The Chavín culture was a pre-Columbian civilization, developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru around 900 BCE, ending around 250 BCE. It extended its influence to other civilizations along the Peruvian coast.Burger, Richard L. 2008 "Chavin de Huantar and its Sphere of Influence", In Handbook of South American Archeology, edited by H. Silverman and W. Isbell. New York: Springer, pp. 681–706Burger, Richard L., and Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe (1990). "Maize and the Origin of Highland Chavín Civilization: An Isotopic Perspective", American Anthropologist 92(1):85–95. The Chavín people (whose name for themselves is unknown) were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge. This area is above sea level and encompasses the quechua, suni, and puna life zones.Burger (1992), Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization In the periodization of pre-Columbian Peru, the Chavín is the main culture of the Early Horizon period in highland Peru, characterized by the intensification of the religious cult, the appearance of ceramics closely related to the ceremonial centers, the improvement of agricultural techniques and the development of metallurgy and textiles.
The best-known archaeological site for the Chavín culture is Chavín de Huántar, located in the Andean highlands of the present-day Ancash Region. Although Chavín de Huántar may or may not have been the center or birthplace of the Chavín culture, it was of great importance and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Achievements
The chief example of architecture is the Chavín de Huántar temple. The temple's design shows complex innovation to adapt to the highland environments of Peru. To avoid the temple's being flooded and destroyed during the rainy season, the Chavín people created a successful drainage system. Several canals built under the temple acted as drainage. The Chavín people also showed advanced acoustic understanding. During the rainy season water rushes through the canals and creates a roaring sound that emulates a jaguar, a sacred animal.Luis Guillermo Lumbreras, Acerca de la función del sistema hidráulico de Chavín, 1976 The temple was built of white granite and black limestone, neither of which is found near the Chavín site. This meant that leaders organized many workers to bring the special materials from far away rather than use local rock deposits. They also may have been traded from different civilizations in the area.
The Chavín culture also demonstrated advanced skills and knowledge in metallurgy, soldering, and temperature control. They used early techniques to develop refined gold work. The melting of metal had been discovered at this point and was used as a solder.Lothrop, S. K. (1951) "Gold Artifacts of Chavin Style", American Antiquity 16(3):226–240 Furthermore, the people domesticated camelids such as llamas. Camelids were used for pack animals, for fiber, and for meat. They produced ch'arki, or llama jerky.Miller and Burger, 1995 This product was commonly traded by camelid herders and was the main economic resource for the Chavín people. The Chavín people also successfully cultivated several crops, including potatoes, quinoa, and maize. They developed an irrigation system to assist the growth of these crops.Burger and Van Der Merwe, 1990
Language There is an absence of written language, so the language spoken by the Chavín people is not known, but it is likely now extinct. Some anthropologists have proposed that it was a form of Proto-Quechuan, reasoning that the Quechuan languages' highly regular morphology and syntax compared to surrounding languages would have been useful for allowing intelligible communication between communities separated by mountain ranges, as some Chavín groups were. On the other hand, Alfredo Torero dates the Proto-Quechuan languages to around the beginning of the first millennium BCE when the first Chavín people had a religion.
Architecture Chavín de Huántar was the place of origin of the second large-scale political entity in the central Andes, and this is mainly due to the extensive architecture at the site as well as the architecture is considered an engineering accomplishment. The site uses both internal and external architecture. Internal architecture refers to galleries, passageways, rooms, staircases, ventilation shafts, and drainage canals. External architecture refers to plazas, platform mounds, and terraces. Construction of the "Old Temple" took place from around 900 to 500 BCE, and construction of the "New Temple", the structure that was constructed and added on to the "Old Temple", took place from around 500 to 200 BCE. The lack of residential structures, occupational deposits, generalized weaponry, and evidence of storage further make the site's architecture more interesting, as it focuses mainly on the temples and what lies inside of them.
The monumental center at Chavín de Huántar was built in at least 15 known phases, all of which incorporate the 39 known episodes of gallery construction. The earliest known construction stage, the Separate Mound Stage, consisted of separate buildings and do not conform, necessarily, to the U-shaped pattern seen in the Initial Horizon Period and the Early Horizon Period. During the Expansion Stage, construction integrated stepped platforms and created contiguous U-shaped form by connecting the buildings, which now surround open spaces. At this stage, galleries are elaborate in form and features. During the Black and White Stage, all known plazas (the Plaza Mayor, Plaza Menor, and the Circular Plaza) were constructed. As construction came to an end, galleries took on a more standardized look. By the end of the growth process, buildings become plazas with a U-shaped arrangement and an east–west axis bisecting the enclosed space. The axis also intersects the Lanzón.
