Global InformationStela of the cactus bearer information
| Stela of the cactus bearer | |
|---|---|
 Headstone with an anthropomorphic figure discovered in Chavín de Huántar in 1972. | |
| Material | Granite |
| Height | 80 cm |
| Width | 70 cm |
| Period/culture | 750 B.C.[1] |
| Discovered | November 14, 1972[2] in situ |
| Discovered by | Luis Guillermo Lumbreras |
| Present location | Circular Plaza, Chavín de Huántar, Huari Province, Department of Áncash, Peru |
| Registration | Headstone VI-NW12[3] |
| Culture | Chavín culture |
The stela of the cactus bearer is a monolith or stele of a single piece of granite, belonging to the Chavín culture of ancient Peru, which remains in its original location on the northwest side of the circular plaza at the archaeological site known as the ceremonial center of Chavín de Huántar in the Ancash region of Peru.[1][2] It was discovered during the 1972 excavation season by Peruvian archaeologist Luis Guillermo Lumbreras.
In 2001, a fragment of another stela was found in the circular plaza showing an exact mirror image of the stela of the cactus bearer. This fragment suggests that there were four stelae with this same representation: two in the northeast quadrant and two in the southeast quadrant, all facing the stairway leading to the gallery of the Lanzón de Chavín.[4]
The importance of this stela lies mainly in the fact that it is the clearest iconographic finding regarding the ancestral and ritual use of the Trichocereus macrogonus cactus in the Andes.[1][5] The presence of this entheogenic cactus in the Chavín lithic art located in one of the main structures of the ceremonial center has generated several interpretations about the function of the archaeological site.
- ^ a b c Samorini (2014, p. 19)
- ^ a b Lumbreras (2007, p. 168)
- ^ Lumbreras (2007, p. 176)
- ^ Rick (2008b, p. 22)
- ^ Schultes & Hofmann (2010, p. 166)