Cusco weaving, the cloth that predates the Inca

The weaving cooperatives of the Sacred Valley, Chinchero above all, work on backstrap looms: one end tied to a post, the other around the weaver's waist, tension held by the body itself. The techniques predate the Inca; the patterns name lakes, rivers and the eyes of animals, and a trained eye can tell a weaver's village from her cloth.

The red is cochineal, an insect gathered from cactus pads, and the fibre is alpaca from herds grazing above 3,500 metres, shorn, spun with a drop spindle and dyed with plants gathered nearby. A fine manta is months of work, and the cooperative model means the weaver sets her own price and keeps it.

Machu Picchu brings the world to Cusco for a day; the cloth is what the valley has made for a thousand years. On 1VIM the cooperative's pin sits in the Sacred Valley and the door price is on the listing, so the weaver's price reaches you whole.