Chavinskaya culture

The first mention of Chavin de Huantar is found in the chronicle of Pedro de Cies de Leon in 1553. The first scientific description of the monument was made in 1874 by Ernst Middendorf ( German Ernst Middendorf ), who noted the similarity of the monuments of Chavin de Untar with the stone mounds on the Peruvian coast and gave the new culture the name Chavinsky. The original excavations from 1919 to 1941 were conducted by the Peruvian archeologist Julio Cesar Tello , who confirmed and deepened Middendorf's conjecture ^{[5] [6]} .

The ancestor of Chavin culture, according to popular opinion, is the culture of Kupisnik of the 15th-10th centuries BC. er ^[7] .

The main architectural monument is the temple Chavin de Huantar. The construction of the temple was not fully preserved, because during the rainy seasons it was repeatedly flooded. Despite this, the Chavinians had a developed system of drainage canals, in particular, several were laid right under the temple. In addition, the Chavinians had developed ideas about acoustics. During the rainy season, water usually flowed through the canals, and the current caused a sound inside the temple, similar to the roar of a jaguar. The temple was built of white granite and black limestone, and both of these rocks in the vicinity of Chavin are not found - apparently, they had to be dragged from afar.

Another important monument is the temple Kuntur-Wasi , created by the previous culture Kupisnik .

The Chavinsk civilization had progressive achievements for its time in such areas as metallurgy, soldering, temperature control, etc. Chavintsy started using technology to create magnificent gold jewelry items rather early. At that time, they had already learned how to smelt metals, and used gold as a solder ^[8] .

Chavinians domesticated animals from the camel family, for example, llamas , which were used as pack animals. They harvested llama meat, which was wilted and then sold to other regions, and dried meat was one of the main goods of the caravan trade ^[9] . In addition, they successfully cultivated a number of plants, for example, potatoes, corn and quinoa . They also mastered the art of irrigating their agricultural land ^[2] .

Chavin state in the form of government was a theocracy . All power in the state was in the hands of the priests. However, under conditions of territorial and economic expansion — on the one hand, increased exploitation of the working masses and growing dissatisfaction — on the other, forced the priests to resort to strict centralization of power and establish a regime in the country similar to oriental despotism.

Power over the vast territory, economic power, the high prestige of Chavin culture, the ever greater concentration of legal, legislative and judicial power in the hands of the supreme ruler favored the emergence and strengthening of the concept of "world center", which Chavin began to be considered

The art of the Chavin culture represents the first original style widely spread in the Andes and having distinctive recognizable features. Chavin art can be divided into two stages. The first stage corresponds to the construction of the “Old Temple” in Chavin de Huantar (c. 900–500 BC); the second stage corresponds to the construction of the “New Temple” in the same place (about 500–200 BC).

The study of Chavinsk ceramics revealed two types of vessels: a multifaceted type with a cut out image and a rounded type with coloring ^[10] . From the point of view of style in the Chavinian art the contour contrast technique ( English contour rivalry ) was widely used. The images are intentionally confused in meaning, they are difficult to interpret and understand, since they were intended to be used only by high-ranking priests of the Chavin cult who knew their meaning. Stele Raimondi - one of the largest examples of such art.

Chavin art presents wall decorations in the form of carvings, sculptures, and ceramics. Artists preferred to depict not native plants and animals, but non-natives, such as jaguars and eagles. One of the most important motifs in Chavin art is the cat-like figure, which had an important religious significance and is repeated on many carvings and in the form of sculptures. Also in Chavin art, eagles are often found.

Characteristic examples of Chavin art are three well-known artifacts: the obelisk of Tello , "heads with spikes" and Lanson. Tello Obelisk is a giant sculptural rod with images of plants and animals, including caimans, birds, cereals, as well as people. Probably, the image on the obelisk conveyed the history of the creation of the earth. "Heads with spikes" (Eng. Tenon heads) are found in many places of Chavin de Huantar and are massive carvings of jaguars looking out from the top of the inner walls. Probably the most interesting artifact is Lanson, which is a granite pillar with a height of 4.53 m and passing through the ceiling of the temple. On it is carved an image of a deity with fangs (a half-zaguar-half-laugh-half-man) - the main cult creature of the Chavinians.

One of the most common themes in Chavin culture was the image of anthropomorphic figures with feline features. ^[11] Identified several deities of the Chavin religion, which are often found in local images. The main deity had long fangs and long hair consisting of snakes. This god was supposed to be responsible for the balance of the opposing forces. Among other identified gods were: the god in charge of food, portrayed as a flying caiman ; the god of the underworld in the form of anaconda ; the god of the supernatural world, usually in the form of a jaguar . These deities are represented on ceramics, metal objects, fabrics and sculptures.

Chavin de Huantar seems to have been a major center for some kind of religious ceremony. The element of these ceremonies were complex costumes and music. On carvings in Chavin de Huantar there are figures in intricate headdresses blowing into wind instruments from shells. Such tools, found in earlier Peruvian archaeological sites, appear to have religious significance.

In the Chavin religion, there were rituals of altering consciousness using hallucinogens . Numerous sculptures depicting the transformation of a human head into a jaguar's head were discovered. There are also a few cut images with a similar plot. The use of psychotropic drugs for religious purposes is indirectly confirmed by archaeological sources. In this area, San Pedro cacti grow with psychedelic effects. These cacti are also often depicted in the Chavin culture’s iconography, in particular, one of the gods holds the cactus as a rod. Another indirect evidence of the use of psychedelics is anthropomorphic iconography. Small mortars were found, probably for grinding Anadenanthera colubrina , as well as bone tubes and spoons decorated with images of wild animals. Also in Chavin de Huantar there are images of people with mucus escaping from the nose (a side effect of using the mentioned drug) ^[12] .

