The Radiocarbon Evidence for the Temporal Priority of Chavin de Huantar

Abstract

A critical evaluation of radiocarbon measurements taken from recent excavations at Chavin de Huantar, Peru provides the basis for an absolute chronology for the Chavin culture at Chavin de Huantar which spans from 850 B.C. to 200 B.C. Radiocarbon measurements from four coastal sites stylistically related to Chavin de Huantar are reviewed and found to be generally prior in date to the earliest known occupation at Chavin de Huantar.