Nemocón is a municipality and town of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in the

Central Savanna Province Central Savanna Province () is one of the fifteen provinces of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, in Colombia. It is located in the central area of the department, and has 11 Municipalities of Colombia, municipalities. The province capital is ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Nemocón, famous for its

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

, was an important village in the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

, the country in the central Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

before the arrival of the Spanish. The municipality is situated in the northern part of the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...

, part 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 ...

with its urban centre at an altitude of and from the capital

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. Nemocón is the northeasternmost municipality of the

Metropolitan Area of Bogotá Metropolitan Area of Bogotá is the metropolitan area of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá, usually used for statistical analysis or technical use. It is not a formal administrative division and its limits are therefore not defined. The study ...

and the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the wester ...

originates close to Nemocón. The median temperature of Nemocón is 12.8 °C. The municipality borders

Tausa Tausa () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tausa is and was an important town on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense due to its salt mine. It was the third most prolific salt deposit f ...

in the north,

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south, Tocancipá and Gachancipá to the east and ...

and

Gachancipá Gachancipá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Suesca ...

in the south,

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of ...

in the east, and Cogua in the west.Official website Nemocón

Etymology

Nemocón is derived from Enemocón and means "The cry or sadness of the warrior" in the

Chibcha language Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/ * �mʷɨska, or Muysca de Bogotá is a language spoken by the Muisca people, one of the many indigenous cultures of the Americas. The Muisca inhabit the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of what today is th ...

. Another etymology is that the town is named after ''

zipa When the Spain, Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''Zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

Nemequene Nemequene or Nemeguene (died 1514) was the third ruler (''zipa'') of Bacatá as of 1490. His '' zaque'' counterpart ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Quemuenchatocha. Etymology Nemequene in the Chibcha language of t ...

History

Prehistory

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

evidence surfaced by Gonzalo Correal Urrego in 1979 and

Ana María Groot Ana María Groot de Mahecha (born 29 August 1952 in Bogotá) is a Colombian historian, archaeologist, anthropologist and associate professor at the Department of Anthropology of the National University of Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombi ...

in 1992 has shown that Nemocón was inhabited early in the history of inhabitation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. One of the oldest evidence of human settlement; lithic scraper tools, bone tools and the remains of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

of the

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

s (

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

s and

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s) has been dated at 7640 BP. The inhabitants of the area lived under rock shelters, similar to

Tequendama Tequendama is a preceramic and ceramic archaeological site located southeast of Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia, a couple of kilometers east of Tequendama Falls. It consists of multiple evidences of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene popula ...

Herrera Period

Checua

The

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

Checua Checua is a preceramic open area archaeological site in Nemocón, Cundinamarca, Colombia. The site is located north of the town centre.Gómez Mejía, 2012, p.146 At Checua, thousands of stone and bone tools, stone flakes and human remains hav ...

, at north from the urban centre of Nemocón, provided evidence

carbon dated Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was ...

at around 6500 BCE. First

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

of Checua was Colombian anthropologist and archaeologist

. In later years other archaeological sites have been found.

Rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

has been discovered at various sites in Nemocón, among others at the border with Suesca. This lithic period, part of the

Andean preceramic The Andean preceramic refers to the early period of human occupation in the Andes, Andean area of History of South America, South America that preceded the introduction of ceramics. This period is also called pre-ceramic or aceramic. Earliest hu ...

, predates the

Herrera Period The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the Andean preceramic and ceramic, time equivalent of the North American pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Formative stage, formative and classic stages and age dated by var ...

of which archaeological evidence has been found by

Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff Marianne Vere Cardale de Schrimpff is a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, Academy (educational institution), academic and writer. Biography Marianne Cardale obtained her master's degree at the University of Edinburgh in 1965 and her P ...

in 1975, 1976 and the 1980s. Remains of deer,

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

, pecaris,

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropical realm, Neotropics and are among the largest of the New World monkey, platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyte ...

s and

armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...

s have been discovered in Nemocón and formed an important part of the diet of the people.Schrimpff, 1985, p. 116

Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s of Nemocón date to the 4th century BC and showed that Nemocón in those ages was already important in the extraction of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. Excavations in Nemocón also have revealed the use of needles.

