Uncu (Unku) was a men's garment of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. It was an upper-body garment of knee-length; Royals wore it with a mantle cloth called '' yacolla.'' Women wore a long dress known as an anaku.

Structure

Uncu was similar to a long

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

, ranging between 84 and 100 cms, with a 72-79 cms width range. However, the length of the highland and coastal garments was different; Uncu in the highland were sleeveless and longer than the coastal tunic. Kings, nobles, and ordinary people all wore Uncu. The design and motifs for these dresses were rank-, cultural-, and event-specific. For example, capac uncu was a rich, powerful shirt worn by Inca Roca (the king). Inca royals clothing consisted of '' tocapu'' an art of geometric figures enclosed by rectangles or squares. Each garment was woven individually.

Material

Ordinary Uncu was made from cotton blending with various

camelidae Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas ...

fibres such as

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

, guanaco, and

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...

, but for royal use, a whole finest cloth ( cumbi) was used.

Gallery

File:Uncu inca wari.jpg, Uncu File:Chakana inca detalle textil uncu 001.JPG, Uncu File:Tupa-inca-tunic.png, Inca tunic File:Peru, Inca, 15th-16th century - Tunic - 1957.136 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Inca Tunic, 15th-16th Century

References

External links

* Tops (clothing) Inca culture Indigenous textile art of the Americas {{clothing-stub