Located at 10,500
feet, Chavín de Huántar lies about 250 kilometers north of Lima. Discovered in
the late 1800s and mostly buried again by a mudslide in 1945, it is a temple
complex built by one of the oldest known civilizations in South America, the
Chavín.
The original site of Chavin de Huantar’s
circular plaza before excavation. At first glance, it looked like anything but
a place worth digging, but below the rubble, dirt and grass lay an unknown treasure
of great archaeological significance
Today, the village
with which the Chavín site shares its name is home to about 1,000 people,
mostly farmers. A single paved street runs through the middle. Horses and
donkeys are frequently tethered on the main drag, and pigs shuffle about on the
dirt side streets. The town abuts the site of the ruins, which attract slow but
steady tourist traffic. Middle-aged women and young girls sell soft drinks and
snacks outside the main gate. A short walk over a small hill brings you within
sight of the ruins—though there isn’t a lot to see at first glance.
In the distance is
the grassy Square Plaza. Closer to the entrance are the seven massive mounds
that have been found at Chavín, including old and newer temple arrangements built
over a span of 500 to 1,000 years. Impressive, crumbling walls are visible,
along with what’s left of a staircase that led up to what was originally a
four-story-high structure.
Less than a dozen
years ago, the site was relatively unknown. Mapping and dating Chavín’s various
structures had proven challenging because later inhabitants had built on top of
the original Chavín architecture, often using similar materials. However,
beneath the temples lies a labyrinth of dim, narrow and exotically named passageways—Gallery
of the Madman, Gallery of the Bats, Gallery of the Offerings.
The Excavated Site of the circular plaza at
Chavin de Huantar. Note the square hole in the center which leads down to
tunnels and a large gallery below
They have discovered
burial platforms and ceremonial plazas and expanded the excavation of an
intriguing maze of underground galleries reached through a stairwell leading down to them.
Obviously, Chavín de Huántar’s role as a cultural and religious center of
influence that predates the Incas by more than two millennia, was an area of
great importance. Some archaeologists compare Chavín to Sumer in Mesopotamia
because of its profound influence on later civilizations, and Chavín are
considered instrumental in the development of complex societies in South
America.
The
Chavin were expert stonemasons. Its
appearance is striking, with the complex of terraces and squares, surrounded by
structures of dressed stone, and the mainly zoomorphic ornamentation
Visited on a regular basis by travelers during the 19th
century, Chavín was excavated from 1919 by the Peruvian archaeologist, Julio C.
Tello, whose work contributed to the site's international reputation. In 1945,
a good many of the monuments were covered up by a disastrous landslide, then a
an earthquake struck the site in 1970.
In 1980, the
'Archaeological project of Chavín', began and has been the focus of
joint efforts on the part of Federico Villareal University and the Volkswagen
Foundation, which has made possible the resumption of excavation as well as
putting a safeguard plan for the site in place under the supervision of the Instituto Nacionale de Cultura.
The site consists of a number of terraces and squares having
constructions of bonded stones. The prevailing ceremonial and cultural nature
of the entire Chavín complex is very clear. It characterizes the architecture
of the 'Lanzon temple', the 'Tello pyramid' which are both built upon a complex
network of galleries, and the sculpted decor of the immense ornate megaliths.
This research has yielded
important findings. Earlier archaeologists had determined Chavín’s beginnings
between 800 B.C. and 200 B.C., but thanks to more recent studies and dating
methods, Chavín is now believed to have been built over several hundred years
in 15 stages, beginning in 1,200 B.C. or earlier.
It is believed that the
subterranean hallways hold the key to understanding what happened at Chavín.
According to researchers, “The galleries are a fascinating mystery—complex and
costly construction with no obvious function.” But they are beginning to give
up their secrets. Excavations have yielded massive offerings in some of the
chambers, and ceremonial objects like the Strombus trumpets in others. The
Lanzon, a 16-foot monolith of white granite depicting a feline head with a
human body sits at the crossing of passages in one gallery system.
Beneath the Temple at Chavin de Huantar are numerous subterranean
corridors and galleries that were so constructed as to allow lights to shine
inward in a fascinating manner
While the fairly
large population was based on an agricultural economy, of course, the city's
location at the headwaters of the Marañón River, at an unparalleled crossroads
between the mountains, the jungle, and the sea, brought an influence of all
these environments most likely had a strong effect on their culture and
iconography, as well as their economy, and made it an ideal location for the
dissemination and collection of both ideas and material goods. This
archeological site served as a gathering place for people of the region to come
together and worship. The transformation of the center into a valley-dominating
monument had a complex effect; it became a pan-regional place of importance,
where people attended and participated in rituals, consult an oracle, or enter
a cult. The site's most illustrious era was during the Chavín Horizon during
the latter part of the first millennium B.C. Similar belief systems and rituals
were carried out during this new era, but the entire center was enlarged with
new constructions. The site of the Old Temple was expanded to include the New
Temple, which also had galleries and plaza spaces. The Old Temple is believed
to have still functioned after the completion of the New Temple.
Just as revealing are the
presence of shined coal “mirrors” commonly found in the excavations and the
positioning of drainage canals that maximized the auditory impact of rushing
water. Taken together, the evidence seems convincing to some researchers that
Chavín de Huántar was designed for an evangelical purpose: to convert the
uninitiated.
The Circular Plaza seems to have
served a yet-to-be-understood ceremonial role. Of course, there are many things
not yet understood. But the certainty that this early culture knew how to
build, do stonework expertly, and construct underground galleries suggests a
high level of ability. This was not just an agrarian society who were
developing from a hunter-gatherer people. The Chavin culture, one of the oldest
in the Americas, knew and understood how to develop a well-functioning society
and build a city of magnificent proportions and structures.
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