Chavín along the coast made of dried mud brick (adobe in Spanish), which were reduced to dust. Despite the corrections that modern research has brought, Chavín de Huántar was unquestionably the most important center for the elaboration of the cultural traits of the Formative Period for Peruvian coastal cultures as well as for those of nearby Amazonia. It successfully expressed a unique synthesis that, in many respects, was to become the patrimony of numerous subsequent cultures. One of the most eloquent examples of this heritage is what is known as the Staff God, from which the later Huari and Tiahuanaco (AD 500–900) gods derive. According to some, those of Ai Apaec (Moche, 100 BC–AD 850) and Illapa (Inca, AD 1440–1532) stem from it as well. What is not clear, however, is exactly how Chavín de Huántar exercised this influence, given the fact that there is no indication that Chavín was the capital of a state that directly dominated a significant part of the territory of Peru. But as Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa had the good intuition to realize 2,000 years later, it is certain that this was a religious center of enormous importance. An indication of what was involved in its practice is hinted at by the art that developed there, which often represents shamans in transformation and certain deities, all associated with states of trance and, particularly, the consumption of the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. The architecture itself is also revealing. The use of torches in the network of subterranean galleries of the Old Temple, which were small closed spaces, could have induced oxygen deprived states that would have led to visions like those seen in a trance, without resorting to the ingestion of hallucinogens. 77 Chavín: Peru’s Mysterious Temple in the Andes Through March 10, 2013 Museum Rietberg, Zurich www.rietberg.ch FIG. 25: 3D reconstruction of the four sides of the Tello Obelisk, preserved at the Museo Nacional Chavín. Graphics: ArcTron 3D. FIGS. 26 and 27: Conservation work on stone sculptures, Chavín, 2012. Photo © Gregor Frehner. A joint project of the Federal Office for Culture, the Museum Rietberg, and the Ministerio de Cultura del Perú.
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