Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet
400-200 B.C.E, this shell trumpet was probably made for ceremonial use. The carved designs depict a Shaman with a divine connection, indicated by his facial tattoos and anklets, playing a shell trumpet. The figure is surrounded by snakes, including one that emanates from the instrument. The twisting and intertwined snakes may indicate the power of the trumpet to communicate with their deities.In Chavín society, power was legitimized through the belief in the small elite having a divine connection; shamans derived power and authority from their claim to a divine connection. The community believed in and had a desire to connect with the divine. With asymmetrical power, there is often evidence of the manipulation of traditions. Strategic manipulation is a vehicle of change which shamans could use to produce authority. During the Chavín horizon, large changes were taking place.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5083/Incised_Strombus-Shell_Trumpet
The Lanzon
4.53 meter long granite shaft displayed in the temple. The shaft extends through an entire floor of the structure and the ceiling. It is carved with an image of a fanged deity and it is the main cult image of the Chavin people. Chavin art was directly related to their religious beliefs; many items served religious purpose and held spiritual significance. It can be concluded that many sculpted and painted artifacts were used for religious ceremonies, while others pertained to their religious beliefs, especially in the portrayal of deities.
Feline-and-Cactus Stirrup Vessel
This Tembladera-style Chavín work depicts a feline rendered in relatively high relief, alternating with a cactus form that may refer to the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. Chavín is considered the mother civilization of the South-American Andes, and is often compared to the Olmec of Mexico in that both cultures established many patterns of art, architecture, and culture by 1000 BC. Stirrup-spout vessels like this example were made by the Chavín (and many other South-American peoples) using a number of molds, with details modeled by hand. Although we do not know what was stored in these vessels, suggestions include corn beer or "chicha," a native Andean fermented beverage. Chavín stirrup-spout vessels vary in both their architecture (spout-width, shape, direction) and type of decoration. Many combine incised design with modeled form, as in this example.
Felines of the type depicted on this vessel were important in Chavín art and culture because they were associated with the ruling houses. In nature such animals are often excellent hunters who occupy the top of the food chain, qualities also valued in human rulers. Felines, like jaguars and pumas, were also thought to enjoy great spiritual force; shamans were believed to transform into such creatures.
Jaguar Tenon Heads
The Chavín civilization developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They inhabited the famous archeological site Chavín de Huántar (which has been carbon dated to at least 3000 BCE) as a religious center for ceremonies and events, and perhaps as home for an oracle. Jaguar Tenon Heads, one of the most well-known images associated with the Chavin, are found throughout Chavín de Huántar. Tenon and Nail Heads are massive stone carvings of fanged jaguar heads projecting from the tops of interior walls. These very unusual stone heads extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast and bear zoomorphic features, some half-man-half-jaguar, some with features of birds, etc.
While performing rituals, Chavin sacrificers often snorted hallucinogens from the hieratic “San Pedro” cactus and seeds of different tropical plants containing hallucinogenic alkaloids (an image widespread in Chavin art, even with the hand of a sacrificer.) Many of the bizarre heads left behind show secretions from nose, clearly showing the effects of snorting the potent cactus powder (from nausea to bleeding to complete transformation into a totem animal.) These heads might have been the original keepers of temples and evidence of Chavinian cannibalism. In the “Gallery of Sacrifices,” along with remains of eaten deer, llamas, birds, archeologists found the remains of human bodies of different ages (cut, boiled or fried in the same manner as the animals parts.) Although no direct evidence of cannibalism exists, it was a widespread phenomenon at the time and many view the Jaguar Heads as proof enough. The Jaguar Haeds may (as in many parts of the world) represent heads of defeated enemies or, alternatively, very respected members of society, but with very opposite purposes.)
http://archive.cyark.org/ancient-stone-tenon-heads-discovered-in-ancash-peru-blog
Tello Oblisk
The correlation of the Tello Obelisk to the Old Temple is supported by stylistic comparison with the Lanzón, another important monolith at Chavín. The Lanzón remains embedded within the Old Temple, securing its temporal placement. The Lanzón and the Obelisk are unique exceptions to the three groups of Old Temple sculpture at Chavín; ashlars carved in flat relief, three-dimensional tenoned heads set into the exterior stone walls of the platform mound, and mortars. The Obelisk was discovered by Julio C. Tello during excavation of the site and thereafter moved to Lima, Peru, where it is currently housed in the Museo Nacional de Antropológia é Historía.
