Stone copy of Raimondi Stela at Chavin de Huantar, Andes, Peru, South America.

See a carved stone copy of the Raimondi Stela outdoors at Chavin de Huantar archeological site, in the northern Andean highlands of Peru, South America. The 3,000-year-old stela (or stele) design is carved in the image of a god, possibly the main god worshiped in the New Temple of Chavín de Huántar, the "Staff Bearing God," which covers the bottom third of the stone. The upper two thirds is a head dress. The engraved design is one of the finest examples of contour rivalry, an artistic technique in which the image changes depending on point of view. From one point of view, see an image of a fearsome deity holding two staffs, but upside down see a smiling reptile and a stacked row of smiling, fanged faces. Italian archaeologist Antonio Raimondi found the stela in the hut of a peasant in Callejon de Conchucos in 1874. Go to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia e Antropologia in Lima to see the original Raimondi Stela, made of highly polished granite seven feet high, dating from 1000 BC. The major pre-Inca culture of Chavín created the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the Andes during their advanced civilization from 900 BC to 200 BC, and extended their influence to other receptive civilizations along the coast. Chavin de Huantar is east of the Cordillera Blanca at 3180 meters elevation (10,430 ft) at the head of Conchucos Valley, a long day trip by car from Huaraz. UNESCO honored Chavin Archaeological Site on the World Heritage List in 1985.

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Filename: 03PER-22-32_Raimondi-Stela_Chavin.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 3055x4500 / 3.9MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; art art work Andes

See a carved stone copy of the Raimondi Stela outdoors at Chavin de Huantar archeological site, in the northern Andean highlands of Peru, South America. The 3,000-year-old stela (or stele) design is carved in the image of a god, possibly the main god worshiped in the New Temple of Chavín de Huántar, the "Staff Bearing God," which covers the bottom third of the stone. The upper two thirds is a head dress. The engraved design is one of the finest examples of contour rivalry, an artistic technique in which the image changes depending on point of view. From one point of view, see an image of a fearsome deity holding two staffs, but upside down see a smiling reptile and a stacked row of smiling, fanged faces. Italian archaeologist Antonio Raimondi found the stela in the hut of a peasant in Callejon de Conchucos in 1874. Go to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia e Antropologia in Lima to see the original Raimondi Stela, made of highly polished granite seven feet high, dating from 1000 BC. The major pre-Inca culture of Chavín created the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the Andes during their advanced civilization from 900 BC to 200 BC, and extended their influence to other receptive civilizations along the coast. Chavin de Huantar is east of the Cordillera Blanca at 3180 meters elevation (10,430 ft) at the head of Conchucos Valley, a long day trip by car from Huaraz. UNESCO honored Chavin Archaeological Site on the World Heritage List in 1985.