essay
Unity and heterogeneity within the Chavín Horizon
peruvian prehistory : an overview of pre-inca and inca society • New York • Published In 1988 • Pages: 99-144, 319-355
By: Burger, Richard L..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Burger writes about the rise of Chavín as an expansive religious movement that didn't depend on proselytizing missionaries to spread. He points out that despite this apparent unity '…the societies which constituted Chavín civilization were still characterized by profound ideological, soci-political, and economic differences …' (page 99). He believes it would be best to study Chavín using Andean concepts of community, reciprocity, taxation, and kinship to explain its expansion. Burger compares Chavín to the spread of the historical Pachacamac cult in the 16th century and shows how it may have been a regional cult; in that regional cults are 'non-congruent with political and ethnic boundaries and their ideology and rituals foster universalism and openness….Frequently, local cults acknowledge the legitimacy of the regional cult, and even become formally affilliated with it, without necessarily modifying their own ideology or rituals.' (page 114). The findings from the Karwa tomb, in southern coastal Peru, shows many similarities with the art in Chavín de Huántar. But the artifacts also show distinctive regional organization such as textiles picturing a female 'Staff God'. Burger discusses some the the ceramic traits that diffused throughout the Chavín area. He ends the article by proposing some hypotheses as to why Chavín appeared when it did.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Cultural participation
- Ceramic technology
- Visual arts
- Sacred objects and places
- Congregations
- Chronologies and culture sequences
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Chavín
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry ; 2003
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date given
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- late Initial Period through Early Horizon
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- western Peru
- NotesAdditional notes
- Richard L. Burger
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-355)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 85029059
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Chavín culture