The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas Volume I, II, and III

Evolution of Andean Diversity (500 B.C.E.-C.E. 600) 441
tion and style, and complex and informative in iconographic content.
Many of our interpretations about the ideology underlying the Chavin
cult derive from a handful of large stone carvings such as the Raimondi
Stela and the Tello Obelisk, both removed from their original settings at
Chavin de Huantar many years ago for display in Lima. As noted earlier,
not many stone carvings remain in their original contexts, making it
difficult to understand their significance fully. Chavin art, like most
prehispanic art styles, was basically religious in nature, and the meaning
of each carving was probably closely related not only to form and iconographic
content but also to context (e.g., specific orientation and placement).
Rowe characterizes Chavin stone carvings as representational and conventional.
In general, the use of multiple conventions is yet another
reason why Chavin art is difficult to decipher. These conventions include
symmetry, repetition, the use of standardized measures, and representation
by substitution (e.g., snakes as hair), among others described later.
Many of these conventions remind us of decorative textile weaving in
which the design is carefully conceived before weaving begins. At the
same time, the stone carvings display mastery of curves and scrolls.
In Rowe's stylistic seriation of Chavin stone carvings, the Tello Obelisk
and the Raimondi Stela pertain to early and late parts of the Chavin
artistic tradition, respectively — in other words, contemporaneous with
the Old and New Temples. In spite of considerable temporal difference,
analysis of the images on these carvings reveals strong continuity in the
essence of the Chavin cult.
The Tello Obelisk is a tall (2.6-m high, 0.3-m wide), prismatic granite
shaft that Carrion and Lumbreras argue originally stood in the center of
the circular sunken court in front of the Old Temple as a gnomon or
time-keeping device (Fig. 5.23). Stylistically, the bas-reliefs in the court
and the obelisk are quite similar. The flat surfaces of the obelisk are
covered by a highly complex zoomorphic representation in bas-relief.
Essentially, it shows a profile view of two similar mythical creatures that
possess the basic features of "crocodile" (looking more like Crocodylus
acutus than Alligator mississipiensis or cayman) but with birdlike tails.
Conventionalized representations of various plants and seashells are seen
on different parts of their bodies. These parts are subdivided by a series
of vertical and horizontal lines, suggesting a carefully planned design
layout. Tello interpreted these creatures as the female and male versions
of a single creator deity. The male has an L-shaped appendage ("penis")
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