Chavin was the capital of the
Chavin culture. It is an archaeological site in the district of Chavin, Huari province, department of
Ancash. It is 462 kilometers northeast of
Lima, Peru. The site has an elevation of 3177 meters above sea level, in the alley
Conchucos on the eastern flank of the
Cordillera Blanca.
The city's location at the confluence of the rivers and
Mosna Huacheksa in the main basin of the Marañon river, between the coast and the jungle, made him an ideal location for the collection and trade of goods.
Pedro Cieza de León (1520-1554),
Spanish chronicler, was the first
Westerner to refer to its existence. In 1616,
Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa, gave a description of the temple as its inhabitants neighbors. Visited the site in 1873 the
Italian explorer
Antonio Raimondi, who was impressed but also lamented the state in which it was and noted that the settlers used it as a quarry to supply stone for construction of their homes.
Later, in 1883, the
German Wilhelm Ernst Middendorf [1830 to
1908) explored the site to discover the grand staircase leading from the
Temple Square Plaza Mayor. Investigated by the
Peruvian Julio Cesar Tello specialist, this magical and religious center was built around the year 327 a. C. Its walls are of stone and pyramidal structures. Although not the oldest archaeological site, or the largest nor the most attractive of ancient
Peru, it was considered as a center of pilgrimage and earliest evidence of civilization in
America.
The building has a complex network of roads and stone interior galleries lit only by shafts of light that penetrate through strategically placed duct.
Inside you can still see the Lanzon
Monolithic, carved stone of 5.53 m. high in the apparently observed and anthropomorphic deities, and the
Heads, sentinel species embedded in the walls of the building. On
January 17,
1945, a flood covered and damaged structures, which were partially excavated since 1966. Recent research, excavations at the center of the
Plaza Square, gave evidence of ceremonial burial, allowing you to find the old riverbed Mosna, which means that the channel of the same, was diverted to allow construction of the plaza.
- published: 06 Nov 2010
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