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The Chavín culture is an extinct, prehistoric civilization, named for ''Chavín de Huántar'', the principal archaeological site at which its artifacts have been found. The culture developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. It extended its influence to other civilizations along the coast.〔Burger, Richard L. 2008 "Chavin de Huantar and its Sphere of Influence", In ''Handbook of South American Archeology'', edited by H. Silverman and W. Isbell. New York: Springer, pp. 681–706〕〔Burger, Richard L., and Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe (1990). "Maize and the Origin of Highland Chavín Civilization: An Isotopic Perspective", ''American Anthropologist'' 92(1):85–95.〕 The Chavín people (whose name for themselves is unknown) were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge. This area is 3150 meters above sea level and encompasses the ''quechua'', ''jalca'', and ''puna'' life zones.〔Burger (1992), ''Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization''〕 The best-known archaeological site for the Chavín culture is ''Chavín de Huántar'', located in the Andean highlands of the present-day Ancash Region. It is believed to have been built around 900 BC and was the religious and political center of the Chavín people.〔 It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. == Achievements == The chief example of architecture is the ''Chavín de Huántar'' temple. The temple's design shows complex innovation to adapt to the highland environments of Peru. To avoid the temple's being flooded and destroyed during the rainy season, the Chavín people created a successful drainage system. Several canals built under the temple acted as drainage. The Chavín people also showed advanced acoustic understanding. During the rainy season water rushes through the canals and creates a roaring sound and creates a noise like a jaguar, a sacred animal. The temple was built of white granite and black limestone, neither of which is found near the Chavín site. This meant that leaders organized many workers to bring the special materials from far away rather than use local rock deposits. The Chavín culture also demonstrated advanced skills and knowledge in metallurgy, soldering, and temperature control. They used early techniques to develop refined gold work. The melting of metal had been discovered at this point and was used as a solder.〔Lothrop, S. K. (1951) "Gold Artifacts of Chavin Style", ''American Antiquity'' 16(3):226–240〕 The people domesticated camelids, such as llamas. Camelids were used for pack animals, for fiber, and for meat. They produced ''ch'arki'', or llama jerky.〔Miller and Burger, 1995〕 This product was commonly traded by camelid-herders and was the main economic resource for the Chavin people. Chavin people also successfully cultivated several crops, including potatoes, quinoa, and maize. They developed an irrigation system to assist the growth of these crops.〔Burger and Van Der Merwe, 1990〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chavín culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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