Chavin de Huantar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts originally constructed by the Chavín, a pre-Inca culture, around 900 B.C. The site is located 250 kilometers north of Lima, Peru at an elevation of 3150 meters, between the Andean mountain ranges of the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca. Chavin de Huantar has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the Chavin reliefs from this archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nacion in Lima. Findings at Chavin de Huantar indicate that social instability and upheaval began to occur between 500 and 300 B.C., at the same time that the larger Chavin civilization began to decline. Large ceremonial sites were abandoned, some unfinished, and were replaced by villages and agricultural land. At Chavin de Huantar, no later than 500 B.C., a small village replaced the Circular Plaza. The plaza was occupied by a succession of groups, and building stones and stone carvings were salvaged for use in house walls. Multiple occupation floors indicate the village was continuously occupied through the 1940’s. Lima travel attractions.
GPS travel destinations: 9° 35′ 33.99″ S, 77° 10′ 42.43″ W
Chavin de Huantar, Lima video:
