay weavers produced some of the most intricate and symbolic textiles of the pre-Columbian world, incorporating bold geometric patterns, stylized animals, and anthropomorphic figures. They utilized a diverse color palette, including yellows, browns, scarlets, blues, and greens, woven into llama wool, cotton, and fine gauze fabrics.

Textiles were far more than just functional objects; they conveyed social status, spiritual beliefs, and ceremonial importance. The Chancay people placed great emphasis on textile offerings in burials, wrapping the deceased in layered cloth and gauze head coverings, ensuring protection and honor in the afterlife.

This rare and fascinating artifact exemplifies the technological ingenuity and artistic refinement of the Chancay people, making it a standout addition to any collection of pre-Columbian antiquities.

Good condition. Age-related wear, loose threads and fraying. Rich earthen deposits. The ends lack the finger loop. Size approx. 130,0cm x 2,0cm x 0,5cm. 

Provenance: Former collection of the archaeologist Ferdinand Anton, Germany, combined between 1950 and 1965. Ferdinand Anton was born in 1929 in Munich, Germany. He made a living by writing richly illustrated books about the art objects and religious rituals of Pre-Columbian cultures: the Aztecs, the Maya, and Andean peoples of South America. He was an explorer who flew to South America and Mexico, and hiked to remote shrines where few Westerners had set foot. He wrote more than forty books.

For a similar examples see:

Sling, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number: 1994.35.103 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316928)

Sling, Princeton University Art Museum, Accession number: 1995-376 (https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/4624)