Archaeometric analysis of textile fiber dyes from the Topater-1 Site, Calama, northern Chile, Middle Formative Period (ca. 400–200 BCE)

We report the micro-Raman analyses in four textile headdress fibers (three blue and one red) sampled from the Topater-1 Cemetery of Calama, northern Chile, dated to the Middle Formative Period (ca. 400–200 BCE). The Raman spectra indicated the presence of indigo in the blue fibers and anthraquinone-type dyestuff in the red fibers. The sources of the raw dye materials were most likely non-local.