The Quimbayas were one of the groups of people who were living in the mid-Cauca region when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. All archaeological objects found in the region have traditionally been given the name Quimbaya, and the Quimbayas have been claimed to have made them, despite the fact that many were made by other peoples, and at different times.

The mid-Cauca region, in what are today known as the provinces of Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas, was inhabited for thousands of years by societies with differing life styles and cultures. Groups of hunters and gatherers lived there some 10,000 years ago, and their way of life remained unaltered for several thousand years. Around 500 B.C., the inhabitants engaged in agriculture, and around 100 A.D. they worked gold; then, in about the year 800, these societies underwent profound changes. The Spanish Conquest in the 16th century led to a considerable drop in population numbers and brought with it major social and cultural transformations.

The Quimbaya Gold Museum tells this long story of a past that is still present today in our men and women, in their customs, their language, their knowledge and their values. It is a story that is changing all the time, one that is constantly being written.

Who were the first Americans and the first Colombians?

It was around 20,000 years ago that groups of hunters from Asia first came to North America. This was the time of the last Ice Age, when vast areas of the planet were covered with ice and sea levels were lower than they are today, the climate was colder and drier, and large animals wandered over the land. These ancient settlers slowly worked their way into the continent, searching for food. Then, around 15,000 years ago, the first settlers reached South America. Remains exist of groups that hunted deer and small mammals, and occasionally large ones like mastodons and American horses, as well; they also gathered fruit and wild plants. They spent periods living under big rocks or out in the open, near to sources of water and food. Organised in bands, they travelled over vast expanses of land during the year, following the tracks of animals or seasonal variations in natural resources.

Hunters and gatherers in the forests of the Central Cordillera

Around 10,000 years ago, the glaciers began to retreat, temperature and moisture levels on the planet rose, the large mammals became extinct, and the vegetation took on the appearance we know today. It was about this time that groups of hunters and gatherers settled in the Central Cordillera and the south west of what is today Colombia. They lived off the forests, by gathering, hunting and fishing. They ate nuts and palm shoots, walnuts, fruit, tubers and grain. The environment also provided them with materials for making the instruments and objects they used in their everyday lives. The hunters and gatherers began from very ancient times to influence plant development, and as time passed, they started to grow crops. The population increased, settlements got larger and permanent, and societies changed.

Mid-Cauca, a rich and diverse region

The mid-Cauca region has always been notable for being immensely rich in resources and for its great ecological diversity, and the different societies that lived there took full advantage of these qualities. Outstanding features include lush vegetation and a great variety of wildlife, mineral riches, fertile soils, and an abundance of rivers.

The terrain is mountainous with rugged slopes, rounded hills and some flat plains, and it is traversed by numerous valleys and watercourses. Differences in altitude - from 500 to 5,400 metres above sea level - mean there is a wide range of different climates, from hot to perpetual snows, and when to these are added differences in rainfall and wind patterns, the result is a large number of ecosystems.

The mid-Cauca landscape has undergone a long history of transformations caused by geological events, changes of climate and human intervention. The marks left by past societies in the landscape can still be seen.

The earliest agricultural and gold-working societies

The earliest agricultural and gold-working societies in the mid-Cauca region were very similar in their way of life and their thought to other societies scattered over a vast territory in the centre of the Colombian Andes. They lived between 500 B.C. and 600 A.D., an era that archaeologists refer to as the Early Period

These peoples cultivated the land and mined gold and salt, which they used for bartering. They spread from the hot lowlands to the cold highlands, living on natural plains or on terraces they built on the mountain slopes, near to rivers, streams and marshes.

They were hierarchical societies, possibly organised as chieftainships where the leaders performed both political and religious duties. Chiefs, goldsmiths and perhaps other artisans as well had specialised trades. The goldsmiths made objects of exceptional quality that are known as Quimbaya goldwork.

Why are Quimbaya goldwork objects pink and shiny?

The goldsmiths of these societies made body ornaments, objects that were used in connection with the chewing of coca leaves, musical instruments, and tools. Most objects were made for use by the leaders, and were then buried together with them. These objects stressed their prestige and gave them powers to foster fertility and equilibrium. The shapes most frequently found in the different objects are female figures, marrows, pumpkins and gourds, which were symbols of reproduction, fertility and life. The shiny pink surfaces of the tumbaga, a gold and copper alloy, perhaps had meanings that were associated with these same ideas. For some indigenous groups in Colombia, gold is a male element while copper is a female one; the two principles are thus combined in tumbaga. They also believe that shiny objects are charged with sacred, spiritual powers.

The goldsmiths held a prominent position in society. Their technological knowledge and their power to transform metals could be a source of prestige and special esteem. They were viewed by many cultures as "Lords of fire", as descendents of the gods with a superior status.

A spiral view of life and death

These societies incinerated their dead and deposited their ashes in pottery urns, which they then buried in irregular-shaped, shallow graves within or near the area of their homes. The remains of one or more individuals have been found inside the urns, and sometimes remains of animals, as well. Around them, they placed pottery household vessels, and occasionally goldwork objects. The quality of the urn and the offering depended on the rank and other features of the deceased. In various cultures, the custom of incinerating the corpse means transferring the deceased to an initial state so that he or she can be reborn. The funerary urns shaped like pregnant women that these groups used suggest this spiral vision of life and death.

Burials of chiefs

Chiefs and other high-ranking figures were buried in special tombs, together with some of their possessions. The famous "Quimbaya Treasure", a find consisting of around 200 goldwork objects and an unknown number of pottery items, was the funerary regalia of various chiefs who had been buried in two tombs at a place called La Soledad, in Quimbaya, Quindío. Part of the "Treasure" was purchased by the Colombian government in 1891 so it could be exhibited in Madrid at the celebrations commemorating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. Unfortunately for the country's cultural heritage, it was then given to the Spanish Crown. Today it is on display at the Museum of America in Madrid. Carbon dating has shown that the goldwork objects in the "Treasure" were made around 250 A.D. Another major discovery of funerary regalia, consisting of 16 outstanding Quimbaya goldwork objects, occurred in 1987 at Puerto Nare, in the mid-Magdalena region of Antioquia. Most of these objects are now preserved in the Banco de la República Gold Museum collection, and several of them are on display in this museum.

Messages written on the body

These societies portrayed human figures in pottery, metal and stone, and on these, their customs relating to the body. The methods the different groups used for transforming their bodies and getting messages across included body paint, ornaments, hairstyle, intentional deformations of limbs, and the filing of teeth. Body practices tend in human societies to communicate ideas about the individual's ethnic identity, family group, sex, age, social rank, trade and other characteristics.