Chavín de Huantar is an archaeological site located 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of 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.

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.

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.

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.

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)