CHAVÍN ARCHITECTURE: CHARACTERISTICS AND MOST NOTABLE WORKS - ART - 2024

The architecture Chavin was a prehistoric architecture held in the Andes of Peru, which showed certain construction techniques with high artistic and spiritual focus. The main archaeological site where his relics have been found is known as The Ancient Temple.

Chavin architecture developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 300 BC. Chavin architecture influenced other civilizations along the Peruvian coast.

The best known archaeological site for the Chavín culture is Chavín de Huantar, located in the Andean highlands of the current Ancash Region. It is believed that it was built around 900 BC and was the religious and political center of the Chavín people. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Chavín architecture was full of great monuments that were built for religious or political purposes. In addition, as the Chavín people lived both in the mountains and on the coasts, they had to develop different construction techniques that led them to innovate. It should also be noted that different materials were used depending on the construction context.

Main characteristics of Chavín architecture

The existing elements on the site are witnesses to the outstanding design, development and aesthetics of the lithic art of synthesis of the tombstones, beams, columns or sculptures.

Constructions that show their ideological religious connotations, symbolism, meaning of ritual and ceremonial use, as well as the function of spaces and architectural areas in particular.

They also represent the Chavín society and the process of historical evolution that reveals different stages of construction and cultural contexts, due to the continuous social functions of the site that ultimately shaped its buildings.

The main buildings were U-shaped, something characteristic of Chavín architecture. However, they also built monuments and conical pyramids with hidden locations in the subsoil.

Chavin

The most important religious site in Chavín was Chavín de Huantar, the main temple located in the Mosna Valley, which for more than five centuries became a famous pilgrimage site throughout the Andean region.

Here, ancient landslides left fertile terraces, and the proximity of many springs and a wide and varied supply of stone for monumental construction projects ensured the growth of the site.

At its peak, the center had a population of 2,000-3,000 people and covered about 100 acres (400,000 m²).

The Old Temple dates from around 750 BC and is actually a U-shaped set of buildings. In the center, two staircases descend to a sunken circular court.

The New Temple, which is part of the Old Temple in Chavín de Huantar, is known as "El Castillo" and is much larger than the Old Temple.

Its construction was made with large and heavy rectangular shaped stones and it has a huge plaza that, according to researchers, was the most common place to visit.

The walls of the buildings are lined with square and rectangular stone slabs bearing images of transformational, shamanic creatures, carved in low relief.

The figures mix human features with jaguar fangs and claws and wear serpent headdresses that symbolize spiritual vision.

Inclusion of drains: a sample of chavín architecture

The design of the Chavín de Huantar temple, as well as other works of architecture contemplated by the Chavín civilization, show advanced construction techniques that were adapted to the environment of the highlands of Peru.

This shows the great ingenuity and development, both technological and structural, that they had at that time.

To prevent flooding and destruction of the temple during the rainy season, the Chavín people created a drainage system with channels under the temple structure.

Tello Obelisk

The Tello Obelisk, another notable architectural structure, is a prismatic granite monolith from the Chavín de Huantar archaeological site in north-central Peru.

The obelisk features one of the most complex stone carvings known in America at that time.

The structure is 2.52 m high with sides of 0.32 meters and 0.12 meters wide. A notched top section narrows the top one eighth of the two wide faces to approximately 0.26 meters. Except for the notch, all four sides are flat.

The full circumference at the base is about 1 meter, and the shape shrinks uniformly to about 0.87 meters in circumference at the notch. The four sides or faces are sculpted in low relief carvings from top to bottom.

Commonly used materials

The Chavín people used different materials for the construction of their structures. The stone was the most used material and with it pyramids, wells, squares, platforms and buildings were built. However, the materials could change depending on the environment.

For example, in high areas with a high risk of rain, stone was used, but in coastal areas with low rainfall, it was built with mud and adobe, so that the constructions were still strong but the materials were economized.

Other important works

Among its outstanding architectural structures is Pampa de las Llamas - Moxeque, a set of 2 pyramids that face each other, leaving a space in the center for the largest plaza in the Ancash region, in Peru.

Also Pacopampa, an archaeological structure found in the mountains of Peru, is part of the most important works. Pacopampa was the first place where the ancient Chavín people practiced metallurgy.

Chongoyape, which today is a hydroelectric center, was at the time the second ceremonial seat of the Chavín people.

Garagay, one of the most important places of the ancient Chavín civilization. In it you will find the largest number of high reliefs made in clay that are known from ancient Peru.

References

1. Mark Cartwright. (2015). Chavin Civilization. August 19, 2017, from Ancient History Encyclopedia Website: ancient.eu.
2. William J. Conklin, Jeffrey Quilter, Cotsen Institute of Archeology at UCLA. (2008). Chavín: art, architecture, and culture. Google Books: Cotsen Institute of Archeology, UCLA.
3. A. Mason, Ancient Civilizations of Peru (1961); JH Rowe, Chavín Art: An Inquiry into Its Form and Meaning (1962); EP Benson, ed., Dumbarton Oaks Conference on Chavín, 1968 (1971); C. Kano, Origins of the Chavín Culture (1979); RL Burger, Chavín and the Origins of Andean Civilization (1992).
4. "Chavin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Retrieved August 19, 2017 from Encyclopedia.com.
5. "The Ancient Andes" by World History Boundless, CC BY 4.0.