Textile taxation is very ancient in
Andean society. Women and men were taxed by being required to spin, weave,
and produce cloth and cord. To home-bound taxpayers, the government annually
doled out specified quantities of raw fiber, cotton, or wool. Men made cordage
and rope, while women spun and wove. Spinning was done with drop spindles
and weaving was done on several types of looms. For example the vertical
frame loom was preferred by residents of Chinchaysuyu's north coast, while
Aymara people of Collasuyu regularly wove on a horizontal loom. The finished
products were collected by the government for its use.
Pride in clothing one's family is a hallmark of Andean femininity, and cloth making occupied more people for more time than any other craft. All women wove, from the humblest of peasants to the wives of kings. Queens and empresses wove as an Andean symbol of their femininity. Many grades of cloth were produced, and very fine fabrics were very highly esteemed, culminating in the most elegant of Inca fabrics, known as qomba.
What people wove and wore - decoration, iconography, and quality -established their ethnic identity and indicated their rank and status. Heads of state wore the finest of materials, rich in color and design, and often fashioned from exotic fibers such as vicuna wool, embellished with threads of gold and silver, or with bright feathers of tropical birds. As a commodity highly valued by all, cloth fulfilled certain functions analogous to currency. Cloth was the Inca reward for government service, and the army received regular allocations of textiles.