Chavin de Huantar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts originally constructed by the Chavin, a pre-Inca culture, around 900 B.C. The site is located 250 kilometers north of Lima, Peru at an elevation of 3150 meters, between the Andean mountain ranges of the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca. Chavin de Huantar has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the Chavin reliefs from this archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nacion in Lima.
Chavin de Huantar was initially built around 900 B.C. While the fairly large population was based on an agricultural economy, the city's location at the head waters of the Maranon River, between the coast and the jungle, made it an ideal location for the dissemination and collection of both ideas and material goods.
Findings at Chavin de Huantar indicate that social instability and upheaval began to occur between 500 and 300 B.C., at the same time that the larger Chavin civilization began to decline. Large ceremonial sites were abandoned, some unfinished, and were replaced by villages and agricultural land. At Chavin de Huantar, no later than 500 B.C., a small village replaced the Circular Plaza. The plaza was occupied by a succession of groups, and building stones and stone carvings were salvaged for use in house walls. Multiple occupation floors indicate the village was continuously occupied through the 1940’s.
Site description
The site contains a number of major structures, including Temples A, B, and C, and areas and buildings designated as the Circular Plaza, the Old Temple and New Temple.
:The Old Temple, constructed early in the site's history, was an inward-facing structure composed primarily of passageways built around a circular courtyard. The structure contained obelisks and stone monuments with relief carvings depicting jaguars, caymans, and various other anthropomorphic forms. The Lanzon Gallery, located at the very center, contained a sculpture of the Lanzon, which is assumed to be a supreme deity of Chavin de Huantar. The figure is anthropomorphic, with a feline head and human body. Mortars, pestles, conch-shell trumpets, and many other items have also been found. Many of these artifacts have an anthropomorphic design or decoration and are thought to be associated with Chavin rituals.
:The New Temple, constructed between 500 and 200 B.C., is also based on a gallery and plaza design and contained many relief sculptures. The Lanzon deity is also present, holding a Strombusshell in the right hand while the left hand holds a Spondylus shell.
Excavation of burial sites gave evidence of a small elite class with elaborate burial goods. Tombs contained precious metals, colorful textiles, and other valuables. The majority of burials were more simple, with bodies interred in shallow pits with cotton clothing and a simple tool kit.
Local style in art and decoration included scrolls, simple curves, straight lines, and images of wild animals. Chavin sculpture is usually of white granite and black limestone. Carved stone mortars and pestels, conch-shell trumpets, bone tubes and spatulas, and metal spatulas and spoons were found decorated in Chavin style as were various textiles including tapestries. Pottery was found in a wide variety of forms, including bottles and bowls, decorated with a wider range of distinctive elements.
External links
Other pages about World Heritage Sites in Peru
-Arequipa -Chan Chan -Chavin de Huantar -Cusco -Historic Centre of Lima -Huascaran National Park -Lima District -Machu Picchu -Manu National Park -Natural and Cultural Peruvian Heritage -Nazca Lines -Rio Abiseo National Park
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Chavin_de_Huantar
