Muisca art on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
This article describes the art produced by the Muisca. The Muisca established one of the four grand civilisations of the
This article describes the art produced by the Muisca. The Muisca established one of the four grand civilisations of the pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
Americas on 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. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...
in present-day central 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 ...
. Their various forms of art have been described in detail and include pottery, textiles, body art, hieroglyphs and rock art. While their architecture was modest compared to the Inca
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
, Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
and Maya civilisations, the Muisca are best known for their skilled goldworking. The Museo del Oro in the Colombian capital Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
houses the biggest collection of golden objects in the world, from various Colombian cultures including the Muisca.
The first art in the Eastern Ranges
The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition.
The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...
of the Colombian Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
goes back several millennia. Although this predates the Muisca civilisation, whose onset is commonly set at 800 AD, nevertheless, some of these styles persevered through the ages.
During the preceramic era, the people of the highlands produced petrographs and petroglyphs representing their deities
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
, the abundant flora and fauna
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi ...
of the area, abstract motives and anthropomorphic or anthropo-zoomorphic elements. The self-sufficient sedentary agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
society developed into a culture based on ceramics and the extraction of salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
in 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 formative and classic stages and age dated by various archaeologists. The Herrera P ...
, usually defined as 800 BC to 800 AD. During this time, the oldest existing form of constructed art was erected; the archaeoastronomical
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 cultu ...
site called ''El Infiernito
''El Infiernito'' (Spanish for "The Little Hell"), is a pre-Columbian archaeoastronomical site located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a sett ...
'' ("The Little Hell") by the catholic Spanish conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
. The Herrera Period also marked the widespread use of pottery and textiles and the start of what would become the main motive for the Spanish conquest
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...
; the skilled fine goldworking. The golden age of Muisca metallurgy is represented in the Muisca raft
The Muisca raft (''Balsa Muisca'' in Spanish), sometimes referred to as the Golden Raft of El Dorado, is a pre-Columbian votive piece created by the Muisca, an indigenous people of Colombia in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The pi ...
, considered the masterpiece of this technology and depicts the initiation ritual of the new '' psihipqua'' of Muyquytá, the southern part of the Muisca Confederation
The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. T ...
. This ceremony, performed by ''xeques'' (priests) and ''caciques'' wearing feathered golden crowns and accompanied by music and dance, took place on a raft in Lake Guatavita, in the northern part of the flat Bogotá savanna
The Bogotá savanna is a 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 situated in the Eastern Ran ...
. Accounts of such ceremonies created the legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
of ''El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...
'' among the Spanish, leading them on a decades-long quest for this mythical place.
The rich art elaborated by the Muisca has inspired modern artists and designers in their creativity. Muisca motives are represented as murals, in clothing and as objects found all over the former Muisca territories as well as in animated clips and video games. The art of the indigenous inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense is well studied by many different researchers
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 t ...
who published their work right from the beginning of colonial times. The conquistador who made first contact with the Muisca, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...
, wrote in his memoires about a skilled and well-organised civilisation of traders and farmers. Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
Pedro Simón described the relation between art and the religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
and later contributions in the analysis of the various artforms have been made by Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...
, Joaquín Acosta
Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán (December 29, 1800February 21, 1852) was a Colombian explorer, historian, chorographer, and geologist.
A native of Colombia in South America, he served in the Colombian army and in 1834 attempted ...
and Liborio Zerda
Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)Miguel Triana,
The central highlands of the
The first forms of art recognised on the Altiplano are
-
The Muisca period is commonly set commencing from 800 AD and lasting until the
The Muisca were famous for their goldworking. Although in the
- Banco de la República
''Tunjos'' (from Muysccubun: ''tunxo'') are small votive offering figures produced in great quantities by the Muisca. They are found in various places on the Altiplano, mainly in lakes and rivers, and are the most common object housed in museum collections outside Colombia. The word ''tunjo'' was used first in the literature about the Muisca in 1854, by
- Museo del Oro -
File:Museo del oro, Bogotá, Colombia - Muisca Votives Figures.jpg, Collection of ''tunjos''
File:BOG 04 2012 Museo de Oro 1237.JPG, ''Tunjo'' formed by parents with children
File:Muisca Tunjo 2 - Museo del Oro - Bogotá.jpg, ''Tunjo''
File:Musée del Oro (23).JPG, ''Tunjo'' decorated with earrings
File:Museo del oro, Bogotá, Colombia - Muisca Votive Figure.jpg, ''Tunjo'' of a mother with baby in her arms
File:Muisca Tunjo Animal - Museo del Oro - Bogotá.jpg, Zoomorphic ''tunjo'' in the Museo del Oro
File:Muisca Molds 2 - Museo del Oro - Bogotá.jpg, Mold used for the elaboration of ''tunjos''
The Muisca raft is the masterpiece of the Muisca goldworking and has become illustrative for the fine techniques used. The by object was found in 1969 in a ceramic pot hidden in a cave in the municipality of Pasca, in the southwest of the Bogotá savanna and has become the centerpiece in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá. The raft is interpreted as picturing the initiation ritual of the new ''
The Muisca society was in essence egalitarian with slight differences in terms of use of jewelry. The
While the other three grand pre-Columbian civilisations—the Maya, Aztec and Inca—are known for their grand architecture in the form of pyramids, stelae, stone cities and temples, the modest Muisca architecture has left very little traces in the present.Langebaek Rueda, 2003, p.265 The houses (called ''bohíos'' or ''malokas'') and temples of the people, where spiritual gatherings took place honouring the gods and sacrificing ''tunjos'', emeralds and children, were made of degradable materials such as wood, clay and reed. The circular structures were built on top of slightly elevated platforms to prevent them from flooding on the frequently inundated plains; small settlements of ten to one hundred houses were surrounded by wooden poles forming an enclosure, called ''ca'' in Muysccubun. Two or more gates gave entrance to the villages. The houses and temples themselves were built around a central pole of wood attached to the roof; the temples were constructed using the wood of ''
- Pueblos Originarios
File:Templo del sol.jpg, The Sun Temple in ''Suamox'' was the most important temple for the Muisca
File:Cojines del Zaque. Vista actual (2015).JPG, The Cojines del Zaque in Tunja (''Hunza'')
File:Escudo de Sopó.jpg, Muisca ''bohíos'' are depicted in the upper right of the seal of
Mummification was a tradition that many other pre-Columbian civilisations practiced. On the Altiplano, the habit of conserving the dead started in the Herrera Period, around the 5th century AD. The Muisca continued this culture and prepared their deceased beloved members of the society by putting the bodies above fires. The heat would dry the body and the
Eliécer Silva Celis
Eliécer Silva Celis ( Floresta, Colombia, 20 January 1914 – Sogamoso, 4 July 2007) was a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, professor and writer.
