Late Formative monuments. He can be understood as both
the shamanic alter ego of Itzamna and as the false sun, the
monster Vucub-Caquix, defeated by the Hero Twins. Chaak, a
long-nosed god, presided over rain and thunder.
Th e Mayan version of the multilevel universe also seems
to have been established by the Late Formative. Buried off er-
ings of jade and pottery at Cival, Guatemala, were laid out in
the shape of a cross with jade axes and a wooden post at the
center, representing the four cardinal directions and central
axis. Pyramid temples at Uaxaktún and Calakmul, Guate-
mala, represent the sacred mountain, rising out of the water
at creation and bridging the levels of the universe. Masks on
the Calakmul pyramid represent the earth and sun, while the
entrance depicts a monster mouth, the cave entrance into the
underworld.
At Teotihuacán near modern Mexico City, a number of
deities were worshipped during the city’s heyday (ca. 1 b.c.e.–
ca. 650 c.e.). As is the case with the Olmec, our ideas about
the nature and number of these gods are based only on ar-
tistic evidence and represent points of disagreement among
anthropologists and art historians. A male deity with goggle-
like rings around his eyes, a moustache, and fangs resembles
the later Aztec storm god Tlaloc and probably had the same
function, presiding over rain, storms, and perhaps warfare.
At least one major goddess, also associated with the earth,
water, and fertility, is known from mural paintings and stone
sculpture. Recent work suggests that this “Great Goddess”
may be in fact several deities confused with each other by
earlier interpreters. Th e Feathered Serpent appears as a bor-
der in paintings of elite fi gures and may have been a patron of
royalty here, as he was later among the Aztecs. At the Temple
of the Feathered Serpent, stone images of this deity alternate
with heads of another reptilian creature, who may be the War
Serpent, associated with war and fi re, or Cipactli, the later
Aztec crocodilian earth monster.
Water and symbols of life and preciousness emanate
from the storm god and goddess’s hands and the Feathered
Serpent’s mouth, but if these gods brought plenty, they de-
manded blood in return. Over 100 victims were sacrifi ced
and buried in the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. While
Teotihuacán art is not explicit in its depiction of human sac-
rifi ce, warriors or priests in frescos carry impaled human
hearts, and the symbolism of a painted image of coyotes
tearing a deer to shreds is obvious. Rulers or priests are also
shown drawing their own blood as penance with spines of the
maguey cactus and inserting the spines into balls of fi ber as
off erings. Butterfl y and owl gods may be associated with con-
quest and sacrifi ce, and a fertility god who looks like the later
Aztec Xipe Totec, dressed in the fl ayed skin of a sacrifi cial
victim, makes his fi rst appearance in the city’s art.
PERU
Evidence of organized religion and large temple construc-
tion in Peru dates back to the Late Preceramic Period (ca.
2700 b.c.e.). On the coast Preceramic peoples built huge
adobe ritual platforms arranged in U-shaped confi gura-
tions, perhaps symbolizing a balance of opposing forces in
the cosmos. Th ey deposited groups of unbaked clay sculp-
tures of humans, textiles, and shell and stone jewelry in
these structures, presumably as gift s to the gods. At the same
time, the inhabitants of the Peruvian highlands built small
chambers for use as shrines, where they burned foodstuff s
and textiles in sacrifi ce to unknown deities. Th ese respec-
tive styles of temple and cult persisted in both areas through
the second millennium b.c.e. Shamanism may have played
an important part in these early religions. At Garagay in
the central highlands, modeled adobe building decorations
show strange beings that combine jaguar and spider features.
Forms hanging from their mouths may be fangs or a mu-
cous discharge—a known side eff ect of using hallucinogenic
snuff. At Mina Perdida on the coast a clay effi gy of a creature
with jaguar fangs and vulture features was buried wrapped
in cloth. Did it represent a shaman in transformation, a god,
or an ancestral spirit? At another highland religious center
there is evidence of human sacrifi ce in the form of reliefs of
dismembered prisoners—or are these also images of experi-
ences in trance states?
Th e great ritual center of Chavín de Huántar fl ourished
in the Andean highlands between 900 and 200 b.c.e. Th e site
was constructed near a confl uence of rivers and may embody
an idea like the later Inca tinkuy—a sacred juncture or transi-
tion point between parts of the cosmos. By analogy between
the fi nds here and those of later Peruvian cultures, Chavín
may have been the home of an oracle, visited and consulted
by pilgrims from distant regions. Its central temple was rid-
dled with dark galleries and unusual acoustic properties that
priests could manipulate to create dramatic “supernatural”
eff ects for the faithful. Attendants left off erings of food and
the remains of human sacrifi ces in its labyrinthine corridors.
Th e decoration of the main shrine during its fi rst, or Old
Temple, phase (ca. 900–ca. 500 b.c.e.) shows themes probably
related to shamanism. Stone heads attached to the walls of the
temple seem to show humans transforming into jaguars, with
mucous from snuffi ng hallucinogenic plants pouring from
their noses. Other reliefs portray jaguars with harpy eagle
claws and fanged humans carrying hallucinogenic cacti. Like
the Olmec, the builders of Chavín viewed powerful preda-
tors as sacred animals. Th e principal deity seems to be repre-
sented by a human fi gure with jaguar mouth and fangs, the
so-called snarling or “smiling” god. During the New Temple
Period (ca. 400–ca. 200 b.c.e.) sculpture at the temple depicts
mythic beings, combining human features with those of birds
of prey and caimans bearing plants. Perhaps the caiman was
thought to have taught the builders about agriculture in their
mythology. Th e snarling god now carried a rod or wand in
each hand, and archaeologists call this image the staff god.
Th e infl uence of Chavín spread from the highlands to
the Pacifi c coast, as evidenced by the distribution of images
of supernatura l beings in Chavín st yle. Based on comparison
with later Peruvian oracles, the Chavín cult might have beenreligion and cosmology: The Americas 865