Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
being free of system-serving, and heading for authority based on belief rather than for serving an agricultural pur-
pose. Some archaeologists have also argued that women also served as priests and played a powerful role during
the Chavín period. Chavín, it seems, remains a rather polarizing mystery.
Chavín is a series of older and newer temple arrangements built between 1200 BC and
500 BC, but most structures visible today came from a big building effort between 900
and 700 BC. In the middle is a massive central square, slightly sunken below ground
level, which like the overall site has an intricate, extensive and well-engineered system of
channels for drainage. From the square, a broad staircase leads up to the portal in front of
the largest and most important building, called the Castillo, which has withstood some
mighty earthquakes over the years. Built on three different levels of stone-and-mortar ma-
sonry (sometimes incorporating cut stone blocks), the walls here were at one time embel-
lished with
tenon
heads (blocks carved to resemble human heads with animal or perhaps
hallucinogen-induced characteristics backed by stone spikes for insertion into a wall).
Only one of these remains in its original place, although the others may be seen in the loc-
al museum related to the site.
A series of tunnels underneath the Castillo are an exceptional feat of engineering, com-
prising a maze of complex corridors, ducts and chambers. In the heart of this complex is
an exquisitely carved, 4.5m monolith of white granite known as the
Lanzón de Chavín
.
In typical terrifying Chavín fashion, the low-relief carvings on the Lanzón represent a per-
son with snakes radiating from his head and a ferocious set of fangs, most likely feline.
The Lanzón, almost certainly an object of worship given its prominent, central placement
in this ceremonial center, is sometimes referred to as the Smiling God - but its aura feels
anything but friendly.
Several beguiling construction quirks, such as the strange positioning of water channels
and the use of highly polished mineral mirrors to reflect light, led Stanford archaeologists
to believe that the complex was used as an instrument of shock and awe. To instill fear in
nonbelievers, priests manipulated sights and sounds. They blew on echoing
Strombus
trumpets, amplified the sounds of water running through specially designed channels and
reflected sunlight through ventilation shafts. The disoriented cult novitiates were probably
given hallucinogens like San Pedro cactus shortly before entering the darkened maze.
These tactics endowed the priests with awe-inspiring power.
The new, outstanding
Museo Nacional de Chavín
(admission free; 9am-5pm Tue-
Sun)
, funded jointly by the Peruvian and Japanese governments, houses most of the in-
tricate and horrifyingly carved
tenon
heads, as well as the magnificent Tello Obelisk, an-
other stone object of worship with low relief carvings of a caiman and other fierce anim-
