Chavín de Huantar

Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site in Peru, containing ruins and artifacts constructed beginning at least by 1200 BC and occupied by later cultures until around 400-500 BC by the Chavín, a major pre-Inca culture. The site is located in the Ancash Region, 250 kilometers north of Lima, at an elevation of 3,180 meters, east of the Cordillera Blanca at the start of the Conchucos Valley. Chavín de Huántar has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the Chavín relics from this archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nación in Lima and the Museo Nacional de Chavín in Chavin itself.

Occupation at Chavín de Huántar has been carbon dated to at least 3000 BC, with ceremonial center activity occurring primarily toward the end of the second millennium, and through the middle of the first millennium BC.