Chavín de Huántar
Chavín de Huántar. Northern highlands, Peru. Chavín. 900–200 B.C.E. Stone (architectural complex); granite (Lanzón and sculpture); hammered gold alloy (jewellery).
- Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological and cultural site in the Andean highlands of Peru.with motifs and stylistic elements traveling to the southern highlands and to the coast. The location of Chavín played a role; the temple built there became an important pilgrimage site that drew people and their offerings from far and wide.
- It is also located near the confluence of the Huachesca and Mosna Rivers, a natural phenomenon of two joining into one that may have been seen as a spiritually powerful phenomenon.
- Over the course of 700 years, the site drew
- many worshipers to its temple who helped in spreading the artistic style of Chavín throughout highland and coastal Peru by transporting ceramics, textiles, and other portable objects back to their homes.
- The interior of the temple was riddled with a multitude of tunnels, called galleries. Archaeologists are still studying the meaning and use of these galleries and vents; it is possible that the whole building spoke with the voice of its god.
- Two key elements characterize the Lanzón deity: it is a mixture of human and animal features, and the representation favors a complex and visually confusing style.
- The fangs and talons most likely indicate associations with the jaguar and the caiman—apex predators seen Chavín art and in Andean iconography. The eyebrows and hair of the figure have been rendered as snakes.
- This kind of nose ornament, which pinches or passes through the septum, is a common form in the Andes. The two serpent heads flank right and left, with the same upward-looking eyes as the Lanzón. The swirling forms beneath them also evoke the sculpture’s eye shape. An ornament like this would have been worn by an elite person to show not only their wealth and power but their allegiance to the Chavín religion. This particular piece was formed by hammering and cutting the gold