Muisca

The Herrera Period was followed by the culturally advanced civilisation 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 ...

, organised in their loose

. The Muisca Period typically commenced in 800 AD and the people were named ''Pueblo de la Sal''; "Salt People" because of their

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. Traders generally negotiate throu ...

in the product."Daza 2013 p22" />

Ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

of this period found in Nemocón originated from farther away on the Altiplano and ceramics of Nemocón and Zipaquirá found elsewhere on the Bogotá savanna are related to the salt trade. Of the central Colombian indigenous peoples, only the

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

and U'wa were the other miners of salt. The Muisca exploited halite in various locations in their territories, among others in Nemocón, Zipaquirá, Sesquilé, Tausa,

Gámeza Gámeza () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town center is located at from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, T ...

, and

Guachetá Guachetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Guachetá is located at from the capital Bogotá. It borders the Boyacá Department, Boya ...

. Nemocón was a market town where the salt was traded. A smaller salt mine was located in

Sopó Sopó is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town is located 39 km north of the Colombian capital Bogotá. History The area of Sopó was inhabited first by indigenous groups during the Herrera Period ...

. Early evidence of salt extraction dates back to the end of the first millennium BC. The Muisca women extracted the salt from a brine in large pots. According to

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

Juan de Santa Gertrudis, used the mineral to dry and preserve their fish and meat.Daza, 2013, p. 22

Colonial period

During the Spanish colonial period, the salt was exploited by hand labour of the surviving Muisca. Modern Nemocón was founded on July 26, 1600 by Luis Henríquez. As of 1614,

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

was successfully cultivated in Nemocón.

Nemocón today

In modern times the extraction of salt continued and the economical activity of the town has expanded to the cultivation of flowers and the extraction of

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

Tourism

Famous for its salt mine and museum, Nemocón is a touristic village and linked by train from Bogotá. The salt mine is the second-largest of Colombia, after the Salt Cathedral in neighbouring Zipaquirá. Sunday is market day in Nemocón.

Ferias

* ''Festival del floricultor'' * September: ''Festival de Danzas'' * December: ''Festival del macramé'' and Christmas lighting

Born in Nemocón

* Ricardo Moros Urbina, Painter s.XIX. Founder Colombian History Academy. * Miguel Gutiérrez Nieto, Bogotá´s National Prefect and Major under Mosquera's presidency, S. XIX * Eustacio Sanz de Santamaría, Foreign Affairs Secretary under Holguín's presidency. Diplomatic and writer * Felipa Molina Morales and Antonio de Luna, Commoners revolution indigenous leaders. * Luis Antonio Orjuela Quintero, Historian,. academic, educator. * Manuel Medardo Espinosa, romantic poet. * Julio Rubiano, former professional cyclist

Trivia

* Remains of a mastodont have been found in Nemocón. * Scenes of the movie ''

The 33 ''The 33'' (; "") is a 2015 biographical disaster-survival drama film directed by Patricia Riggen and written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, Michael Thomas, and José Rivera. The film is based on the real events of the 2010 Copiapó mining ...

'' were filmed in the salt mine of Nemocón.El mastodonte de Nemocón
/ref> * The second leg of ''

The Amazing Race 32 ''The Amazing Race 32'' is the thirty-second season of the American reality competition show ''The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the wor ...

'' featured the salt mine of Nemocón and the Templo Parroquial San Francisco de Asís.

Climate

Gallery

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Salt mine of Nemocón - official website

Video of Nemocón
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemocon Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1600 1600 establishments in the Spanish Empire Tourist attractions near Bogotá Buildings and structures in Cundinamarca Department Tourist attractions in Cundinamarca Department Salt museums Salt mines in Colombia Populated places of the Muisca Confederation