The terrain in the north eastern part of Cauca province is one of mountainous knots and deep canyons: the Spaniards called it Tierra Adentro because they felt closed in by the mountains. From the year 1000 B.C. onwards and throughout the Early, Middle, Late and Modern periods, communities of farmers and potters lived there who cut funeral chambers, carved statues out of volcanic rock, and worked gold. The present-day Páez indians came to Tierradentro after the Conquest.

Archaeologists have established that during the Early Period at Tierradentro, agricultural societies were scattered over the territory. In the Middle Period (150 B.C. to 900 A.D.), the population declined and was concentrated in hamlets. People in the Late Period occupied sites that had hitherto been uninhabited.

The techniques, materials, shapes and decoration that were used when gold and pottery objects were made enable the archaeologist to suggest the social position, economic capacity, tastes, or type of relationship that existed between people in a given past social group. Unique and excellently made objects indicate that there were leaders in high social, political and religious positions who acquired luxury goods to reinforce their prestige. These objects have been found in different types of elaborately built tombs on mountain ridges. In contrast to the rich funeral regalia, other groups of items from simple tombs consisted of one or more pottery vessels, such as three-legged pots that were used for cooking. These illustrate life at the other end of the social hierarchy.

A number of medium-sized anthropomorphous statues were carved out of volcanic rock at Tierradentro, and these have simpler naturalistic expressions and features than those at San Agustín. But the most notable feature of Tierradentro is that underground funeral chambers called hypogea were dug into the high mountains during the Middle Period, and the shapes of these recall the homes of the living: carved into the soft volcanic rock, columns and beams can be seen, together with the supports for the woven palm roof. Pottery urns were placed in the different niches in these hypogea, containing the exhumed bones of one or more persons.

Tierradentro and the Gold Museum Exhibition

Tierradentro: between mountains

The Páez: present-day societies living at Tierradentro

Archaeological Parks: Tierradentro