Now displayed flat, this vibrant textile was a tunic worn by a high-ranking member of Nazca society. The blue and red rectangles in the center would have framed the wearer’s neck, adorning the front and back of the body in brilliant feathers. The tunic would have been part of a lavish ensemble, including gold jewelry and an elaborate headdress. The resplendent yellow feathers of the tunic may reference the sun; the diagonal lines and stepped-scroll motifs recall the Nazca landscape, where the soaring peaks of the Andes Mountains abruptly slope to meet the Pacific Ocean. In ancient Andean cultures, brilliantly colored feathers were the most valuable of luxury goods, treasured above gold or precious stones. The birds and their feathers originated in the jungles of the eastern Andean slope and were traded across great distances along the cordillera and west to the Pacific coast.