⛓devil austin powers⛓

“Border fragment of wool with a continuous band of #hummingbirds and fringelike appendages representing beans. Early Nasca [Nazca, Peru, c.1-450 CE]. Pollination of bean plants by birds may be suggested here. Border was formed using a needle-knit stemstitch.”

This is such a beautiful example of Nasca needle knitting!!! I took an art history course on Andean visual culture and we had a whole lecture dedicated to Nasca textile art. Needle-knitting is done with a single needle and is the Nasca are the only culture that did this particular kind of textile knitting until the 20th century when it was brought outside of the south coast. This is a really interesting border because it's the second example I've seen of the hummingbird pollinator theme. Here's the one that I saw in the class I took:

This hummingbird border (while a lot less vibrant) defines a lot of what's so special about Nasca textile IMO. Each hummingbird is 3d and double-sided. They're also only about 1.5" (3.81cm) tall (tail-tip to beak-tip). It's an extremely detailed form of knitting!

For people interested in some of the history of Nasca textile, this article about the Paracas Textile (the most famous example of Nasca needle knitting) is a great introduction and overview: https://smarthistory.org/the-paracas-textile/

Here's the Paracas Textile for your viewing pleasure:

And a close-up of the border:

I could talk about this a lot more but I'll save everyone's time and point them towards the website above LOL