chiefdom · South America

Paracas

800 BCE – 100 BCE (approx.)

A culture of Peru's southern desert coast celebrated for the finest embroidered textiles of the ancient Andes, preserved in hundreds of mummy bundles at the Paracas peninsula.

Origins

The Paracas culture developed on the south coast of Peru, around the Paracas peninsula and the Ica and Pisco valleys, from about 800 BCE. Early phases show the influence of the Chavín style in pottery and imagery before local traditions took over.

Rule and society

Paracas society was organised in chiefdoms supported by irrigation farming and rich fishing grounds. It is best known from its cemeteries: the necropolis of Wari Kayan, excavated by Julio C. Tello in 1927, held more than 400 mummy bundles wrapped in brilliantly coloured embroidered mantles of cotton and camelid wool. Paracas people practised cranial deformation and trepanation of the skull. Their pottery was painted with resin-based colours after firing.

Decline and legacy

Around 100 BCE the late Paracas tradition, known as Necropolis, merged gradually into the Nazca culture, which inherited its iconography and textile techniques. The large Paracas Candelabra geoglyph is sometimes attributed to it, though its date is uncertain.

Lineage

ParacasNazca 100 BCE – 750 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Paracas. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paracas
MLA
“Paracas.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paracas. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Paracas.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paracas.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Paracas’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paracas (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