ChavÃn de Huantar
Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site in Peru. She has a culture where the name, the time between 850 BC to 200 BC stretched, but never formed a geographical center. Rather, it is likely that this place was at the intersection of the connection from the mountains to the coast and the route from north to south. The site is located 2 hours drive from the city of Huaraz, about 500 km north of Lima. The culture spread both in the highlands and along the coastal region and has many of the subsequent cultures influenced.
What Chavín was, indeed, is still unknown. Assumptions are that it BC was an oracle and cult center more significant extent during its heyday 400-200, was the cultural activities of the textile and ceramic manufacturing, and metal processing. The plant Chavín is considered the oldest ensemble of stone buildings in Peru. The stone blocks of granite are from Kahuish Pass and were in the rainy season herangeflößt. The complex includes several buildings with different platforms and courtyards, which are partly connected by underground passages with each other. The main buildings are an " Old Temple " and a " New Temple " and a by the Spaniards mistakenly " Castillo " called building a three-story, square pyramid with a side length of 70 m and a height of about 15 m. For protection against earthquakes, the side walls are inclined by 7 degrees. Inside is a maze of small chambers, stairways and ramps, which are interconnected by underground passages and have horizontal ventilation ducts. The walls were decorated with stone heads, some of which are well preserved or restored. Archaeologists are of the opinion that it is representations of victims or enemies caught. The stone reliefs show big cats (possibly Jaguars ) in connection with snakes and condors.
In the center of the building is the 4.5m tall monolith " El Lanzón ", a human -designed image of God, with claws on hands and feet, which is located at the intersection of cross-shaped galleries. The figure in the form of a knife with the handle up, shows a predator face with numerous snakes between the teeth. At the ends of the hair and even snakes from the belt hang down. The monolith is the oldest character that was found in this area. Far younger the Raimondi Stela and the Tello Obelisk, now preserved in the Archaeological Museum in Lima. The motifs depicted on it are similar but. Julio Tello, a Peruvian archaeologist, came to the conclusion that different cultures Chavín to the Incas united in a religious ideology.
This culture knew simple techniques for processing gold. Serpentine jewelry and gold nuggets in the form of stylized felines motifs were found. Ceramics and textile products also exhibit predatory motives.
Similar motifs were found in the following Moche culture, but also in the area around Tiahuanaco.
UNESCO declared 1985 Chavín, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.