and Sylvia M. Broadbent in the 20th century and modern research is dominated by the work of Carl Henrik Langebaek Rueda, Javier Ocampo López and many others.
Background
The central highlands of the Eastern Ranges
The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition.
The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...
of the Colombian Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, called 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. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...
, was inhabited by indigenous groups from 12,500 BP, as evidenced from archaeological finds at rock shelter El Abra
El Abra is the name given to an extensive archeological site, located in the valley of the same name. El Abra is situated in the east of the municipality Zipaquirá extending to the westernmost part of Tocancipá in the department of Cundinamarc ...
, presently part of Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tocancipá to the east; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south; and Subachoque and ...
. The first human occupation consisted of hunter-gatherers who foraged in the valleys and mountains of the Andean high plateau. Settlement in the early millennia of this Andean preceramic
The Andean preceramic refers to the early period of human occupation in the Andean area of South America that preceded the introduction of ceramics. This period is also called pre-ceramic or aceramic.
Earliest human occupations
The earliest hu ...
age was mainly restricted to caves and rock shelters, such as Tequendama in present-day Soacha, Piedras del Tunjo in Facatativá and Checua that currently is part of the municipality Nemocón. Around 3000 BC, the inhabitants of the Andean plains started to live in open space areas and constructed primitive circular houses where they elaborated the stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone A ...
s used for hunting, fishing, food preparation
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...
and primitive art, mostly rock art
In archaeology, rock art is 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 also m ...
. The type site
In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron A ...
for this transition is 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 historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
Aguazuque, in the northwest of Soacha, close to Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
.
Abundant evidence for the domestication of 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'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
s has been found at Tequendama and Aguazuque where the small rodents formed part of the diet of the people, who consumed mainly white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
, hunted on the plains surrounding the various lakes and rivers. The diet was greatly expanded when early agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
was introduced, possibly influenced by migrations from the south; present-day Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
. The main cultivated product was maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...
in various forms and colours, while tubers
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing s ...
formed a significant other part of the food source. The fertile soils of especially the Bogotá savanna
The Bogotá savanna is a 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 situated in the Eastern Ran ...
proved advantageous for the development of this agriculture, still evidenced today by the widespread farmfields outside the Colombian capital.
Pre-Muisca art
The first forms of art recognised on the Altiplano are petrograph
In archaeology, rock art is 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 also m ...
s and petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s in various locations on the Altiplano, mainly at the rock shelters of the Bogotá savanna. El Abra, Piedras del Tunjo and Tequendama are among the oldest sites where rock art has been discovered.Siteos arqueológicos-
ICANH
The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History ( es, Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia), ICANH, is a scientific and technical government agency ascribed to the Ministry of Culture in charge of researching, producing and dissemi ...
The Herrera Period, commonly defined from 800 BC to 800 AD, was the age of the first ceramics. The oldest Herrera pottery has been discovered in Tocarema and dates to 800 BC. Herrera art is also represented by the archaeoastronomical site, called ''El Infiernito
''El Infiernito'' (Spanish for "The Little Hell"), is a pre-Columbian archaeoastronomical site located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a sett ...
'' by the Spanish. On a field outside Villa de Leyva
Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNES ...
, menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...
s in the shape of aligned phalluses were erected. This site, the oldest remaining of constructed art, dated at 500 BC, formed an important place for religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
rituals and festivities where great quantities of the alcoholic drink chicha
''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...
was consumed. The evidence for festivities at this site are from a later date, already in the Muisca Period.
