Chavin art was largely religious. Most images were based on animals, depicting stylized jaguars, snakes, crested-eagles and caymans (alligators). All of these were animals from the east of the Andes in the Amazon, suggesting their artistic origin lay there.
The most frequent image is that of the Staff god or supreme being- a man-like figure with elements of the jaguar's face, often with snakes as moustache and hair.
Jaguars were particularly common in the early phases of Chavin history, perhaps in the belief that priests could transform into them. Later they were slightly less commonly used, being replaced by other animals, including varieties of fish as well as Spondylus and Strombus shells, which were imported from coastal Ecuador. These shells are thought to have represented male and female forces.
The main media in which these images were executed were stone or patterns on textiles, though they also decorated many elaborate jars with spouts in the form of stirrups as well as plainer ceramics.
