Examining Formative Ceremonial Centers: The View from Chavín de Huántar

Abstract

Although research flourishes on the ceremonial centers of the Andean Formative period, at the same time remarkably little is understood about the basic functional parameters of these centers. Ultimately, we need to be answering basic questions about why these centers were built, who they functioned for, and what needs they served. This paper argues that although the evidence is clear that they were ritual centers, the application of devotional models derived from modern religious practice is not congruent with observations about the particular site of Chavín de Huántar. Instead, the configuration of this prominent center appears to confirm that the site primarily reflects strategies of leading and secondary elite for increasing hierarchical differentiation within the social and political dimensions of Formative society.