It is thought that these tunics were made for soldiers and the checkered pattern camouflaged them into an indistinguishable mass.
Additional resources
Checkerboard tunic at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Checkerboard tunic at the Dallas Museum of Art
Learn more about Andean textiles from the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, from The Met
Read about another Inka tunic, the All-T’oqapu Tunic
Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
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