Textiles are manufactured by the weaving of yarns produced by the twisting and spinning of different kinds of fibres. Early Andean populations made extensive use of vegetal and animal fibres including cactus leaves, flax, cotton, and camelid (e.g., llama, alpaca) fibres. In the coastal area of the Andes, by the third millennium BC, cotton was the most popular fibre used in textile manufacture. In the highlands, however, camelids represented the major fibre source.

In coastal Peru, many spinning techniques have been developed. With the appearance of ceramics, spinning mainly involved the use of spindle-whorls. Spindle-whorls are counterweights for spinning rods, or husos. The rod is passed through the perforation of the spindle-whorl. The weight of the spindle-whorl contributes to the rotation of the shaft and the spinning of fibres. Spindle-whorls vary in form, size and weight. For example, those used in the spinning of camelid fibres are larger and generate a heavier motion than those designed to spin cotton fibres.

Early Andean weavers produced a large array of textile products such as cords, fish lines, bags, belts and clothes. Textiles were important not only because they provided clothing and other practical objects, but also because they acted as markers of social status. Textiles required the investment of much labour and skill. Finely decorated textiles represented a way to pay tribute to high status individuals. Such pieces were offered to dead people and buried in graves. In Inca times (ca. 1400-1532), textiles represented an important source of revenue for the state. Inca citizens had annual obligations towards textile production, and textiles were often offered as tributes.