https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/71000/fullTunic with Birdsca. 1000-1450 CE15 1/4 x 44 1/2 in. (38.7 x 113 cm)Cotton, camelid fibersEx coll. C. Clay and Virginia Aldridge2002.001.0040The loose plainweave of this huipil is woven from brown cotton. While the color may have altered slightly over time, the brown is probably natural and not dyed. A few millimeters of a single thread were removed for analysis by Direct Analysis in Real Time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) by the Armitage Archaeological Chemistry Research Group at Eastern Michigan University. The absence of quercetin, which is found in many brown dyes, as well as the lack of gallic acid, which is often present in tannin dyes like browns, suggest that this cotton fiber is undyed. The DART-MS results from the ancient sample were also comparable to results from reference sample taken from a modern huipil known to be woven from undyed natural brown cotton.Art of the Americas5286789166