The goldworking in the northern parts of South America, mainly in present-day Colombia, is thought to originate from regions more to the south; the north of Peru and Ecuador, during a large timespan from 1600 to 1000 BC. The development of different goldworking cultures in southern Colombia happened around 500 BC.Lleras et al., 2009, p.183 The late Herrera Period showed the first evidences of goldworking on the Altiplano. Golden artefacts have been found in Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
and Cómbita
Cómbita is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the sub region of the Central Boyacá Province. Cómbita is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and borders Arcabuco and the department of Santander in th ...
in Boyacá and Guatavita in Cundinamarca with estimated ages ranging from 250 to 400 AD.Lleras et al., 2009, p.179
Muisca art
The Muisca period is commonly set commencing from 800 AD and lasting until the Spanish conquest of the Muisca
The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of diff ...
in 1537, although regional variations of the start dates are noted. The Early Muisca Period, roughly defined from 800 to 1000 AD, showed an increase in long-distance trade with the Caribbean coastal indigenous populations, mummification and the introduction of goldworking.Langebaek Rueda, 2003, p.263 The transition between Early Muisca and Late Muisca is defined by a more complex society, interregional trade of pottery, population growth and settlements of larger sizes closer to the agricultural lands. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived on the Altiplano, they described a concentration of settlements on the flatlands of the Bogotá savanna.
Zoomorphic figurines
As theTairona
Tairona (or Tayrona) was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which g ...
of the Colombian Caribbean coast, the Muisca made the zoomorphic figurines based on the fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...
with their habitat of the area. Main animals used for their figures were the frog and serpents. The serpents were made in zig-zag shapes with eyes on top of the head. Many serpentiform objects have the typical forked tongue of the snake represented as well as the fawns clearly added. Some of the snakes have beards, moustaches or even a human head.Legast, 2000, p.28 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 t ...
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (6 March 1912 – 17 May 1994) was an Austrian anthropologist and archaeologist. He is known for his fieldwork among many different Amerindian cultures such as in the Amazonian tropical rainforests (e.g. Desana Tucano) ...
theorised in his book ''Orfebrería y chamanismo'' in 1988 that the basis for the beards and moustaches may have been the abundant fish present on the Altiplano and essential part of the diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
of the Muisca and their ancestors, as evidenced in Aguazuque; '' Eremophilus mutisii''.Legast, 2000, p.29Correal Urrego, 1990, p.80
Frogs (''iesua'', meaning "food from the Sun" in Muysccubun) and toads were important animals in the concept of nature and the relation with the spiritual world for the Muisca.Bohórquez Caldera, 2008, p.170 They represented the start of the rainy season, which is illustrated in the use in the Muisca calendar
The Muisca calendar was a lunisolar calendar used by the 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: ''chocan''), holy years (Duquesne, Sp ...
; the symbols for the first (''ata''), ninth (''aca'') and holy twentieth (''gueta'') month of the years are derived from toads. The common year of the complex lunisolar calendar consisted of twenty months.Izquierdo Peña, 2009, p.30 The frogs are shown in many different settings and forms of art; painted on ceramics, in the hieroglyphs of the rock art and as figurines. In many cases they are shown in combination with everyday activities and were used to represent humans, mostly women
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
.Bohórquez Caldera, 2008, p.171
Goldworking
The Muisca were famous for their goldworking. Although in the Muisca Confederation
The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. T ...
gold deposits were not abundant, the people obtained a lot of gold through trading, mainly in La Tora (called Barrancabermeja today) and other locations at the Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...
.Ocampo López, 2007, p.216 The earliest radiocarbon
Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and c ...
dates of goldworking of the Muisca are derived from carbon traces in the cores of golden noserings and provided ages of between 600 and 800 AD. The oldest evidences for Muisca goldworking were found in Guatavita, Fusagasugá and El Peñon, all in present-day Cundinamarca. The goldwork bears similarity but is not identical to the metallurgy of the Quimbaya of the Cauca and Magdalena Valleys.Langebaek Rueda, 2003, p.264
Based on the stylistic variability and metallurgic technology analysed in Muisca goldworking, three processes have been concluded;
*the Herrera people elaborated golden and copper objects such as crowns, and other offering figures from alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
resources using the first molds and hammers and possibly matrixes.
*Around 400 AD, the metallurgy became more advanced, using the '' tumbaga'' alloy and an increase in the production of offering figures is noted.
*The last phase of skilled goldworking is characterised by more detailed goldworking using gold from trade
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.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...
with other indigenous groups.Lleras et al., 2009, p.184
With the indigenous groups closer to the Caribbean Coast, the people traded highly valuable sea snails. Ironically, the sea snails were worth more than the price of gold to the Muisca, due to the distance from their location far inland high in the Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
. The skilled goldworking of the Muisca formed the basis for the legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
of ''El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...
'' that became widespread among the Spanish conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
s; this eventually drew them into the heart of Colombia—an ill-fated expedition that took almost a year and cost the lives of about 80% of their men.List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada- Banco de la República
''Tunjos''
''Tunjos'' (from Muysccubun: ''tunxo'') are small votive offering figures produced in great quantities by the Muisca. They are found in various places on the Altiplano, mainly in lakes and rivers, and are the most common object housed in museum collections outside Colombia. The word ''tunjo'' was used first in the literature about the Muisca in 1854, by scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
Ezequiel Uricoechea. The figurines are mostly anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
with other examples being zoomorphic
The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...
. The ''tunjos'' were mostly elaborated using '' tumbaga''; an alloy of gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
, copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
and silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
, some with traces
Traces may refer to:
Literature
* ''Traces'' (book), a 1998 short-story collection by Stephen Baxter
* ''Traces'' series, a series of novels by Malcolm Rose
Music Albums
* ''Traces'' (Classics IV album) or the title song (see below), 1969
* ''Tra ...
of lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
or iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
. The majority of ceramic or stone ''tunjos'' has been described from Mongua
Mongua is a town and municipality in Sugamuxi Province in the Colombian Department of Boyacá. Mongua is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between and . The municipality borders Gámeza, Socotá, Pisba, Lab ...
