Chavín de Huantar is an archaeological site located 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Lima, Peru. The site lies at an elevation of 3177 meters (10,423 feet), between the Andean mountain ranges of the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca. The city's location at the head waters of the Marañon River, between the coast and the jungle, made it an ideal location for the dissemination and collection of both ideas and material goods. Lima is the capital and largest city in Peru. ... The Cordillera Blanca (White Range) is a mountain range in the Peruvian Andes. ... The river Marañón rises about 100 miles to the north-east of Lima, Peru. ...

Chavín de Huantar was initially built by the Chavín, a pre-Moche culture, around 900 B.C. The site consists of two main structures, the Old Temple and New Temple. The Old Temple was an inward-facing U-shaped structure with a central court. The court contained obelisks and stone monuments with low relief carvings depicting jaguars, caymans, hawks, and various anthropomorphic forms. The interior of the temple contained a maze of passageways, chambers and water conduits. Chavín & Chavín influence The Chavín were an early civilization that existed in what is now the country of Peru. ... Moche Pottery (Image © PROMPERU, used with permission) The Moche civilization (aka the Mochica culture, Early Chimu, Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc. ... For the obelisk punctuation mark, see dagger (typography). ... Bas relief is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching away the surface of a flat piece of stone or metal. ... Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ...

The New Temple, constructed between 500 and 200 B.C., also contained many relief sculptures and was a more block-like form. A massive stair led up to an elevated landing with a sunken rectangular court. Hidden passageways and platforms allowed priests to miraculously appear above their audiences.

The population in the surrounding areas grew from about 500 in its initial phase to nearly 3,000 around 400-200 B.C. Several droughts occurred at the time of the occupation of Chavin de Huantar, leading to the increased travel of pilgrims and traders. These natural events, along with the strategic location of the temple site, led to the wide dissemination of the Chavín artistic style and religious beliefs throughout the area that is now known as Peru. A drought is an extended period where water availability falls below the statistical requirements for a region. ...

Some of the Chavín reliefs from this archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nacion in Lima. Chavín de Huantar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system established in 1946. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ...

References

Art of the Andes, from Chavin to Inca. Rebecca Stone Miller, Thames and Hudson, 1995.

The Incas and their Ancestors. Michael E. Moseley, Thames and Hudson, 1992.

External Links

• Chavín de Huántar project (http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~tluka/) Good overview of archeological evidence
• The Tello Obelisk (http://www.jqjacobs.net/andes/tello.html), article and photos of Chavín obelisk by James Q. Jacobs
• Exploring Chavín de Huántar (http://www.stanford.edu/~johnrick/chavin_wrap/chavin/), virtual tour of the archaeological site
• MNSU Chavin de Huantar (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/south_america/chavin_de_huantar.html)