Rare Pre-Columbian woven reed bag. Sihuas Culture, s. Coast Peru. bc 100 - ad 100. Size: 9 x 7.5 inches. This bag was created using un-dyed cotton yarns that wrap around two layers of thin reeds. The reeds were carefully flattened before being wrapped. The design was created with an overlay of a jet black reed material that appears to have been dyed or possibly blackened by burning. There is an attractive almost lacquer-like sheen to the jet black reed material. These black elements were then meticulously sliced and sections removed to reveal the natural colored brown reed layer below. This is a novel technique of decoration, one i have not seen before in Pre-Columbian bags. The bag is complete with its braided top finish and reeds folded along the bottom of the bag in one continuous element - not cut. This is a specialty artifact that has to be quite rare as i don't recall ever seeing another.