, close to Sogamoso. The ''tunjos'' served three purposes; as decoration of temples and shrines, for offering rituals in the sacred lakes and rivers in the Muisca religion
Muisca religion describes the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands of the Colombian Andes before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca. The Muisca formed a confederation of holy rulers and had a variety of deities, temples an ...
, and as pieces in funerary practices; to accompany the dead to the afterlife.Description and metallurgy of ''tunjos''- Museo del Oro -
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
Ceramic human ''tunjos'' were kept in the houses (''bohíos'') of the Muisca, together with emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
s.Peña Gama, p.8
The precious metals silver and gold were not common in the Eastern Ranges, while copper was mined in Gachantivá, Moniquirá and in the mountains to the south of the Bogotá savanna at Sumapaz
Sumapaz is the 20th locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is the largest of Bogotá's 20 localities, starting in the north at the edge of the urban frontier with Usme and stretching to the south at the border of Cundinamarca with the depa ...
. The process of elaborating the fine filigree
Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork.
In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver ...
figures took place by creating a mold of obsidian, shale or clay, filling the open space with bee wax, obtained through trade
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.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...
with the neighbouring indigenous peoples from the Llanos Orientales to the east of the Altiplano; the Achagua, Tegua and Guayupe. The bee wax occupied the voids of the mold and the mold was heated by fires. The bee wax would melt, leaving an open space where the ''tumbaga'' or sometimes gold was poured into, a process called lost-wax casting
Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) is ...
. Using this method, modern ''tunjos'' are still fabricated in the centre of Bogotá.Cooper & Langebaek Rueda, 2013
Between 1577 and 1583, various colonial writers have reported in their chronicles the use of ''tunjos'' for offering pieces. The descriptions from the early colonial period of the New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...
have been collected first by Vicenta Cortés Alonso in 1958 and later by Ulises Rojas in 1965. The reports of the late 16th century show that the religious practices of the Muisca were still alive, despite the intensive catholic conversion policies. ''Caciques'' of Tuta, Toca
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the T ...
, Duitama, Iguaque, Ramiriquí, Chitagoto, Onzaga
Onzaga () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. Onzaga borders in the north San Joaquín, in the east and south the municipalities Soatá, Covarachía, Tipacoque and Tutazá of the department of Boy ...
, Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
and Cucunubá
Cucunubá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. It borders with the municipalities of Ubaté, Lenguazaque, Suesca, Chocontá, Tausa and Sutatausa.
Geography
The urban centre ...
participated in these rituals. The religious leader of Sogamoso was still the most important in these days.
Muisca raft
The Muisca raft is the masterpiece of the Muisca goldworking and has become illustrative for the fine techniques used. The by object was found in 1969 in a ceramic pot hidden in a cave in the municipality of Pasca, in the southwest of the Bogotá savanna and has become the centerpiece in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá. The raft is interpreted as picturing the initiation ritual of the new ''zipa
When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...
'' in the sacred Lake Guatavita, where the new ruler would cover himself in gold dust and jump from a small boat into the waters of the high post-glacial lake to honour the gods. This ceremony was accompanied by priests (Muysccubun: ''xeque'') and formed the basis for the ''El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...
'' legend that drew the Spanish conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
towards the high Andes. The raft has been constructed using the lost-wax casting method and is made of ''tumbaga'' of around 80% gold, 12% silver and 8% copper. It contains 229 grams of gold.
The Muisca raft is also featured in the coat of arms of two municipalities of Cundinamarca; Sesquilé
Sesquilé is a town and municipality in Almeidas Province in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Sesquilé in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means "hot water".
, where Lake Guatavita is located, and Pasca, where the raft was found.
Jewelry
The Muisca society was in essence egalitarian with slight differences in terms of use of jewelry. The guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and ...
s, priests and ''caciques'' were allowed to wear multiple types of jewelry, while the common people used less jewels. Golden or ''tumbaga'' jewelry existed of diadem
A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty.
Overview
The word derives from the Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω ''diadéō'', " ...
s, nose pieces, breast plates, earrings, pendants, tiara
A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...
s, bracelets and masks.
Architecture
While the other three grand pre-Columbian civilisations—the Maya, Aztec and Inca—are known for their grand architecture in the form of pyramids, stelae, stone cities and temples, the modest Muisca architecture has left very little traces in the present.Langebaek Rueda, 2003, p.265 The houses (called ''bohíos'' or ''malokas'') and temples of the people, where spiritual gatherings took place honouring the gods and sacrificing ''tunjos'', emeralds and children, were made of degradable materials such as wood, clay and reed. The circular structures were built on top of slightly elevated platforms to prevent them from flooding on the frequently inundated plains; small settlements of ten to one hundred houses were surrounded by wooden poles forming an enclosure, called ''ca'' in Muysccubun. Two or more gates gave entrance to the villages. The houses and temples themselves were built around a central pole of wood attached to the roof; the temples were constructed using the wood of ''Guaiacum officinale
''Guaiacum officinale'', commonly known as roughbark lignum-vitae, guaiacwood or gaïacwood, is a species of tree in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae, that is native to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America.
Description
This s ...
'' tree, giving high quality construction. The floors of the open spaced houses were covered with straw or, for the ''caciques'', with ceramic floors. Cloths were attached to the roof and painted with red and black colours. The houses and sacred places were adorned with ''tunjos'' and emeralds, and in some cases with the remains of human sacrifices
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
.
