PCSNY December Lecture – Michelle Young

What Was Chavín? New Perspectives from the Edge of the Andean World

Michelle Young
Ph.D Candidate in Anthropology, Yale University;
Pre-Columbian Studies Junior Fellow, Dumbarton Oaks

Ceramic vessel fragment decorated with applique, incision and cinnabar pigment.
Atalla (Huancavelica, Peru), 800–500 BC. Photograph by Michelle Young.

ABSTRACT

For the past century, Chavín has drawn the fascination of both art historians and archaeologists as one of South America’s most mysterious “civilizations.” As the earliest widespread cultural phenomenon in the Andes, it has been recognized both through a complex iconographical system featuring fearsome supernatural beings, as well as through patterns in material culture such as similarities in ceramics, temple construction, and ritual paraphernalia. This talk presents findings from recent investigations at Atalla, a relatively provincial highland village with a monumental temple occupied between 1000 and 500 B.C. Through an examination of how residents engaged with Chavín art, material culture, and ritual, this presentation will offer a more nuanced understanding of the “Chavín phenomenon.”

Thursday, December 12, 2019
6 PM in the Lecture Hall
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
RSVP to the Institute of Fine Arts HERE

Followed by a reception with wine and cheese in the Loeb Room