Geological landscape of the pre-Inca archeological site at Chavin de Huantar, Peru

Abstract

Chavin de Huantar, a large pre-Inca temple complex in a steep-walled mountain valley, was constructed on three geomorphic elements: the toe of an inactive earthflow, an alluvial fan, and a river floodplain. Part of the temple complex suffered river-bank erosion early this century and structures indicate ancient Chavin inhabitants attempted to control river position. The temple complex and nearby valley floor was buried by a damaging debris flow in 1945. A nearby agricultural plain that likely influenced the siting of the temple complex represents an ancient landslide-dammed lake floor. The temple is constructed of large stone blocks, mostly sandstone and quartzite with lesser granite, limestone, and volcanic tuff. Sandstone and volcanic tuff could have been quarried locally but the nearest sources for limestone and granite are 3 km and 15 km from the site.

Luminescence Dating of Monumental Stone Architecture at Chavín De Huántar, Perú

“…The monumental structures' external walls and the gallery system are built of large stones set with mud mortar and chinking stones; the area between the external walls and the galleries is orderly fill comprised of small stones and mortar. Construction materials appear largely to have been sourced locally, although some stones were transported from many kilometers away (Turner et al 1999).…”

Archaeological Approaches to Obsidian Quarries: Investigations at the Quispisisa Source

“…Compelling arguments along these lines have been made for other sourceable stones in the Central Andes for Inca stones (Ogburn 2004 and Chap. 3 ), Tiwanaku stones (Chap. 4 ), and possibly exotic granite and limestone at Chavín (Turner et al 1999 ) . This raises an intriguing comparative possibility: did Andean peoples consider obsidian, basalt, and andesite equivalent materials, or was structural stone perhaps distinct from tool stone?…”

Implications of the fluvial history of the Wacheqsa River for hydrologic engineering and water use at Chavín de Húntar, Peru

“…The majority of the landslides are of the former type; a massive landslide at the northern Step visible in foreground at right is the opening of a formally constructed stair (now blocked) that descended from the surface into the Rocas drain. extreme of the valley, which dammed the Mosna River before Chavín's settlement (Contreras, 2007;Turner, Knight, & Rick 1999), provides an example of the latter type. Distinctive morphological characteristics for either type are the main scarp at the landslide's upper limit, a main body of material displaced downslope (typically longer than it is wide for earth flows and wider than it is long for slumps), a zone of depletion, and a zone of accumulation (for an idealized schematic, see Cruden & Varnes, 1996:Figure 3-3;also Keefer & Johnson, 1983:Figure 4).…”

“…There is abundant evidence throughout the area that the local river channels are frequently shifted or completely dammed by landslides. This process is both inferred from topographic evidence-e.g., the Mosna-damming landslide that created the plain north of the modern town of Chavín (see Turner, Knight, & Rick, 1999;Contreras, 2007)-and historically attested (see Tello, 1945:775).…”

“…At the confluence of these two rivers is the archaeological site of Chavín de Huántar, a monumental complex dating primarily to the first millennium B.C. The Callejón de Conchucos is a steep valley characteristic of the eastern slope of the Moreover, the steep local landscape was (and is) prone to landslides when saturated (Tello, 1945;Turner, Knight, & Rick, 1999).…”