Roads
The roads the Muisca merchants and ''xeques'' used to traverse the Altiplano and access surrounding areas, were dug in the top soil without pavement, making them hard to recognise in the archaeological record. The roads leading to the religious sites, such as Lake Tota, were marked with stones surrounding the pathway, which are still visible today. Cable bridges of vines andbamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
connected the banks of the many rivers of the Andes. The roads crossing the mountains of the Eastern Ranges were narrow, which created a problem for the Spanish conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
who used horses to travel long distances.
Remaining antiquities
A few structures built by the Muisca still exist today; the Cojines del Zaque ("cushions of the zaque") inTunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
are two round stones with inclined upper parts used for religious ceremonies. Of the Goranchacha Temple, a circle of pillars remained, located on the terrains of the UPTC, also in Tunja. The holiest temple of the Muisca, the Sun Temple
A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the ...
in sacred City of the Sun Suamox had been destroyed by fire when the Spanish conquerors looted the shrine and has been rebuilt based on archaeological research by Eliécer Silva Celis
Eliécer Silva Celis ( Floresta, Colombia, 20 January 1914 – Sogamoso, 4 July 2007) was a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, professor and writer.
. The temple is part of the Archaeology Museum
An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological
Types
Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as ...
of the city in Boyacá.Temple of the Sun - Sogamoso- Pueblos Originarios
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 ...
Mummies
Mummification was a tradition that many other pre-Columbian civilisations practiced. On the Altiplano, the habit of conserving the dead started in the Herrera Period, around the 5th century AD. The Muisca continued this culture and prepared their deceased beloved members of the society by putting the bodies above fires. The heat would dry the body and the phenol
Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it r ...
conserve the organs and protect them from decomposition, a process that took up to eight hours.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.71 After drying, the bodies were wrapped in cotton cloths and placed in caves, buried, or in some cases placed on elevated platforms inside temples, such as the Sun Temple
A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the ...
. The position of the mummies was with their arms folded across the chest and the hands around the chin, while the legs were placed over the abdomen. During the preparation of the mummies, the Muisca played music and sang songs honouring their dead. The habit of mummification continued well into the colonial period; the youngest mummies found date from the second half of the 18th century.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.68Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.74
To prepare the dead for the afterlife, the mummies were surrounded with ceramic pots containing food, ''tunjos'' and cotton bags and mantles.Ortega Loaiza et al., 2012, p.8 The guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and ...
s were richly venerated with golden arms, crowns, emeralds and cotton.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.72 When the ''caciques'' and ''zaque'' and ''zipa'' died, their mummified bodies were placed in mausoleums and surrounded with golden objects. The highest regarded members of society were accompanied by their many wives, by slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and their children. The mummy of a baby described from a cave in 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, Tó ...
, Boyacá, had a teether
A teether, teething toy, or chew toy is a device given to teething infants. Most modern teethers are silicone, but can also be made of wood or rubber. Some teethers are filled with a fluid or gel that can be frozen or refrigerated. They differ fr ...
around the neck.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.69 Other mummies of children were richly decorated with gold and placed in caves, as was the case with a young girl described by Liborio Zerda
Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)Chibcha-speaking groups in the Eastern Ranges; the Guane mummies are well studied, and also the U'wa and farther north the
- Banco de la RepúblicaVilla Posse, 1993, p.52 The Carib-speaking Muzo buried their mummies with the head towards the west, while the Zenú and Panche, like the Muisca commonly oriented the faces of their mummies to the east. Some of the Muisca mummies were directed towards the south. When the guecha warriors fought battles with neighbouring groups, most notably the Panche, and also against the Spanish conquistadors, they carried the mummies of their ancestors on their backs, to impress the enemy and receive fortune in battle.
File:Muisca Mummy Textile Bag - Museo del Oro - Bogotá.jpg, Cotton Muisca textile bag, accompanying the Muisca mummy
File:Museo Del Oro, Bogota (25094844355).jpg, Small ceramic pots surrounded the mummies and contained food for the afterlife
File:Corn spiral steps.jpg, Maize
The Muisca played music, sang and danced mainly as part of religious, burial and initiation rituals, with harvests and sowing and after the victory in
The use of ceramics on the Altiplano started in the Herrera Period, with the oldest evidences of ceramic use dated at 3000 BP. The many different clays of the rivers and lakes of the valleys on the high plateau made a variety of ceramic types possible.
The Muisca constructed ceramic pottery for cooking, the extraction of
File:Muisca Ceramic + Tunjos - Museo del Oro - Bogotá.jpg, Ceramic bowl and ''tunjos'', Museo del Oro, Bogotá
File:Mascara precolombina.JPG, Ceramic mask of the Muisca, Museo Nacional, Bogotá
File:Museo Del Oro, Bogota (24976513622).jpg, Muisca ceramics is characterised by the typical shapes of eyes and mouth
A script for text was not used by the Muisca, but the numerals were written with hieroglyphs. They have been analysed by various authors, such as
Many examples of rock art by the Muisca have been discovered on the Altiplano. The first rock art has been discovered by
-
Chitarero
The Chitarero were an indigenous Chibcha-speaking people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela. They were responsible for the death of the German ''conquistador'' Ambrosius Ehinger in 1533 by means of poisoned arrows ...
of the department of Norte de Santander mummified their dead.Momia- Banco de la RepúblicaVilla Posse, 1993, p.52 The Carib-speaking Muzo buried their mummies with the head towards the west, while the Zenú and Panche, like the Muisca commonly oriented the faces of their mummies to the east. Some of the Muisca mummies were directed towards the south. When the guecha warriors fought battles with neighbouring groups, most notably the Panche, and also against the Spanish conquistadors, they carried the mummies of their ancestors on their backs, to impress the enemy and receive fortune in battle.