Modifications were done during all stages of construction to maintain access to the internal architecture of the site. There was a high level of interest in maintaining access to internal architecture and sacred elements of the site. The internal architecture was constructed as part of a single design and was intricately incorporated with the external architecture. Including lateral and asymmetrical growth allowed for these sacred elements to remain visible, including the Lanzón.
The Lanzón Gallery was created from an earlier freestanding structure that was then transformed into a stone-roofed internal space by constructing around it. The Lanzón was possibly present before the roofing, as it is likely that the Lanzón predates the construction of mounds and plazas. In general, galleries follow construction patterns, which indicates a massive effort in design and planning. Maintaining these galleries over time was important to architects. The galleries are known to be windowless, dead ends, sharp turns and changes in floor height, all of which were designed to disorient people walking in them.
A combination of symmetry and asymmetry was used in the design and planning of the site construction, and in fact, guided the design. There were centered placements of staircases, entrances, and patios, all of which were consistently prominent. In the last stages of construction, due to constraints, centeredness was no longer possible, so architects shifted to constructing symmetrical pairs. Externally, buildings were asymmetrical to each other.
The primary construction materials used were quartzite and sandstone, white granite, and black limestone. Alternate coursing of quartzite was used in the major platforms, while white sandstone and white granite were used interchangeably in the architecture, and were almost always cut and polished. Granite and black-veined limestone were the raw materials used in almost all of the engraved lithic art at the site. Granite was also used extensively in the construction of the Circular Plaza.
Stone-faced platform mounds at the site were made using an orderly fill of rectangular quartzite blocks in leveled layers. Platforms were built directly on top of fallen wall stones from earlier constructions, as there was little to no attempt to remove debris.
Art
The Chavín culture represents the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the Andes. Chavín art can be divided into two phases: The first phase corresponding to the construction of the "Old Temple" at Chavín de Huántar (c. 900–500 BCE); and the second phase corresponding to the construction of Chavín de Huántar's "New Temple" (c. 500–200 BCE).
Chavín art is known for its complex iconography and its "mythical realism". There is constant evidence within all types of art (ceramics, pottery, sculptures, etc.) of human-animal interactions, which was reflective of societal interconnections and how the Chavín people viewed themselves connected with "the other world".
Some other iconography found in Chavín art continues to give a glimpse as to what the culture was like, such as the general evidence of the use of psycho-active plants in ritual. The San Pedro Cactus is often seen on various art forms, sometimes being held by humans, which is used as evidence to support the use of the plant. The stone sculpture stela of the cactus bearer shows an anthropomorphized being with serpent hair, a mouth with fangs, a belt with a two-headed serpent and claws, who in their right hand holds what appears to be a San Pedro cactus.
A general study of the coastal Chavín pottery with respect to shape reveals two kinds of vessels: a polyhedral carved type and a globular painted type.Tello, Julio C. (1943) "Discovery of the Chavín Culture in Peru", American Antiquity 9(1, Countries South of the Rio Grande):135–160. Stylistically, Chavín art forms make extensive use of the technique of contour rivalry. The art is intentionally difficult to interpret and understand, since it was intended only to be read by high priests of the Chavín cult, who could understand the intricately complex and sacred designs. The Raimondi Stele is one of the major examples of this technique. Ceramics, however, do not appear to represent the same stylistic features that are found on sculptures.
Chavín art decorates the walls of the temple and includes carvings, sculptures and pottery. Artists depicted exotic creatures found in other regions, such as jaguars and eagles, rather than local plants and animals. The feline figure is one of the most important motifs seen in Chavín art. It has an important religious meaning and is repeated on many carvings and sculptures. Eagles are also commonly seen throughout Chavín art. There are three important artifacts which are the major examples of Chavín art. These artifacts are the Tello Obelisk, tenon heads, and the Lanzón.
Tello Obelisk is a vertical, rectangular shaft with a step-like notch at the top. The obelisk is carved in relief on all four sides and consists of two representations of a single-type creature. The head, body and tail occupy one or the other broad sides, while the legs, genitalia and other subsidiary elements occupy the narrow sides. These creatures have been interpreted as a "cat-dragon" type of creature (by Tello) and as a cayman (by Rowe and Lathrop). The large artifact may portray a creation myth.
Tenon heads are found throughout Chavín de Huántar and are one of the most well-known images associated with the Chavín civilization. Tenon heads are massive stone carvings of fanged jaguar heads which project from the tops of the interior walls.