Chavin (Archaeological Site)
The archaeological site of Chavin gave its name to the culture that developed between 1500 and 300 B.C. in this high valley of the Peruvian Andes. This former place of worship is one of the earliest and best-known pre-Columbian sites. Its appearance is striking, with the complex of terraces and squares, surrounded by structures of dressed stone, and the mainly zoomorphic ornamentation.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330
The archeological site of Chavin de Huantar was a sanctuary and pilgrimage site of the culture of Chavin, one of the ancient civilizations of South America that existed between 1500 and 300 B.C.. This ceremonial center is located at an altitude of 3,177 meters in a high valley in the Andes.
The complex consists of temples, a number of terraces and squares and a network of underground galleries. There is a massive central square, with underneath it a well-engineered system for drainage. The Castillo is the main temple, with three levels of dry stone masonry. On the outside it was adorned with sculptured cornerstones - the famous "Cabezas clavas" of which one is still in situ.
Furthermore there are zoomorphical bas-relief sculptures and sculpted megaliths: the Lanzon, the Raimondi stele and the Tello obelisk. Pottery with religious offerings inside was found, including shells and carved bones.
Chavin priests manipulated sights and sounds to install fear in nonbelievers: they blew on Strombus trompets and amplified the sounds of water running through specially designed tunnels. They used hallucinational drugs, extracted for example from the San Pedro cactus.
Having been already noticed by the first Spanish explorers, the site was excavated from 1919 on. In 1945, it was partially covered by a landslide. And in 1970 it suffered from an earthquake. A new museum has been built in Chavin to house the original precious treasures that have been excavated.
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/chavin.html
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