Music and dance
The Muisca played music, sang and danced mainly as part of religious, burial and initiation rituals, with harvests and sowing and after the victory in battles
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.230Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.231 Also during the construction of their houses, the Muisca performed music and dances. The early Spanish chronicles noted that the music and singing was monotonous and sad. As musical instruments they used drums, flutes made of shells or ceramics, trumpets of gold, zampoñas and ocarinas. At the rituals, the people would be dressed in feathers, animal skins (mainly jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
) and decorated their bodies with paint. At the dances the women and men held hands and both the commoners and the higher social classes participated in these activities. The main deities
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
associated with the dances were Huitaca and Nencatacoa.Escobar, 1987
Ceramics
The use of ceramics on the Altiplano started in the Herrera Period, with the oldest evidences of ceramic use dated at 3000 BP. The many different clays of the rivers and lakes of the valleys on the high plateau made a variety of ceramic types possible.
The Muisca constructed ceramic pottery for cooking, the extraction of salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
from brines, as decorative ritual pieces and for the consumption of their alcoholic beverage; chicha
''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...
. Large ceramic jars were found around the sacred archaeoastronomical site of ''El Infiernito
''El Infiernito'' (Spanish for "The Little Hell"), is a pre-Columbian archaeoastronomical site located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a sett ...
'', used for massive rituals where the people celebrated their festivities drinking chicha.Langebaek Rueda, 2005, p.291 Also musical instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
such as ocarina
The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from cl ...
s were made of ceramics. The ceramic pots and sculptures were painted with zoomorphic figures that were common in the Muisca territory; frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
s, armadillo
Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, alo ...
s, snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...
s and lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...
s. Main ceramic production centres were located close to the abundance of clays, in Tocancipá, Gachancipá, Cogua
Cogua () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. It is situated on northern part of the Bogotá savanna with the urban centre at an altitude of at from the capital Bogotá. Cogua borders Tausa in the north, N ...
, Guatavita, Guasca
Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guasca ...
and Ráquira
Ráquira, is a municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. Ráquira is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the urban center at an altitude of . It borders Tinjacá and Sutama ...
.
Textiles
The Muisca, as the indigenous groups in the west of Colombia, developed a variety of textiles from fique orcotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
.Fernández Sacama, 2013, p.289 Cords were made of fique or human hair. The people of the cold climate Altiplano did not have a major cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
production, yet traded most of their cotton with their neighbours; the Muzo in the west, Panche in the southwest, Guane in the northwest, and the Guayupe in the east. From the raw cotton, the Muisca women made fine cotton mantles that were traded on the many markets in the Muisca territory.
The mantles of the Muisca were decorated with various colours. The colours were obtained from seeds; the seed of the avocado
The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...
for green, flowers; saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...
for orange and indigo weed for blue, fruits, crust and roots of plants, from animals as the cochineal
The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America ...
insect producing purple colours, and minerals as the blue and green clays of Siachoque
Siachoque is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Siachoque is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. It borders Toca in the ...
, the coloured earth of Suta and the yellow sediments of Soracá.Fernández Sacama, 2013, p.290 Also curuba, the flowers of the potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
plant ('' Solanum andigenum'') and other colouring materials ('' Rumex obtusifolia'', ''Bixa orellana
''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide.
The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called or ) obtained ...
'', '' Arrabidaea chica'' and more) were used.Cortés Moreno, 1990, p.62 The colours were applied using pencils, applying coloured threads or using stamps.Fernández Sacama, 2013, p.291 The textiles were produced using various techniques, similar to the Aymara of southern South America and the Mesoamerican cultures.Cortés Moreno, 1990, p.64 Small textiles functioned as money, just like the '' tejuelos'' of gold or salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
was used.
The culture of mantle-making in the Muisca mythology is said to have been taught by Bochica, who trained the people in the use of spindles.Fernández Sacama, 2013, p.287 Nencatacoa protected the weavers and painters of the mantles.Fernández Sacama, 2013, p.288
Hieroglyphs
A script for text was not used by the Muisca, but the numerals were written with hieroglyphs. They have been analysed by various authors, such as Joaquín Acosta
Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán (December 29, 1800February 21, 1852) was a Colombian explorer, historian, chorographer, and geologist.
A native of Colombia in South America, he served in the Colombian army and in 1834 attempted ...
, Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...
and Liborio Zerda
Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)Bixa orellana
''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide.
The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called or ) obtained ...
'' to paint their bodies, just like the Arawak
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greate ...
, Carib and Tupi.Uscategui Mendoza, 1961, p.336
Rock art
Many examples of rock art by the Muisca have been discovered on the Altiplano. The first rock art has been discovered by conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...
during the Spanish conquest of the Muisca
The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of diff ...
.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.5 The rock art
In archaeology, rock art is 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 also m ...
consists of petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
(carvings) and petrograph
In archaeology, rock art is 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 also m ...
s (drawings). The petrographs were made using the index finger
The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...
