The Chavin
culture existed in what is known today as the modern state of Peru. Peru is
comprised of three different types of landforms: the Pacific coast, the Andes
mountains, and the Amazonian lowlands. These are highly contrasting
environmental areas that are condensed into a small area. Despite these
conditions, it is thought that Chavin civilization arose because of the
coexistence of the peoples of these areas.
Early Peruvian civilization can be traced back to the
peopling of the New World, dating back to the crossing of the Bering Land
Bridge by Asiatic hunters long before 15,000 years ago. It is believed that
between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago some of these people began peopling the
Peruvian Andes. About 10,000 years of development took place before any
civilization was organized. The best known civilization of early Peruvian
prehistory is Chavin. Chavin is one of Peru's oldest
civilizations and
laid the cultural foundations of all later Peruvian civilizations. The Chavin
culture flourished from 900 BCE to 200 BCE,
although many elements of the culture can be traced back about 1,000 years
before its start.
It is evident that the people of Chavin held religious beliefs due to many artifacts relating to religious ceremonies that have been excavated. Large shells have been transformed into musical instruments by drilling holes in them so they could be played as horns. Several objects are believed to have been used in the ceremonial ingestion of hallucinogens such as small mortars that were used to grind vilca, a sort of hallucinogenic snuff. Other objects used for these purposes are bone tubes and spoons. Those items were decorated with impressions of wild animals that are associated with shamanistic transformation.
The Chavin culture is known for its beautiful art and
design but Chavin was also innovative with metallurgy and textile production.
Cloth production was revolutionized during the time of Chavin. New techniques
and materials are popular through the use of camel hair, textile painting, the
dying of camel hair and the
"resist" painting style similar to modern day tie-dye. Advances
in metallurgy also occurred during the Chavin's reign in Peru such as joining
pieces of preshaped metal sheets to form both objects of art and objects for
practical use. Soldering and temperature control were also advanced during this
time.
An important factor of the Chavin culture is its art, which can seem very puzzling to the untrained eye. Chavin designs can be appreciated only as abstract patterns, but there is almost always representational meaning behind them. Chavin art bears some resemblance to Olmec art suggesting that there may have been some degree of influence between the two cultures. These parallels are generalized, such as feline subject matter and figure-eight scrolls, which are prevalent art figures of Chavin culture. Whatever the parallels that Chavin art had with other civilizations we can be sure that art played a big role in the lives of the people of Chavin.
Margolies, Luise. Inca Architecture. Indiana University Press,
Bloomington.
Soustelle, Jacques. The Route of the Incas. The Viking Press, New York.