The ceremonial center began as a relatively small temple complex and only grew to its final form over many centuries. The precise chronology of this expansion is still being worked out. The first attempt to outline this cumulative process was made by John Rowe in 1962;
Rowe’s work was informed by the observations made by Marino Gonzales during his decades at the site. In this three-phase sequence the temple complex began as a simple U and then expanded to the south first with the extension of the platform pyramid and then with the creation of the Black and White Portal and the additions of new rectangular plazas. The original configuration was referred to as the Old Temple while the final additions were seen as constituting the New Temple; the latter had its own axis paralleling that of the original complex. Rowe (1962) argued that a four-phase sculptural sequence (AB, C, D, and EF) could be correlated with this building history, based on sculptural associations. Burger (1984) developed a three-phase ceramic sequence, which was also tentatively correlated with the construction sequence in the center.
This framework, however, has been questioned by the investigations of John Rick and Silvia Kembel at the ceremonial complex (Rick et al 1998; Kembel and Rick 2004,
2005, in press; Kembel in press). They have proposed a detailed 15-episode sequence identified through mapping and selective excavation of the architecture. Unlike the sequence of Rowe, this revised sequence identifies additions in the height and width of the central pyramid complex. Rick and Kembel posit a much longer history for the public constructions, arguing that their earlier phases were contemporary with early or mid-Initial Period complexes on the coast and highlands. Unfortunately, these chronological claims have not yet been supported with unambiguous ceramic and/or radiometric evidence (Burger and Salazar in press). Regardless of these chronological issues, the proposed construction sequence demonstrates that the building history at Chavfn de Huantar is more complex than ever imagined. At the same time, the new sequence acknowledges a generally north to south expansion in construction activity as well as the striking continuity in the style and technology of construction throughout the sequence. These continuities are testimony to the cultural continuity that characterized the temple until its abandonment in the late Early Horizon. The additions of galleries, chambers and, most importantly, open plazas would have allowed the Chavfn de Huantar center to serve an ever increasing number of worshippers. The rectangular plaza, for example, could have comfortably contained well over a thousand visitors without difficulty, in contrast to the earlier circular plaza that could have accommodated only about a hundred people.
World History
