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Chavin de Huantar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Peru built by the Chavin people. It was a thriving trading town that influenced later Peruvian cultures. The site includes the Old and New Temples, and the Circular Plaza surrounded by three temples.
Chavin de Huantar is a ruined site in Peru. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been since 1985. The ruins were the site of a great culture in the region before the ascension of the Incas, and although largely dilapidated, they are still a wonderful place to visit for those who are interested in Pre-Columbian sites of South America.
Chavin de Huantar was built by the Chavin people. The Chavin flourished in western Peru from about the 10th century BC until the end of the 2nd century BC. The Chavin were responsible for much of the foundation for later Peruvian cultures, including the Inca themselves. The Chavins were responsible for a number of innovations in the region. They domesticated llamas and used them as pack animals, created elaborate trade networks, and created two distinct and ornate styles of art.
Construction at Chavin de Huantar began in the early part of the rise of the Chavin culture in the region, in the early 9th century BC The style of Chavin de Huantar varies over the culture’s existence and clear differences can be seen between the early styles and what came centuries later.
Chavin de Huantar originally functioned primarily as an agricultural community. As it developed, however, it used its location on the Maranon River to become a thriving trading town. Both goods and culture were spread from Chavin de Huantar to the wider Chavin area and neighboring territories as well.
From the 5th century BC the Chavin culture began to decline. Sites throughout the Chavin lands began to be abandoned and no new buildings could be erected. A brief second period of more subdued construction took place at Chavin de Huantar, and it was in these structures that descendants of the Chavin would continue to dwell long after the culture itself had deteriorated. A village grew up on what had once been the site of the Circular Plaza de Chavin de Huantar, and this village appears to have remained constantly inhabited until the mid-20th century.
The Old Temple is perhaps the most iconic of Chavin de Huantar’s structures. It contains various obelisks, decorated with ornate carvings of various humanoid animals, including jaguar shapes and caiman shapes. In the middle of the Old Temple is a sculpture of what is thought to have been the reigning god of Chavin de Huantar, Lanzon. Various other artifacts, including trumpets made of shells and mortar and pestle sets, have also been discovered in the Old Temple.
Centuries later, during the period associated with the decline of Chavin de Huantar, the New Temple was built. It’s a somewhat simpler structure, but is similar in many ways to the Old Temple. The New Temple also contains a statue of Lanzon, as well as a number of sculptures similar in shape to those in the Old Temple.
The Circular Plaza is the center of Chavin de Huantar. It is surrounded by three distinct temples, referred to simply as Temple A, Temple B and Temple C. It is almost a perfect circle and the floor is inlaid with beautiful black limestone and diatomite.