Chavinskaya culture had a rather large influence on neighboring civilizations. For example, in Pákampamp , located to the north (the journey on foot takes about 3 weeks) from Chavin de Huantar , elements characteristic of Chavin culture were found in the main temple. In Cabalo-Muerto, a coastal archaeological site in the Moche Valley region, there is an adobe structure created as an upgrade for the main temple, and also has features typical of the Chavin culture. Garagay , a monument in the territory of the modern region of Lima , contains wall images - colorful reliefs - with Chavin’s typical elements of iconography, in particular, mucus flowing from the nose. In Cerro Blanco , in the valley of Nepen, samples of Chavin ceramics were found.

The Chavinsky style - as well as, apparently, the Chavin culture - was spread from Piura on the far north coast to Paracas on the southern coast, from Chavin de Ouantar in the northern mountains to Pucara in the southern mountains ^[13] .

According to a number of researchers, the complication of the social structure of the Chavin society coincided with the beginning of the cultivation of corn. A radiocarbon analysis of human bones found in archaeological sites showed that the diet of the people to whom they belonged consisted mainly of cultures containing C ₃ , such as potatoes and quinoa , while corn containing C ₄ was not included. Potatoes and quinoa are widespread among the Chavinians, since they are better able to withstand the frost and irregular precipitation characteristic of the high mountainous climate. Cultivation of corn in such conditions is associated with considerable difficulties ^[2] .

The development of Chavin ceramics is divided into three main stages, which are generally associated with the three stages of Chavin culture development.

The first stage, Urabarriu , lasted from 900 to 500 BC. er At that time, there were two small residential areas on the territory of Chavin de Huantar, away from the ceremonial center, in which a total of several hundred people lived. This phase is characterized by the greatest variety of animals. The Chavinians hunted deer and used camel households, among the remnants of food are various mollusks from the Pacific Ocean, poultry and guinea pigs. At that time, Chavinians were already growing corn and potatoes ^[9] . In the ceramics from Urabarría, there is a strong influence of neighboring cultures ^[1] . At this time, there were several disparate centers for the production of ceramics, for which the demand was probably low ^[14] .

The second stage, Chakinani , is a brief transitional period of the Chavin culture. It lasted from 500 to 400 BC. er At this time, residential areas in Chavin moved closer to the ceremonial center. At this stage, Chavinians began to domesticate the llama, while the volume of deer hunting decreased. At the same time, communication with other cultures is expanding ^[1] .

The last stage, Kharabarriu , lasted from about 400 to 250 BC. er At this time there was a sharp increase in the Chavin population. The layout of the settlements changes; they turn into proto-towns consisting of lowland settlements and satellite communities in the surrounding high-mountain territories. It is at the stage of Kharabarriu in Chavin culture that specialization and social stratification are clearly observed. It is believed that people living to the east of Chavin de Huantar occupied a less prestigious position compared to the inhabitants of the western territories, since gold and sea shells were found in the west along with exotic ceramics, which probably had a symbolic meaning. From the analysis of bone residues, it follows that people in the west ate young lamas who had more tender meat than residents of the east. There is also evidence that at this time llama meat was harvested in highland areas and delivered to the lowlands to the communities living at the ceremonial center, instead of sending down live llamas ^[1] . At the Kharabarriu stage, varied and intensive pottery production was observed, when the population in the valley was large and the ceramic style became more defined ^[14] .

• Sechin (Peru)
• Mochika
• Tiahuanaco
• Nazca (archaeological culture)
• Wari (culture)
• Cusco
• Chimor
• Inca Empire

• Berezkin Yu. E. Chavin // Disappeared Peoples: Collection of articles (based on the materials of the Priroda ) / Comp. Cand. Philosophy Sciences S. S. Neretina ; Ed. Dr. East. Sciences P.I. Puchkov ; Art. decorated E. L. Goldina. - M .: Science , 1988. - p. 139-147. - 176 s. - 25 000 copies - ISBN 5-02-023568-7 . (region)

• Bennett, Wendell C. 1943 The Position of Chavin in Andean Sequences. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 86 (2, Symposium on Recent Advances in American Archeology): 323-327.
• Burger, Richard L. and Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe. "Maize and Highland Chavin Civilization: An Isotopic Perspective," American Anthropologist 92, 1 (1990), [85-95].
• Burger, Richard L. Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992.
• Burger, Richard L. 2008 Chavin de Huantar and its Sphere of Influence. In Handbook of South American Archeology, edited by H. Silverman and W. Isbell. Springer, NY. Pages 681–706
• Burger, Richard 1992 Sacred Center at Chavin de Huantar. In The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Druc, Isabelle C. 2004 Ceramic Diversity in Chav√√n De Huantar, Peru. Latin American Antiquity 15 (3): 344-363
• Kanåo, Chiaki. 1979 The Origins of the Chavâin Culture. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
• Kembel, Silvia Rodriquez and John W. Rick. The Building Authority at Chavin de Huantar: In Andean Archaeology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub
• Lothrop, SK Gold Artifacts of Chavin Style; Society for American Anthropology 16, 3 (1951), [226-240]
• Tello, Julio C. "Discovery of the Chavin Culture in Peru," American Antiquity 9, 1 (1943), [135-160], As you can see the many influences!
• E.A. Larin. The history of Latin America from pre-Columbian times to the 70s of the 19th century

• Culture Chavin - riddles remain in 2007
• Peru Cultural website
• Minnesota State University e-museum
• Chavín Project with bibliography and links
• Chavín Culture