Manuel Arturo Izquierdo Peña is a Colombian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

who has contributed to the knowledge of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

and other pre-Columbian cultures, among others San Agustín, Colombia. His main work has been on

archaeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultur ...

of the

Muisca calendar The Muisca calendar was a lunisolar calendar, lunisolar calendar used by the Muisca people, Muisca. The calendar was composed of a complex combination of months and three types of years were used; rural years (according to Pedro Simón, Chibcha la ...

Biography

Izquierdo Peña obtained his degree in anthropology from the

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, C ...

in 1997Curriculum Vitae Manuel Arturo Izquierdo Peña
/ref> and published his thesis titled ''Prospección arqueoastronómica en la cultura de San Agustín'' ("Archeoastronomical prospection in the San Agustín culture") in 1998. In 2008 he published his MSc. thesis at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

titled ''The Muisca Calendar: An approximation to the timekeeping system of the ancient native people of the northeastern Andes of Colombia'' in which he analyzed the Muisca calendar, a complex

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...

used by the Muisca of the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

.Izquierdo Peña, 2009 In this publication and later workIzquierdo Peña, 2014 Izquierdo Peña analyzed the work by

Muisca scholars The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca speak ...

José Domingo Duquesne José Domingo Duquesne (23 February 1748, Bogotá – 30 August 1822, Bogotá) was a Colombian clergyman, theologist, scientist and writer. Polyglot Duquesne spoke Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, Italian and Chibcha.Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

, Vicente Restrepo and

Pedro Simón ''Fray'' Pedro Simón ( San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish Franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern-day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time f ...

on the Muisca calendar. He also described the

Choachí Stone Choachí is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality borders La Calera in the north, Ubaque in the south, in the east Fómeque and westward of Choachí is the Colombian ca ...

, a rock art pice found in the village of

Choachí Choachí is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality borders La Calera in the north, Ubaque in the south, in the east Fómeque and westward of Choachí is the Colombian ca ...

in the 1940s that functioned as a calculator for the use of the complex calendar.Izquierdo Peña, 2014, 1:09:00

Publications

* 2014 - ''Calendario Muisca'' ("Muisca calendar") * 2009 - ''The Muisca Calendar: An approximation to the timekeeping system of the ancient native people of the northeastern Andes of Colombia'' * 2001 - ''Astronomia para Todos'' ("Astronomy for everyone") * 2000 - ''Arqueoastronomia en Colombia'' ("Archeoastronomy in Colombia") * 1999 - ''Los Astrónomos de Piedra'' ("The rocky astronomers") * 1998 - ''Sistema de simulacion de Paisajes para Arqueoastronomia'' ("Simulation system of landscapes for archeoastronomy")

Biography

Publications

See also