Of the six independent centres of civilization in world prehistory, probably the least well known is Chavin de Huantar, high up in the Andes, where South America's oldest complex culture arose during the first millennium BC and created its earliest known city. The Chavin style dominated Peruvian art and architecture for hundreds of years and influenced all that came after. But what was the exact nature of this style? How did Chavin civilization develop, and why did it eventually collapse? New answers are emerging after unprecedented discoveries made over the past two decades. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of these findings, including his own excavations at Chavin and elsewhere, Professor Burger argues controversially - that the first monumental architecture and great art in the Andes were created by economically egalitarian pre-Chavin societies. It is now known that such pre-state cultures built massive truncated pyramids as ancient as those of Old Kingdom Egypt. Chavin civilization represents a synthesis of these traditions, forged through the impact of long-distance trade and a new religious ideology. Accompanied by a wealth of photographs, drawings and maps, it will be of great interest to art historians as well as archaeologists and students of comparative civilization.