The Muisca inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Andes before the arrival of the Spanish and were an advanced civilisation. They mummified the higher social class members of their society, mainly the zipas, zaques, caciques, priests and their families. The mummies would be placed in caves or in dedicated houses ("mausoleums") and were not buried.
Many mummies from the Chibcha-speaking indigenous groups have been found to date, mainly from the Muisca, Lache and Guane. In 1602 the early Spanish colonisers found 150 mummies in a cave near Suesca, that were organised in a scenic circular shape with the mummy of the cacique in the centre of the scene. The mummies were surrounded by cloths and pots. In 2007 the mummy of a baby was discovered in a cave near Gámeza, Boyacá, together with a small bowl, a pacifier and cotton cloths. The process of mummification continued into the colonial period. The youngest mummies have been dated to the second half of the 18th century.[1]
The Muisca did not construct stone architecture, as the Maya, Aztec and Inca did; their houses, temples and shrines were built with wood and clay. They were called "Salt People" because of their extraction of halite from various salt mines on the Altiplano, predominantly in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa.
Description
The oldest mummies of South America come from the northern Chilean Chinchorro culture.The mummies of the higher classes were decorated with golden crowns, earrings and noserings.
The Muisca started their mummification practices in the Late Herrera Period, approximately from the 5th century AD onwards.[13][17][18]
The use of substances to balm the body and the extraction of the organs has been described by franciscan Estebán de Asencio in 1550. The process took eight hours to dry the body with a dusty balm after the intestines were extracted. While the exact composition of the balm has not been determined, the moque was probably a type of resin, used in other rituals and practices around the mummification.[19]
Another method of preparation of the mummies was more frequent. The body would be dried using fire and smoke and no extraction of organs would be performed. The heat of the fire not only dried the body, also the phenol liberated by the smoke would conserve the body and prevent it from decomposing. This process, that also the Guane performed to prepare their mummies, has been described by Pedro Simón.[20]
The dried bodies were wrapped in various layers of cotton cloths, mostly painted. Emeralds were put in the mouths and to cover the eyes and bellybutton of the deceased and sometimes even cloths were inserted in their rectum. The ears and nose were covered with cotton cloths as well.[21]
During the mummification rituals, the Muisca sang songs and drank chicha for various days in a row.[22]
As the Muisca believed in an afterlife,[23] the mummies were buried surrounded by pots with food as beans, maize and chicha, mantles and golden figures for their stay in another world, similar to ours.[22] The mummies of the higher classes were decorated with golden earrings or noserings and with golden feathered crowns and emeralds.[24]
The discovery of a cave in Gámeza, Boyacá in 2007, proved also children were mummified; a mummified baby of a couple of months old was wrapped in cotton cloths and accompanied by a teether, a small bowl, three strings of cotton and a small bag around the neck.[24]
In the temples and places reserved for the mummies, the bodies were put on a platform of reed, as an elevated bed, called barbacoas. Other mummies were placed on small wooden stools.[20] The mummies were left there without being buried.[24] All the mummies found were in a similar sitting position with the arms and legs folded towards the torso. Ezequiel Uricoechea described in 1854 that the fingers of the mummified persons were strapped together with cotton cords.[20] Some of the mummies, probably those of the warriors, were found with golden arms in their hands. The fighters were richly decorated with emeralds, crowns and fine cloths and bags of cotton.[21]
According to Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who made the first contact with the Muisca, during the conquest, the guecha warriors carried mummies on their backs to serve as an example and to impress their enemies in their warfare.[13][21][25][26][27] When his soldiers Miguel Sánchez and Juan Rodríguez Parra raided the Sun Temple in Sogamoso in September 1537, they found mummies decorated with golden crowns and other objects sitting on raised platforms.[13][28][29]
Social classes
Small ceramic pots filled with food accompanied the mummies in their journey to the afterlifeWhen the Spanish entered the sacred Sun Temple of Sogamoso in September 1537, they found mummies sitting on elevated platforms inside.
Although the Muisca society was generally egalitarian, differences in the burial processes indicate the distinction of the social classes.[30] The higher class people and their families were mummified while lower classes were not.[31] The zipa and zaque mummy sites, often in temples and caves, were decorated with golden stools and guarded by the priests.[22][32] The caciques were put together with their slaves and wives and the priests (xeques) were placed in secret sites.[23] Often the mummies of the caciques were kept in their own houses and the religious people consulted their ancestors in their prayers to them.[14] In some cases special bohíos were constructed to house the mummies of the highest classes, as mausoleums.[13]
Mummy SO10-IX
Mummy SO10-IX has been analysed in great detail and found on the right bank of the Chicamocha River in the north of the Muisca territory bordering the Guane terrains, as here in the Chicamocha Canyon.