.Rico Ramírez, 2013, p.88 Pioneer in the study of the rock art has been Miguel Triana. Later contributions have been done by Diego Martínez, Eliécer Silva Celis
Eliécer Silva Celis ( Floresta, Colombia, 20 January 1914 – Sogamoso, 4 July 2007) was a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, professor and writer.
and others.Rico Ramírez, 2013, p.87 It is theorised that the rock art has been made under the influence of ayahuasca
AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...
(yahé).Rico Ramírez, 2013, p.84
The rock art of Soacha-Sibaté, in the southwest of the Bogotá savanna, has been studied in detail between 1970 and 2006, after initial studies by Triana.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.2 In these petrographs certain motives have been described; ''triangular heads'' are pictographs of human figures where the heads are painted in a triangular shape. They are applied using red colours and demonstrate various sizes. Similar motives are noted in Mongua
Mongua is a town and municipality in Sugamuxi Province in the Colombian Department of Boyacá. Mongua is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between and . The municipality borders Gámeza, Socotá, Pisba, Lab ...
, Tenjo
Tenjo is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of on the Bogotá savanna. Tenjo is part of the Metropolitan Area of Bogotá and bor ...
and Tibacuy.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.14 In most cases of the rock art on the Altiplano, the body extremities, such as hands, are shown in simple shapes. In some cases however, the hands are elaborated with much more detail using spirals, concentric circles and more strokes, identified as ''complex hands''. Apart from Sibaté, these shapes are encountered also in Saboyá
Saboyá is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá.
Etymology
Saboyá in Chibcha means "Taste for the mantles".Tibaná
Tibaná is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of Márquez Province. The urban centre of Tibaná is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at an altitude of and a distance of from the depar ...
in Boyacá.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.15 A third class of petrographs has been named ''radial representations''. This motive shows the main figures with concentric square or circular lines drawn around them.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.16 The concentric circular drawings have been interpreted as representing the main deities of the Muisca religion; Chía (the Moon) and Sué, her husband the Sun.Contreras Díaz, 2011, p.148 ''Rhomboidal motives'' are found in Sibaté, but their exact purpose has not yet been concluded.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.17 Both in Soacha and in Sibaté a fifth type of petrographs has been identified; ''winged figures''. These motives resemble the birds that are described in ''tunjos'' and ceramics of the Altiplano.
The same scholar has performed detailed analysis of the rock art in Facatativá; the Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park
Piedras del Tunjo ( Spanish for "Tunjo Rocks") is an important archaeological park established on a natural rock shelter west of Bogotá in the municipality of Facatativá.
Description
In the Late Pleistocene, the site used to be the shore o ...
. The many petrographs in this location are painted using red, yellow, ochre, blue, black and white colours.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.42Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.44Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.55 The motives show a possible tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
plant, commonly used by the Muisca, zig-zag patterns, anthropomorphic figures, concentric lines similar to those in Soacha and Sáchica, zoomorphic motives and anthropo-zoomorphic composites in the shape of frogs.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.45Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.43Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.48Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.49Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.58Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.59Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.63
Research in the 1960s by Eliécer Silva Celis
Eliécer Silva Celis ( Floresta, Colombia, 20 January 1914 – Sogamoso, 4 July 2007) was a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, professor and writer.
on the rock art of Sáchica showed phytomorphic designs, masked human figures, singular and concentric rings, triangulated heads, and faces where the eyes and noses were drawn, but the mouths absent. The majority of the petrographs found here are abstract figures. The colours red, black and white dominate the rock paintings in Sáchica. The black has been analysed also at ''El Infiernito'' and is thought to refer to a pre-Muisca origin. Radial structures drawn on the heads of the anthropomorphic petrographs are interpreted as feathers. Feathers were precious objects for the Muisca and used by the ''xeques'' and ''caciques'' during the ''El Dorado'' ritual in Lake Guatavita.
Hand imprints, similar to the famous Cueva de las Manos in Argentina, yet less pronounced and in quantity, have been discovered on rock faces in Soacha and Motavita
Motavita is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It covers approximately .
Often it is represented graphically in a cad ... vereda (townships): Centro, Carbonera, ...
.
Muisca rock art on the Altiplano
As of 2006, 3487 locations of rock art had been discovered in Cundinamarca alone, of which 301 on theBogotá savanna
The Bogotá savanna is a 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 situated in the Eastern Ran ...
.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.10 Other locations have been found over the years.Martínez & Botiva, 2004a The rock art of the Archaeological Park of Facatativá is heavily vandalised.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.11 Plans for the preservation of the unique cultural heritage have been formulated since the mid 2000s.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2013, p.23 The petrographs of Soacha are endangered by the mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
activities in the fastly growing suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
of Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, as is happening with other mining districts; Chía, Sibaté
Sibaté () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Soacha Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Sibaté is located on the Bogotá savanna with the urban centre at an altitude of and a distance of from the capital Bogotá. It f ...
, Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
, Sáchica
Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira i ...
and others.Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p.3
Modern Muisca-based art
In the centre of Bogotá the process of production of '' tunjos'' is still alive. Using the same methods as the Muisca must have used, the votive offer figurines are crafted. Artistic representations of Muisca creativity are not as common as the Maya, Aztec and Inca. Still, modern interpretations of their art are produced. InBosa
Bosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano (until May 2005 it was in the province of Nuoro), part of the Sardinia region of Italy. Bosa is situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, on a small hill, abo ...
