By 2000 BC monumental ceremonial centres and burials furnished with fine textiles and pottery had appeared in coastal settlements. Often these religious centres were laid out in a U shape and included plazas, mounds and shrines.
Their builders were farmers and fishers. Similar sites were being built in the highlands by farming, hunting and herding communities.
By 1200 BC a distinctive style known as Chavin (after the later principal centre of Chavin de Huantar, which dates from 850 to 200 BC) appeared in a number of these highland and coastal sites.
Probably representing a religious cult that gained widespread popularity, this style, which is seen in the decoration of pottery, textiles and buildings, is characterized by religious motifs and themes. These included representations of a fanged supreme deity, a number of supernaturally endowed beasts, such as jaguars and caymans (alligators) and severed heads.
The style was known at sites as far apart as Karwa and Pacopampa by 400 BC. Although the Chavin style disappeared after 200 BC, its religious and artistic tradition underlies that of all the major Andean cultures that emerged later, such as Moche, Nazca and Tiwanaku.
