Page 309 - Perú indígena y virreinal

catalogue
the chavin period
Alicia Alonso
Andean men and women were around long before Chavin culture was born. Their trekking through the valleys and hill and alongside the region’s rivers led them to an understanding of their surroundings and the possibilities it offered them. “The Gods”, who had bestowed the land with so many difficulties, earthquakes, floods, deserts and high altitudes were also benevolent, giving them corn, cotton, potatoes, llamas and the sea. Control over all these elements meant that people slowly began to control their environment, learning to understand the productivity of the land and how to shepherd its animals, thus facilitating life in each of the different Andean ecosystems.
Situated 3,177 metres above sea level in the region of Ancash in the heart of the Andes, the arrival of Chavin, if truth can be separated from myth, can be traced back to the pre- ceramic period. Since its discovery by Max Hule at the beginning of the 20th Century, the magnificence of its archaeology remains made it clear that here was culture of great importance, a real challenge for the archaeologists who would follow in Hule’s footsteps.
Its position between two rivers, the Huachecsa and the Mosna, gave it an enviable setting as the latter river, an affluent of the Marañón, led directlt to the Amazon basin.
Its origins are still unclear today, and it is no surprise that researchers debate whether its people had come from the coast or the Amazon. Among its ruins one can appreciate how the architecture of this “power centre” is characterised by a number of elements common to many sites in the Peruvian Andes such as the dominance of stone buildings with exterior decoration, sunken circles for the performing of rituals or the labyrinthine structure inside the buildings known as “the old temple” and “the new temple”
Chavin art appears as a representative style, clearly identifiable within its culture. Stone is the medium of choice whilst other raw materials that were used ceramics, bone, cloth and wood, all worked with techniques that in some ways bring to mind their link to lithic workshops. The chiaroscuro achieved in their ceramic ware appears as market grooves cut into the surface whilst the polishing and burnishing give the pieces an almost stone-like effect. It is a two-dimensional type of representation with the figures that appear are defined by characteristic features.
Chavin also became a veritable conduit for the ideology of power: the Lanzon Dagger, the Tello Obelisk, and the Raimondi Star are three of the best example of art at the service of the elite. El Lanzon Dagger represents a human with jaguar-like attributes and is a piece of indisputable importance, as all Chavinist art continually repeats this emblematic totem. Its naturalistic form, typified by the claws, fangs, spotted skin and eyes appear as symbols power and dexterity and the priests that adorn the temple’s lithic plaques also appear with these characteristics.
However, on the northern coast during this period, the older settlements had made way for better-organised and more sedentary groups who had developed advanced water management and agricultural techniques. Archaeology cultures like the Cupisnique or the Viru paved the way for the power of the Mochicas who were to follow.
Viru or Gallinazo culture gets its name from the valley where it was situated. The archaeological remains show evidence of platforms and burial mounds that confirm the presence of a highly hierarchical social structure. The offerings they made to their ancestors prove that they used metals in accordance with other traditions that can be found in the northern Andes, and the ceramic ware for use in rituals tells us much about their surroundings and events of the time and, in spite of its somewhat naive style, it is still able to convey an image of their buildings, animal and plants to be found nearby and of those that governed them. These rulers universally seemed to have big ears and cranial
defects and were always dressed as warriors. The technique of using negative-like black and white images was one of their greatest achievements. The tomb of the Grand Lord of Viru, discovered in 1946 in Huaca de la Cruz, shows the practice of “Necropomp Death Rituals” where the deceased would be accompanied by family members and servants to guide him on his journey to “the other side”.
Cupisnique culture was located between the Viru and Lambayeque valleys in one of the most interesting areas of “Huaca de los Reyes”. As with the Vicus we have found evidence of monuments, use of metal and ceramics that place it firmly as being pre- Mochica. The human figure was also of great importance, and, interestingly, among their representation of the animal and plant kingdoms, we encountered widespread use of the feline form, leading them to be described on numerous occasions as the “Coastal Chavins” The relationship between sea and sierra is clearly confirmed, making this “Early Horizon” one of the most interesting periods of Andean culture.
classical art [500 bc–500 ac]
Cristina Vidal Lorenzo
The millennium that came after the so-called Old Horizon, dominated by the Chavin is also conventionally known as the period of Classical Art, the work of cultures seen as exceptional from an artistic point of view. These cultures cover a large area of the Andean region, from the northern coast to the Lake Titicaca basin.
This era covered an extensive period of time during which the cultural community of the Andes fragmented into a mosaic of vigorous regional manifestations. These evolved into distinctive artistic styles which, whilst not breaking completely away from old traditions, did introduce important innovations into the world of the arts, as well as discarding some conventionalisms from the previous period and seeing the introduction of a new kind of iconography and spectacular design.
Some of these cultures, as in the case of the Paracas, had their roots in the previous period, whilst others, like the Mochicas, flourished later, when the politico-religious authority of the Chavin had been completely destroyed.
In the field of art, Mochican culture is principally celebrated for its contributions in ceramics, metalwork, and wall painting, all of which were closely linked to the architecture of their monuments in various settlements in the northern region, from the valley of Lambayeque as far as the basin of the River Nepeña, whilst the influence of the Mochicans covered an ever greater area, stretching roughly 550 km from north to south.
Unlike in Chavin culture, Mochican artists introduced narrative sequences into their paintings, above all in their ceramics, thanks to which it has been possible to reconstruct, at least partly, their mythological universe as well as certain aspects of a ceremonial nature. Their sculptural ceramic pieces were also outstanding, the master potters turning them into veritable architectural studies. Others were expressive portraits of their rulers or of scenes related to the natural world: fish typical of the region such as manta rays, deer and other horned animals as well as big cats, birds, snakes and delights from the plant world, most notably, depictions of cactus, widely used in Andean ritual.
In gold and silver work, they were able to combine metalworking techniques with great virtuosity, setting them with precious stones and creating sophisticated, intricately designed jewellery (nose rings, earrings and breastplates) as well as other pieces whose use was strictly reserved for the ruling elite (crowns sceptres, maracas and whistles) without forgetting their bead necklaces, made from other materials such as quartz crystal and conch shell.
Further north, in the region of Piura, tombs dedicated to the so-called Vicus cult were found, full of funeral pieces including a wealth of metal pieces, evidence of these peoples metalworking skills. As well as masks, jewellery and other decorations that were applied to textiles there was metalware including bowls, spoons, chisels and other tools as well as weapons and other instruments of power.
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