This period is named after the site of Chavin de Huantar, 40 Km east of Huaraz in the Department of Ancash. It is also known as the middle formative period and lasted from about 850 BC until 300 BC. It is termed a horizon because its artistic and religious influences can be seen in several contemporary cultures, including the Cupisnique ceramics of the Lambayeque region north of Trujillo and the early pottery of Paracas Cavernas south of Lima. Thus the Chavin influence was felt in a huge area covering most of the northern twothirds of Perus highlands and coast.Around 300 BC the Chavin style suddenly and inexplicably disappeared and there was little unity in the cultures found in Peru during the next 500 years. Although none of these cultures were individually outstanding or widespread, several were locally important. The best known are the Salinar culture of the Chicama Valley area near Trujillo and the Paracas Necropolis south of Lima. Salinar ceramics show advanced firing techniques, whilst the textiles of the Paracas Necropolis are markedly improved and different from the earlier Paracas Cavernas: these textiles are considered the finest preColumbian textiles to have been produced anywhere in the Americas. Most importantly, this period represents the greatest early development in weaving, pottery, agriculture, religion and architecture in a word, culture. Many archaeologists see the Chavin Horizon as the most important cultural development of preColumbian Peru. The salient feature of the Chavin influence is the repeated representation of a stylized jaguar, hence the Chavin is often termed a jaguarworshipping cult,

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