The Puerto Hormiga archaeological site is in the Bolivar department,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, in the lower Magdalena basin near the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

coast. It dates to 4000 - 3100 BC. Its traces provide evidence of a semi-sedentary agricultural society in the making, whose members hunted and gathered

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

. Middens of shells were found there. According to other findings, such as ceramic remains and abundant stone material, the nomadic peoples were beginning to complement their activities with small-scale horticulture and agriculture. A

shell ring Shell rings are archaeological sites with curved shell middens completely or partially surrounding a clear space. The rings were sited next to estuaries that supported large populations of shellfish, usually oysters. Shell rings have been reported ...

of the Late Archaic period has been described at Puerto Hormiga. The Puerto Hormiga ring, found in a marsh, is composed primarily of

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...

shells. It has an outside diameter of , a height of about , and the base of the ring mound is to wide. It has a clear interior plaza.

Sherds This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

of fiber- tempered and sand-tempered pottery, as well as stone tools, were found associated with the shell ring. The earliest have been dated to 3794 BC. The fiber-tempered pottery is "crude", formed from a single lump of clay. Sand-tempered coiled ceramics have also been found at Puerto Hormiga.Walthall:81-83

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto Hormiga Archaeological Site Archaeological sites in Colombia Former populated places in Colombia Buildings and structures in Bolívar Department Shell rings