Paracas, one is Justified in placing maize among the more 
important staple foods of the people of the peninsula. 
CYPERACEAE 
Scirpus spp. 
Only fragments remain of the woven mat (80/4226) 
that had been placed about the bundle when it was low- 
ered into the grave pit. The simple twill weave of the 
mat is made of the stems of a species of Sezrpus, and the 
edge is reinforced with a tightly twisted cord of this 
same material. 
The two fans that were included in the bundle differ 
little except in size. The larger (80/4179) has a maximum 
length of 18 cm. and consists of eight yellow wing feath- 
ers. ‘Che smaller specimen is a miniature fan (80/4178) 
and is made of yellow breast feathers. Its maximum 
length is 7.5 em. The feathers of both specimens are un- 
doubtedly those of parrots or macaws. ‘The handles are 
constructed alike. In the case of the larger fan five or six 
culms of aspecies of Scirpus, and in the smaller specimen 
three or four culms of the same material, were double- 
looped in such a way as to hold the quills tightly. The 
free ends of the culms form the handles. These were cut 
off evenly, twisted slightly and then bound securely with 
cotton thread. Apparently the cotton thread in each 
specimen had held the quills before they were placed in 
the loops of the culms and then was wrapped about the 
culm ends. 
Yacovleff and Muelle (1982) give ‘“‘totora, Scirpus 
totora,’’ as the material from which the baskets, mats 
and ropes were made that were recovered from the sites 
on Cerro Colorado. However, because this species of 
Scirpus is native to the high altitudes of the Andes 
(Beetle, 1945), it would seem more advisable to identify 
our culms merely as Scirpus spp. Several species of this 
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