CHAVÍN STONE CARVING ART

The Chavín culture of Peru (c. 900 BCE) carved enigmatic sculptures like the Lanzón (smiling fanged deity in temple) and tenon heads with transforming human-jaguar faces protruding from walls. This early Andean heritage art, inclusive in mixing jungle and highland iconography, set the stage for Andean religious art, impressing upon viewers the power of the supernatural channeled in stone.