Chavin SPICE

Social
- clans were groups of people claiming descent from a common ancestor and sharing land; they thought of each other as siblings and helped each other, organizing labor and distributing goods based on that
- had an elite class with separate housing, they were the only ones who had fabric on a regular basis
- class of priests controlled religious life
- local chiefs and an overall chief or king controlled politics
- elites had better fabric, gold crowns, breastplates, and jewelry

Political
- led by local chiefs and an overall chief or king
- Capital at Chavín de Huántar, 10,300 feet high in the eastern Andes, north of Lima
- rulers controlled trade
- wide regional influence
- fell through increased warfare which disrupted trade and weakened the authority of the elite

Interaction
- the Andes
- mountainous core, arid coastal plain, and dense interior jungles
- encouraged development of specialized regional production, complex social institutions and cultural values that encouraged interregional exchanges and shared labor responsibilities
- located at the intersection of trade routes connecting the coast with populous mountain valleys
- metallurgy: 3-d gold and gold alloy ornaments

Culture
- distinctive pottery styles, religious motifs, and architectural forms
- most important religious symbol was a jaguar god
- textiles added to the reputation and prestige of the culture and helped project its power and influence
- construction of roads, bridges, temples, palaces, and large irrigation and drainage projects
- large complex of multilevel platforms made of packed earth or rubble faced with cut stone or adobe, sun-dried brick made of clay and straw
- small buildings for rituals or elite homes were built on these platforms
- platform buildings were decorated with carvings of serpents, condors, jaguars, and humans
- the largest was 250 feet on each side and 50 feet tall; about one third of its interior is hollow with narrow galleries and small rooms which may have held dead royal ancestors
- textiles: they improved in manufacture and decoration and were probably only for the elite or religious rituals
- artisans were highly skilled and made textiles, gold objects, jewelry, pottery, and the architecture

Economic
- traded pottery
- traded over a large area
- trade linked the coastal economy with the producers of a local grain, potatoes, and llamas in the high mountain valleys; also sort of with Amazonian producers of coca and fruits
- llamas were used to transport goods, they were like the camel in importance. They also provided meat and wool. A single driver could control from 10 to 30, and each of them could carry up to 70 pounds
- large amounts of fish and mollusks for food
- maize farming
- labor was an obligation; you had to maintain things