Alpacas - Their History

Incas

Alpacas were domesticated thousands of years ago but the period of most interest to us is the early 1500s when the Incas occupied Central South America. We believe that the Incas had used selective breeding programmes for the alpaca to such an extent that the resulting textiles were used as a form of currency and the most prized fibre, what we call baby alpaca, was reserved exclusively for royalty.

Spanish

In 1532 these breeding programmes were totally destroyed at the time of the Spanish Conquest of South America. Within fifty years of the conquistadors landing on the shores of Peru the indigenous human population was reduced from 10 million to 1 million. The colonists slaughtered the alpacas and llamas for food, introduced horses, replaced the alpaca herds with sheep and cattle and displaced the native human population. A combination of all these factors and many more decimated the natural husbandry and agricultural practices of the local people and replaced them with a more westernised idea of farming practice, changing forever the agricultural landscape created and adapted through millennia. The result of this bloody and apocalyptic process was that the alpaca was displaced to the high altiplano above 4000 metres (13000ft) and beyond where sheep and cattle could not survive. The sophisticated breeding programmes disappeared into the mists of time along with many other facets of the Inca culture.

However the animals survived but without an infrastructure or fencing, they interbred with other camelid species, thus destroying the genetic purity the Incas has fostered. They adapted to the high altitude and are still there breeding away providing sustenance, warmth, fuel and a surplus of fibre that also produces income to the indigenous people living at high altitude. In an environment where there is little to burn save dung and where the temperature starts to fall rapidly to below freezing the minute the sun goes down the textiles produced from the alpaca fibre is all that keeps you from hypothermia.

Saltaire

Alpacas also have a history in the UK. In about 1834 a mill owner by the name of Titus Salt came across 300 odd bales of alpaca fibre, that had been used as ship’s ballast or packing, lying unwanted at Liverpool docks. Against advice from his peers in Bradford he purchased the lot and from it produced cloth with the quality of silk for the price of wool; this from post Spanish conquest alpaca. He thus began concentrating on exotic, expensive raw materials such as alpaca and mohair. When Queen Victoria began to wear alpaca dresses made from her own alpacas’ fleeces it became very fashionable. Salt became very successful and in 1851 he began the construction of a new mill outside Bradford for processing his imported alpaca fibre. This six storey mill was the first to incorporate all the textile processes under one roof, it was air conditioned and from its 1200 looms could produce 18 miles of cloth per day. In 1865 the total importation of alpaca fibre was some 1250tons valued at £360,000. Through the exploitation of alpaca fibre he created an industry that made him an immense fortune, and his alpaca coats and dresses were bequeathed, by their owners, down through the generations.

Salt’s mill was rather isolated so he built a village to house his workers. Unusually for workers houses of the time even the smallest house had its own lavatory. He introduced two and three bedroom houses for his workers as well as the many facilities necessary for a growing and thriving community.

Titus Salt’s village of Saltaire is now ‘listed ‘ by English Heritage although the building housing the mill has other uses.

Archaeologists

Incan rituals included sacrifices to the gods where animals were buried on mountaintops to appease the gods and under dwellings to ward off evil spirits. Archaeologists have discovered burial sites containing mummified alpaca remains and have been able to analyse the fibre from these ancient animals. Garments discovered on mummified remains of buried humans are of a quality and fineness that we would find difficult to match today. They conclude that Incan alpacas produced a fibre far superior than current day alpacas.

Returning to South America, the breeding programmes of the indigenous peoples have been, until recently based purely on quantity of fibre produced, there being no premium paid for quality. In the 1950’s realising that they had a large resource sitting somewhat underused, some South American breeders began to instigate more sophisticated breeding programmes to separate off again llama from alpaca and start improving the quality of their herds. This is an ongoing situation that is a mammoth task in the high altiplano where conditions are primitive and grazing, as we recognise it, is at a premium. It was not helped by the emergence of the “Shining Path” terrorist movement in the 1960’s, which made the altiplano a very unsafe place to be for decades.

Despite these obstacles, over the last fifty years a thriving alpaca industry has emerged in Peru, based in Arequipa to service the increasing world demand for alpaca fibre and product. The large processors are very active in encouraging the development of one of South America’s important natural resources and great strides have been made in fibre processing and manufacturing for a demanding world market.

Today there are over 2 million alpacas in South America yet it is hard to see how without investment on a grand scale the alpaca population can increase dramatically. Grazing is sparse, conditions are harsh and the young people flock down to the cities where their university education can provide a lifestyle their parents can only imagine.

The alpaca is still on the whole farmed using techniques that are embedded deeply in the culture and primitive lifestyle of the indigenous people. Quantity rather than quality still predominates as they are paid by weight for the fibre they produce. Quality is an issue that is only slowly being addressed today as the major processors of alpaca fibre in South America realise that they must try and find a way of providing incentives to improve fibre quality. Yet the task is a huge one and not to be underestimated in a high altitude environment that is inhospitable and in a large part inaccessible. The rest of the world will never compete with South America on quantity of fibre but on quality it may well be in a position to make rapid progress. 

-Alpacas History-