CHAVÍN CULTURE: CHARACTERISTICS, HISTORY, RELIGION, ARCHITECTURE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Chavín culture comes from the Andes of northern Peru and developed between 900 BC. C. and 200 a. C. It occurred in the city of Chavín Huántar. The archaeologist Julio Tell discovered the Chavín culture and characterized it as the matrix culture of the Andean civilizations of Peru.

In the Chavín period, the development of ceramics, textiles, agriculture, the domestication of animals, the growth of manufacturing and metallurgy was established, intensifying the economic process.

In addition, it allowed to form the bases for the beginning of the pre-Columbian Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations.

Chavín art is fundamentally naturalistic. It focuses on humans and animals, such as jaguars or pumas, alligators, birds, and snakes. It also focuses on plants and mythological beings.

According to theories of some archaeologists, the Chavín religion sought the transformation of people into other beings of greater spiritual evolution through the use of hallucinogenic substances, which were discovered through found objects and sculptures.

History

Approximately between the year 1500 a. C. and 500 a. C. the culture called chavín developed.

It was a pre-Inca civilization that had dominance, power, and influence. It had its center of progress in Chavín de Huántar, located between the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers.

The inhabitants of this culture dedicated themselves to agriculture, livestock, fishing and commerce.

Based on exchanges between the coastal and mountain peoples and perhaps with the Amazonian villages, the growers harvested various products such as corn, potatoes, quinoa, pumpkins, beans, cotton and peanuts.

In this culture there were two social classes. On one side were the priests, also called the priestly caste, which was the ruling class and were in charge of the government through the law of divinity.

They possessed astronomical, weather and climate knowledge, exerting great influence and power over the people. They were also great agricultural technicians, hydraulic engineers, and artists.

The other class was the town, which was made up of the popular mass of farmers and ranchers at the service of the priestly caste.

Some chavines worked metals such as gold, silver, and copper, as well as stone, wood, and bone.

Religion

Their beliefs were polytheistic, their gods instilled fear and adopted animal figures such as the alligator, jaguar and snakes.

The Amazonian influence is detailed in the sculptures of supernatural beings. The priest was the spiritual master of the rituals and was distinguished by his clothing. Music was part of the ceremony.

The rituals were mostly done in the temple of Chavín de Huántar. Fire was made, food was served to the gods in the form of an offering, and animal sacrifices were made.

The Chavín priests consumed hallucinogenic substances, they used the San Pedro Ayahuasca cactus that they left in a trance state to be in connection with the gods.

This substance allowed them to have a better vision, since the dilated pupils helped to see in the darkness of the temple.

This was discovered by the carving images that were found, showing a god carrying a cactus in his hand.

Another sculpture represents the faces of the priests with mucus on their noses; the latter is a side effect of the consumption of hallucinogens.

The Obelisk of Tello was a monument of the Chavín civilization, an immense granite sculpture interwoven like a tapestry.

This sculpture contained the main elements in the ideology of the Chavín. The obelisk was considered a god, whose main image was an alligator with many serpents engraved around it, as well as a jaguar, plants and fruits.

Architecture

The Chavín architectural civilization represents the main style that spread throughout the Peruvian Andes.

This art is divided into two phases: the first phase corresponds to the construction of the "old" temple between 900 BC. Until 200 a. C., and the second is related to the construction of the "new" temple between the years 500 a. C. and 200 a. C.

They built large stone-based temples, as well as semicircle-shaped buildings, underground courtyards, decoration of the friezes and murals.

The temple was designed under a drainage system, since it would not have resisted the climate of the Peruvian highlands and could have been flooded or destroyed during the rainy season.

The constructions were made of black and white limestone, mud and adobe. In addition, they used various levels for the construction of the temples.

They also made an underground gallery with a ventilation system in stones carved with the heads of felines.

Currently these architectural sites of Chavín de Huántar are part of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity declared by UNESCO in 1985.

The 3 most outstanding sculptures of Chavín

1- The monolithic sandeel

It is a sculpture of 5 meters high that symbolizes the smiling or fierce god, which was embedded in the center of a small room in an underground hiding place in the entire center of the ancient Temple of Chavín de Huántar.

It was named "sandeel" due to its gigantic spearhead shape, although this theory is not confirmed; it is believed to be a sacred stone that was important in religious cults.

This stone is carved with the image of a god with an anthropomorphic physiognomy, with the eyebrows and hair of snakes, with two fangs and large feline claws resting on his leg and the right claw raised.

2- The Raimondi stele

He personifies a god with feline features with open arms, holding a staff in each hand. It is similar to the monolithic Lanzón god, but with the difference that the image has staffs.

This sculpture measures 1.98 meters long by 0.74 meters wide. It is a block of polished granite engraved on one side only.

This monolith was baptized by the naturalist of Italian origin Antonio Raimondi, who was in charge of moving it to Lima for its evaluation and conservation.

3- Nail heads

They are pieces of different sizes that represent the god Jaguar and other mystical beings that are embedded in the main walls of the Chavín temple.

The researchers claim that these sculptures fulfilled the role of driving away evil spirits.

Other studies suggest that they are possibly portraits of priests under the influence of hallucinogenic substances.

It is also held that in essence it is a hybrid between man and flying feline. This sculpture is related to the water rite, used by the farmers of ancient Peru.

References

1. Mark Cartwright. Chavin Civilization. (2015). Source: ancient.eu
2. Chavín Culture. (2000). Source: go2peru.com
3. The Chavín Culture. (2014). Source: limaeasy.com
4. K. Kris Hirst. Chavín Culture - Widespread Cult Tradition in Early Horizon Peru. (2016).Source: thoughtco.com
5. Chavin Culture and Art. Source: about-peru-history.com
6. Chavin. Source: britannica.com