Tello Obelisk
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| The Tello Obelisk | |
|---|---|
 Chavín culture-era Peruvian Artefact | |
| Material | Granite |
| Height | 2.52 meters |
| Discovered | 1919[1] Chavín de Huántar |
| Discovered by | Julio C. Tello |
| Present location | Chavín National Museum |
| Culture | Chavín culture |
The Tello Obelisk is an Early Horizon-era Granite Obelisk from the Chavín culture found at the site of Chavín de Huántar in Peru. Discovered by Trinidad Alfaro in 1908, and investigated by its namesake, Julio C. Tello, during his excavations of the site, the obelisk is both extensively carved and displaced from its original Archaeological context (unlike the nearby Lanzón stela), making interpretation difficult.[2] Regardless, it is considered an item of immense value to Andean archaeologists due to its complicated carvings of possible great religious importance.
The Tello Obelisk stands at approximately 2.52 m (8.67 ft) tall. Due to stylistic similarities to the Lanzón, it is thought to have likely been found near to Chavín de Huántar's old temple. One likely location of it was in the U-shaped courtyard in front of the temple, as its potential religious and/or cosmological importance would have been greatly reinforced by the view of mountainsides and low-standing reliefs that would have surrounded it.[2]
Carved onto it twice over on both sides (though with slight variations) is a Caiman, with numerous parts of it replaced with faces or other creatures.[2] These likely are not meant to be taken literally, but rather as a "visual kenning," an aspect of Chavín artwork wherein aspects of the body are replaced with creatures that vaguely resemble them, such as snakes for hair or elongated mouths for major lines of the body. The meaning of such kennings are largely lost, as they relied on cultural concepts and traditions that have not survived and must be pieced together by researchers.[2][3]
The stone engravings are rather shallow, being in some areas only 3 cm (1.18 in) deep, likely due to the hardness of the granite they were carved into.[2]
Its earliest description comes from Julio Tello, who described it as "A long-bodied dragon, with a snout armed with big fangs and feet with claws, that resembles a crocodile. This monster is hermaphrodite, and carries an enormous fanged mouth in its belly and a handful of yuca and red peppers in its feet. Associated with it in the same allegory are three animals, a feline, a fish, and a bird, either vulture or owl."[1]
Although the obelisk had been moved to the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru for a time, it was moved back to Chavín with the Chavín National Museum's construction in 2008 (thanks to Japanese support from the General Countervalue Peru-Japan Fund), where it has remained since.[4]