, a locality in the west of Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, a mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...
depicts the various deities
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
. Another mural showing the gods and goddesses of the Muisca is made in the Hotel Tequendama, named after preceramic archaeological site and rock shelter Tequendama, in the centre of Bogotá. Other stylistic art of these deities are produced by professional graphic designers in Colombia.Guzmán, 2012 The Muisca are featured as one of the playable nations in the videogame ''Europa Universalis IV
''Europa Universalis IV'' is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the '' Europa Universalis'' series, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to '' Europa Universalis III'' (2007). The game was ...
'', where a specially developed expansion set ''El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...
'' can be played; seven cities of gold in the Americas with the leaders of the main civilisations represented.''El Dorado'' expansion set-
Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...
- ''Europa Universalis IV
''Europa Universalis IV'' is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the '' Europa Universalis'' series, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to '' Europa Universalis III'' (2007). The game was ...
'' In the main game, all the Muisca rulers
When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...
, from Michuá and Meicuchuca till Tisquesusa
Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...
, Sagipa
Sagipa or Zaquesazipa (died 1539, Bosa, New Kingdom of Granada) was the fifth and last ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, currently known as Funza, as of 1537. He was the brother of his predecessor Bogotá but the traditional faction of the Mu ...
and Aquiminzaque
Aquiminzaque (Chibcha: ''Aquim ó Quiminza'', died Tunja, 1540) was the last '' hoa'' of Hunza, on which the Spanish city of Tunja (in present-day Colombia) was built, reigning from 1537 until his death. His '' psihipqua'' counterpart in the sout ...
are included. Conquest of Paradise (DLC), about the conquest of the New World, is another expansion for the world diplomacy and strategy game. Other names are Muyquytá, Busbanzá, Cerinza, Charalá, Chipatá, Cuxininegua, Duitama, Guecha, '' iraca'', Onzaga
Onzaga () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. Onzaga borders in the north San Joaquín, in the east and south the municipalities Soatá, Covarachía, Tipacoque and Tutazá of the department of Boy ...
, Paipa
Paipa is a town and municipality in the Tundama Province, a part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Paipa borders Duitama, Firavitoba, Tibasosa, Sotaquirá and Tuta.Saboyá
Saboyá is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá.
Etymology
Saboyá in Chibcha means "Taste for the mantles".Soacha,
- GitHub Artist Zamor has published about the Muisca and Colombian-Australian artist María Fernanda Cardoso made a piece about the importance of frogs within the culture, called "Dancing Frogs". In the 19th century, writer and later Colombian president Santiago Pérez de Manosalbas published a work called ''Nemequene'', about ''
File:CULTURA MUISCA.jpg, Mural in Bosa showing the different deities in the Muisca religion
File:DiosaAguaBachue.jpg, Modern sculpture of Earth goddess
Muisca art
- Museo del Oro,
Muisca art
- Pueblos Originarios {{Muisca navbox, Topics, state=expanded Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca
Tenza
Tenza () is a town and municipality in the subregion of the Eastern Boyacá Province of the Colombian department Boyacá. Tenza borders La Capilla and Pachavita in the north, in the east the department of Cundinamarca, in the south with Sutat ...
, Tibana, Tibirita, Toca
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the T ...
, Tomagata, Tunduma, Tutazúa, Uzathama, ''zaque
When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...
'', ''zipa
When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...
'', Tibacuy, Aguazuque and Zipacón
Zipacón () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Zipacón is situated at an altitude of on the Bogotá savanna, the southern flatlands of the Altiplan ...
.Muisca names Europa Universalis IV- GitHub Artist Zamor has published about the Muisca and Colombian-Australian artist María Fernanda Cardoso made a piece about the importance of frogs within the culture, called "Dancing Frogs". In the 19th century, writer and later Colombian president Santiago Pérez de Manosalbas published a work called ''Nemequene'', about ''
zipa
When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of 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 th ...
.
Bachué
The goddess Bachué (in Chibcha language: "the one with the naked breast"), is a mother goddess that according to the Muisca religion is the mother of humanity. She emerged of the waters in the Iguaque Lake with a baby in her arms, who grew to ...
File:Al Dios Cuitiva.JPG, Statue honouring messenger god Bochica in Cuítiva, Boyacá
File:Goranchacha El hijo del Sol.jpg, Statue of the mythical
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
Goranchacha in Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
File:Tunjo - Club Colombia.jpg, The Colombian beer brand Club Colombia uses a ''tunjo'' as symbol
File:Escudo guatativa.jpg, The seal of Guatavita bears a Muisca against a shining Sué
See also
* List of Muisca museum collections *Muisca economy
This article describes the economy of the Muisca. The Muisca were the original inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the high plateau in the Eastern Ranges of central present-day Colombia. Their rich economy and advanced merchant abili ...
*Maya art
Ancient Maya art is the visual arts of the Maya civilization, an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture made up of a great number of small kingdoms in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Many regional artistic traditions e ...
*Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
, Inca art
References
Bibliography
General Muisca & Herrera
* * * * * * * * * * * * *Goldworking
* * * * * * *Architecture
* * *Mummies
* *Music
*Ceramics and textiles
* * * * *Numerals and archaeoastronomy
* * *Rock art
* * * * * * * * *Modern Muisca-based art
*External links
*Muisca art
- Museo del Oro,
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
*Muisca art
- Pueblos Originarios {{Muisca navbox, Topics, state=expanded Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca Muisca