ANTH 336 New World Prehistory
Dr. Darlene Applegate
Fall 2006
Andean South America
Culture
Area
Chavin Culture
Referred
to by many archaeologists as the "Mother Culture" of Andean South
America,
and Peru specifically, because many distinctive features of the culture
area (especially religion and art) are first evidenced with Chavin
culture. Chavin
religious practices and artistic styles linked together ethnically and
linguistically different
groups in Peru.
TIME PERIOD
900 - 200 BC
Early Horizon
LOCATION
earliest sites are along
central coast
later sites spread into other parts of Peru except the southern
highlands
Map Showing the Area of Chavin Influence.
http://www.go2peru.com/webapp/ilatintravel/articulo.jsp?cod=19988101
ORIGINS
interpreted by some researchers as a "crisis cult," related to the
decline of Initial Period ceremonial centers or El Nino disaster
another interpretation identifies Chavin as a revitalization movement,
which functioned to resolve
strains within regional cultural systems of the Initial period
SUBSISTENCE
agriculture based on large-scale irrigation systems
also utilized marine resources on the coast
DIAGNOSTIC ARTIFACTS
two distinguishing cultural features of Chavin are art style and
religious practices
- zoomorphic motifs include felines, raptorial birds, snakes
represented as
deities
- anthropomorphic motifs include depictions of religious
persons and gods
and rituals; few depictions of
historical persons or political themes or conquest or royalty (unlike
Olmec)
- eccentric eyes
- fanged mouth
- kenning
(one object is used to represent another)
- modular width
- bilateral symmetry
- anatropic organization (invert
motif and still have upright images)
- reversible organization (turn 90 or 270 degrees and still
have upright images)
- double
profile composition (profile heads doubled or
joined so they look like one face)
- sometimes described as grotesque, sinister art
- emphasis on the color black
- communicate power of Chavin
religious ideology
- emblems of religious
authority
- evoke awe and increase prestige and
success of religious leaders
- focused on feline, Staff God, Smiling God
- shamanistic transformations between humans and animals,
especially felines
- use of hallucinogens (e.g., cactus) and ritual paraphernalia
Carving
on a Column in the New Temple
at Chavin de Huantar. The
Motif Combines
Feline and Bird Elements.
http://www.stanford.edu/~johnrick/chavin_wrap/chavin/galleries.html
One of Many Stone Sculptures That
Adorned the Exterior Walls of the
Temple at Chavin de Huantar. It May
Represent a Shamanistic Transformation
from Human to Feline.
http://www.stanford.edu/~johnrick/chavin_wrap/chavin/galleries.html
Chavin Depiction of the Staff God.
http://faculty.cva.edu/Stout/SAmericaAfrica
SETTLEMENT STRATEGY
characterized by ceremonial centers surrounded by hamlets, whose
inhabitants supplied
labor and food to the ceremonial centers
SITES
Chavin de Huantar
Archaeological Ruins of a Temple in the
Ceremonial Complex at Chavin de Huantar.
http://www.go2peru.com/webapp/ilatintravel/articulo.jsp?cod=19988101
Reconstruction of the Ceremonial
Complex at Chavin de Huantar.
http://www.arqueologia.com.ar/peru/chavin2.htm
Reconstruction of the Ceremonial
Complex at Chavin de Huantar.
http://faculty.cva.edu/Stout/SAmericaAfrica
Huaricoto
Huaca La Florida
DECLINE
gradual abandonment of coastal centers of cult
dissolution of cultural unit provided by Chavin
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Last updated on December 5, 2006
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