The Ancient Region of North Central Peru

Chavín de Huántar contains ruins and artifacts constructed as early as 1200 BC and occupied by later cultures until around 400–500 BC by the Chavín a major pre-Inca culture and one of the oldest known civilizations in South America—often called the “mother culture” of the Andes

The site is located in the Ancash Region, 160 miles north of Lima, at an elevation of 10,430 feet, east of the Cordillera Blanca at the start of the Conchucos Valley. Activity in the Ceremonial Center is dated to have occurred primarily toward the end of the second millennium, and through the middle of the first millennium BC.
    There is a grassy Square Plaza, and 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 and a staircase lead up to what was originally a four-story-high structure. What is seen overall today, is a complex built over the original Chavín site using the same materials as the original work.
    In fact, upon originally seeing the site of Chavín de Huántar for the first time, it was anything but impressive, with little in site to suggest to archaeologists that there was any reason to dig there. However, beneath the rubble, dirt and grass lay an unknown treasure of great archaeological significance. Little by little they found artifacts in their excavations, then a large circular plaza. 

Entrance to Chavín de Huántar

    The Chavín 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. While the fairly large population was based on an agricultural economy, 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. Obviously, their location 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.
    The site consists of a number of terraces and squares having constructions of bonded stones. Beneath the Temple at Chavín de Huántar are numerous subterranean corridors and galleries that were so expertly constructed as to allow lights to shine inward in a fascinating manner
    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.
    In addition, Findings at Chavín de Huántar indicate that social instability and upheaval  began to occur between 500 and 200 BC, at the same time that the larger Chavín civilization began to decline.
    This archeological site evidently served as a gathering place for people of the region to come together and worship, and the transformation of the center into a valley-dominating monument had a complex effect—becoming a pan-regional place of importance. It appears that people went to Chavín de Huántar as a center to attend and participate in rituals, consult an oracle, or enter a cult (Richard L. Byrger, " Chavín de Huántar and its Sphere of Influence," Handbook of South American Archeology, Springer, New York:, 2008, pp681–687; Silvia Rodriquez Kembel and John W. Rick, "Building Authority at Chavín de Huántar: Models of Social Organization and Development in the Initial Period and Early Horizon,” Andean Archaeology, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, 2004).

 Two of the extensive underground passages found beneath the temples

Beneath the temples first uncovered was a labyrinth of dim, narrow and exotically named passageways—some called the Gallery of the Madman, Gallery of the Bats, and Gallery of the Offerings
    Burial platforms and ceremonial plazas were uncovered, which has 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 thousand years, 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.
    In addition to monumental building, the Chavín were knowledgeable agriculturists, establishing numerous irrigation canals, bringing water from riverbeds into the adjacent lands, which led to the expansion of the populace into numerous communities throughout the area. They were heavily involved in Metallurgy, and developed many monumental public buildings.

The ancient city near Huaraz, Peru

Thirty-three miles westward across the Cordillera Blanca from Chavín de Huántar lies Huaraz (Quechua: Waraq or Waras, "dawn"), an ancient city in Peru's northern Callejón de Huaylas valley. It is now the capital of the Ancash Region, and sits at 10,013 feet above sea level,
    The Chavín ruins date to the Wari Empire, and the mummies housed in the main three story building show artifacts of their Wari ancestors. The buildings contain a complicated system of ventilation ducts in a intricate system which kept moisture out, and the buildings roofed with massive schist stone slabs that amaze the viewer as to how the early inhabitants could so accurately construct the buildings and place the massive slabs.
    The visual legacy of Chavín would persist long after the site’s decline in approximately 200 BC, yet motifs and stylistic elements cans be seen in surrounding areas and even as far away as the coast. The location of Chavín seems to have helped make it a special place—it is regarded as one of the most important archaeological sites of the Wari culture, and the temple built there became an important pilgrimage site that drew people and their offerings from far and wide.

The Cordillera Blanca mountain range in the highlands of northern Peru

Also in the shadows of the snow-capped peaks, the Cordillera Blanca range sits at over 19,500 feet forming its dramatic eastern skyline. Encompassing much of the today’s Cordillera Blanca Huarascán National Park, the area is home to Andean condors and jaguars as well as Peru's tallest mountain, Huarascán.
    The Cordillera Blanca is the most extensive tropical ice-covered mountain range in the world and has the largest concentration of ice in Peru. It is part of the Cordillera Occidental (the westernmost part of the Peruvian Andes), and trends in a northwesterly direction for 125 miles and has five of the most spectacular peaks above 19,685 feet in the Peruvian Andes; the highest peak, Huascarán, rises to an elevation of 22,204 feet. above sea level. The Cordillera Blanca also acts as a continental divide with the Santa River on the west draining into the Pacific Ocean, and the Marañón River on the east draining into the Atlantic Ocean.
    Here the ancient Wari built numerous settlements and some large cities, their ruins now dotting the numerous highland valleys of north central Peru.

The ancient site of Wilcahuaín

About 4½ miles north of Huaraz is the small, well-preserved ancient site of Wilcahuaín (Willcahuaín or Huilcahuaín), which means “Grandson’s House, is an archaeological site near Lake Ahuac, at 11,200 feet elevation. It is a multi-chambered stone mausoleum, with each level having seven rooms interconnected by narrow passageways.
    The largest mausoleum in the region is very solid with meter-thick walls and megalithic lintels, door jambs and roof slabs. The Ichik Willkawain complex is a one-kilometer walk away and consists of many smaller chullpas and two residential structures.

Largest Mausoleum in north central highlands of Peru

Its largest building, sitting on the flank of a hillside above Huaraz city, has thick ramparts, with each level entered from a different side of the building. A rounded roof tops the structure, and all stone construction is supported by interior walls making up the many chambers on each level. There are substantial internal passageways providing ventilation throughout the building.
    The three levels are thought to have represented three primary realms common to Wari and other cultures of western South America: 1) the underworld, where the dead nurtured their descendants, 2) the world seen by humanity, and 3) the world of the heavens, where deities dwell. These physical locations may have some bearing on where within the structure, specific persons mummified remains were placed.
    Outside the main chamber is a small satellite stone building that is thought to have been a place for a watchman or caretaker. A few hundred yards away is a second site, Ichik Willkawain, with several smaller mausoleums. There are great views from the area of the eastern mountain tops.

The site of Quinuacocha 1¼  miles southwest of Wilcahuaín

Another nearby site is Quinuacocha, on the northern outskirts of Huaraz and a little south of the confluence of the Wilcahuaín River and the Rio Santo. It is seventy miles west of Lake Quinuacocha , which is located in the area of Pusaccocha, meaning “five lakes,” at 13,836  feet, and Cerro Quinuacocha, a mountain at 14,412 feet.

    This entire area sin the highlands and high valleys of north central Peru are full of ruins of the ancient Peruvians, again aligning with the scriptural record, “they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east” (Helaman 3:8).