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Volume 8
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10.3390/heritage8100398
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Sequencing Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating of Yarn Fragments from Six Paracas Mantles from Bundle WK12-382

by
Jaime Williams
1,
Avi Dragun
1,
Malak Shehab
1,
Imani Peterkin
1,
Ann H. Peters
2,
Kathryn Jakes
3,
John Southon
4,
Collin Sauter
5,
James Moran
5 and
Ruth Ann Armitage
1,*
1
Department of Chemistry, 541 Science Complex, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA
2
Consulting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
3
Independent Scholar of Archaeological Textiles, Worthington, OH 43085, USA
4
Keck Carbon Cycle AMS, Department of Earth System Science, B321 Croul Hall, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA
5
Integrative Biology Laboratory, Stable Isotopes Core Laboratory, Plant and Soil Sciences Building, 1066 Bogue St., Room A545/A537, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Heritage 2025, 8(10), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8100398
Submission received: 1 August 2025 / Revised: 18 September 2025 / Accepted: 19 September 2025 / Published: 23 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dyes in History and Archaeology 43)
Versions Notes

Abstract

The Necrópolis de Wari Kayan, at the Paracas site in the coastal desert of south–central Peru, is a large archeologically excavated mortuary complex with fine textile preservation, dated approximately to 2000 BP. This study investigates loose yarns associated with textiles from Wari Kayan tomb 12 (bundle 382), collected by the late Dr. Anne Paul in 1985 at what is now the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología e Historia del Perú (MNAAHP). Sequencing multiple state-of-the-art analyses, including direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection, and accelerator mass spectrometry, on the same small sample, seeks to “squeeze out every drop” of information. Six mantles from the outer layer include different sets of color hues and values, representing either different time periods or different producer groups. Plasma oxidation at low temperature (<100 °C) prepared carbon dioxide for AMS radiocarbon analysis. Fibers remaining after oxidation were combusted for light-stable isotope analysis. The sequential analysis results in fiber and dye composition, radiocarbon age, and stable isotope fractionation values may suggest fiber origin, continuing and updating a project started over 40 years ago.
Keywords: Paracas; dye analysis; light stable isotopes; AMS radiocarbon dating; sequential analysis; DART-MS; HPLC-DAD; plasma-chemical oxidation Paracas; dye analysis; light stable isotopes; AMS radiocarbon dating; sequential analysis; DART-MS; HPLC-DAD; plasma-chemical oxidation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Williams, J.; Dragun, A.; Shehab, M.; Peterkin, I.; Peters, A.H.; Jakes, K.; Southon, J.; Sauter, C.; Moran, J.; Armitage, R.A. Sequencing Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating of Yarn Fragments from Six Paracas Mantles from Bundle WK12-382. Heritage 2025, 8, 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8100398

AMA Style

Williams J, Dragun A, Shehab M, Peterkin I, Peters AH, Jakes K, Southon J, Sauter C, Moran J, Armitage RA. Sequencing Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating of Yarn Fragments from Six Paracas Mantles from Bundle WK12-382. Heritage. 2025; 8(10):398. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8100398

Chicago/Turabian Style

Williams, Jaime, Avi Dragun, Malak Shehab, Imani Peterkin, Ann H. Peters, Kathryn Jakes, John Southon, Collin Sauter, James Moran, and Ruth Ann Armitage. 2025. "Sequencing Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating of Yarn Fragments from Six Paracas Mantles from Bundle WK12-382" Heritage 8, no. 10: 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8100398

APA Style

Williams, J., Dragun, A., Shehab, M., Peterkin, I., Peters, A. H., Jakes, K., Southon, J., Sauter, C., Moran, J., & Armitage, R. A. (2025). Sequencing Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating of Yarn Fragments from Six Paracas Mantles from Bundle WK12-382. Heritage, 8(10), 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8100398

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