The mummy from Sativanorte, named SO10-IX and belonging to the collection of Silva Celis in the Archaeology Museum of Sogamoso, has been studied in detail by various researchers.[4][33] The mummy has been donated to the archaeologist by Abraham López Ávila in 1962.[33] Interviews with López Ávila revealed that the mummy had been found by children in the vicinity of Sativanorte, Sativasur and Socotá on the western bank of the Chicamocha River.[34]
The first analysis of the mummy SO10-IX has been performed in 2004, by a group of researcher of the UPTC in Tunja.[9] The mummy was unwrapped in flexion, simulating the fetal position, missing the upper left limb, with partial loss of the right lower limb, conserving the leg and foot. Loss of skin and soft tissue to the bone at the pelvis and the abdominal region have been noted. The upper limbs were flexed, the hands interlaced and tied with a cotton cord; they were placed on the right side of the head. Three fragments of cotton blankets accompanied the mummy. The body showed evidence of perforations caused by cadaveric fauna.[34]
Remains of Coleoptera (Ancognatha and Phyllophaga) were identified and remains of the left lung have been described in the thoracic cavity. The cranium was undeformed and showed remains of straight black hair with signs it had been cut. Cotton was found inside the ear and nostrils. One of the vertebrates showed an abscess.[36] The mummy has been identified as probably a male of an established age of 30 +/- 5 years old. The length of the individual has been estimated at 166 centimetres (5.45ft). The teeth of SO10-IX did not have cavities and in the mouth remains of algae and diatoms have been discovered.[37]
Analysis of the mummy provided that it probably had been a shaman, based on the perforated ears, and that he suffered from illnesses in his limbs, cared for by the Muisca community.[35]
Other Colombian Andean mummies
The early Spanish colonisers discovered in 1602 a cave in Suesca with 150 mummies organised in a circular fashion.
Muisca mummies have been discovered in Gachantivá, Iguaque, Villa de Leyva, Moniquirá, Socotá, Sogamoso, Tunja, Ubaté, Pisba, Usme and Suesca and mummies wrapped in cloths in Boavita, Tasco, Tópaga, Gámeza and Gachancipá.[2] The mummies of Usme, discovered in 2007, revealed an extensive burial site of 30 hectares (74 acres). Oval and circular graves have been found, together with urns and some of the findings showed evidence of sacrifices.[23] The 135 human remains have been dated to the 8th or 9th century until the 16th century AD. Evidence for alive burials were numerous and it is estimated it would take twenty years to fully analyse the site.[38]
Until 2012, seventy mummies have been analysed in Colombia, of which 54 of the Chibcha-speaking people. The remaining 16 mummies have been found in the Serranía del Perijá and belonged to the Yuko culture.[13] The majority of mummies discovered after the conquest were found in caves and represented scenes; they were organised in circles. In the Muisca history caves, together with lakes, waterfalls and rivers, have been important. In 1602, 150 mummies were discovered in a cave in Suesca, and were organised in a circle around the mummy of the cacique. The scene was completed with many small cotton cloths. The circular organisation around the cacique resembled the organisation of the Muisca villages, where the central bohío belonged to the ruler of the settlement.[24]
In 1885 Muisca scholar Liborio Zerda described a mummy of a young girl, found in a cave on the Toquilla paramo, at 4,000 metres (13,000ft) altitude within the municipality of Aquitania. The mummy was wrapped in cotton mantles and decorated with golden objects. The body was eternalised in a squatting position.[20]
Some of the Muisca mummies found were so well conserved, that their facial expression did not look like the people died hundreds of years ago.[16]
The Zenú and Panche oriented their mummies with the head to the east, while the Muzo buried their dead with the head to the west.[15][40] The Muisca commonly directed the heads of the deceased to the east, although other graves have been found oriented to the south.[38]
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 Altiplano Cundiboyacense comprises three distinctive flat regions; the Bogotá savanna, the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá, and the valleys of Duitama and Sogamoso. The average altitude of the altiplano is about 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) above sea level but ranges from roughly 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).
Pisba is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of La Libertad Province. Pisba is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) and 3,500 metres (11,500 ft). Distance to Sogamoso is 128 kilometres (80 mi) and to Tunja 176 kilometres (109 mi). The municipality borders Paya in the east, Labranzagrande in the south and Mongua in the northwest. The Casanare municipality Támara borders Pisba in the north.
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 18 kilometres (11 mi) from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, Tópaga and Mongua in the south, in the east Socotá and westward of Gámeza Corrales and Tópaga.
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 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) and 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). The municipality borders Gámeza, Socotá, Pisba, Labranzagrande, Aquitania, Sogamoso, Monguí and Tópaga.
Tópaga is a town and municipality in the Sugamuxi Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Tópaga is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the urban center at an altitude of 2,900 metres (9,500 ft) while the topography varies over the municipality from 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) to 3,200 metres (10,500 ft). It borders Nobsa and Corrales in the west, in the east Mongua and Gámeza, in the north Gámeza and in the south Monguí and Sogamoso. Department capital Tunja is 98 kilometres (61 mi) away. Chicamocha River flows through Tópaga.
Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 59 kilometres (37 mi) north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and is a scenic countryside town which is well known because its landscape attracts devotees of rock climbing, trekking, and rafting. It is surrounded by dairy farms and flower plantations. The municipality borders Cucunubá and Lenguazaque in the north, Sesquilé and Gachancipá in the south, Chocontá in the east and Nemocón in the west.
The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers in the central Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The area, presently called Altiplano Cundiboyacense, comprised the current departments of Boyacá, Cundinamarca and minor parts of Santander.
Idacansás, Idacansas, Idacanzas or Iduakanzas was a mythical cacique who was said to have been the first priest of the sacred city of Sugamuxi, present-day Sogamoso, Colombia, then part of the territories of the Muisca. He is characterized by his great magical powers as he could make rain and hail and transmit diseases and warmth.
The Sun Temple of Sogamoso was a temple constructed by the Muisca as a place of worship for their Sun god Sué. The temple was built in Sogamoso, Colombia, then part of the Muisca Confederation and called Sugamuxi. It was the most important temple in the religion of the Muisca. The temple was destroyed by fire brought by the Spanish conquistadores led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who was eager to find the legendary El Dorado. A reconstruction has been built in the Archeology Museum of Sogamoso.
The iraca, sometimes spelled iraka, was the ruler and high priest of Sugamuxi in the confederation of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the central highlands of the Colombian Andes. Iraca can also refer to the Iraka Valley over which they ruled. Important scholars who wrote about the iraca were Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita, Alexander von Humboldt and Ezequiel Uricoechea.
This article describes the architecture of the Muisca. The Muisca, inhabiting the central highlands of the Colombian Andes, were one of the four great civilizations of the Americas. Unlike the three civilizations in present-day Mexico and Peru, they did not construct grand architecture of solid materials. While specialising in agriculture and gold-working, cloths and ceramics, their architecture was rather modest and made of non-permanent materials as wood and clay.
Nompanim or Nomparem was the penultimate iraca; cacique of the sacred City of the Sun; Sugamuxi. Sugamuxi, presently called Sogamoso, was an important city in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the times before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca conquistadores reached the central highlands of the Colombian Andes. Fellow Muisca rulers of other territories within the Muisca Confederation were Tundama in Tundama, zaque Quemuenchatocha in Hunza and zipas Nemequene and Tisquesusa in Bacatá.
This article describes the role of women in the society of the Muisca. The Muisca are the original inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca in the first half of the 16th century. Their society was one of the four great civilizations of the Americas.
Eliécer Silva Celis was a Colombian anthropologist, archaeologist, professor and writer. He is considered a pioneer in the anthropology of Colombia. Silva Celis is known in Colombia for the reconstruction of the Sun Temple, the most important temple of the Muisca religion.
Liborio Zerda was a Colombian physician and Muisca scholar. Zerda has been important in the natural sciences of the late 19th and early 20th century in Colombia, publishing many articles about various topics, from medicine to chemical analysis, radioactivity and the popular drink chicha.
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 abilities were widely known by the indigenous groups of the area and described by the Spanish conquistadores whose primary objective was the acquisition of the mineral resources of Tierra Firme; gold, emeralds, carbon, silver and copper.
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 different rulers; the psihipqua of Muyquytá, with his headquarters in Funza, the hoa of Hunza, the iraca of the sacred City of the Sun Sugamuxi, the Tundama of Tundama, and several other independent caciques. The most important rulers at the time of the conquest were psihipqua Tisquesusa, hoa Eucaneme, iraca Sugamuxi and Tundama in the northernmost portion of their territories. The Muisca were organised in small communities of circular enclosures, with a central square where the bohío of the cacique was located. They were called "Salt People" because of their extraction of salt in various locations throughout their territories, mainly in Zipaquirá, Nemocón, and Tausa. For the main part self-sufficient in their well-organised economy, the Muisca traded with the European conquistadors valuable products as gold, tumbaga, and emeralds with their neighbouring indigenous groups. In the Tenza Valley, to the east of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense where the majority of the Muisca lived, they extracted emeralds in Chivor and Somondoco. The economy of the Muisca was rooted in their agriculture with main products maize, yuca, potatoes, and various other cultivations elaborated on elevated fields. Agriculture had started around 3000 BCE on the Altiplano, following the preceramic Herrera Period and a long epoch of hunter-gatherers since the late Pleistocene. The earliest archaeological evidence of inhabitation in Colombia, and one of the oldest in South America, has been found in El Abra, dating to around 12,500 years BP.
This article describes the art produced by the Muisca. The Muisca established one of the four grand civilisations of the pre-Columbian Americas on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in present-day central Colombia. 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, Aztec and Maya civilisations, the Muisca are best known for their skilled goldworking. The Museo del Oro in the Colombian capital Bogotá houses the biggest collection of golden objects in the world, from various Colombian cultures including the Muisca.
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Ortega Loaiza, Natalia; Grisales Cardona, Diana Fernanda; Uribe Botina, Alejandra; Blandón Hernández, Juan Camilo (2012), Los rituales fúnebres indígenas - The indigenous burial rituals (in Spanish)
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