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Very little is known of how the pre-Hispanic societies which
inhabited the Tierradentro region organised their political,
social and economic lives. The excessive humidity of the soils
has meant that bone remains have not been preserved for dating.
Nothing at all is known, either, about the precise date when
the hypogea, the typical tombs of this region, were built.
Recent archaeological research has nevertheless revealed data
from which the way of life and the main features of these societies
can be partially reconstructed.
According to this research, Tierradentro societies lived grouped
together in small hamlets, in huts built on mountainside terraces.
At first, during the formative period (1000 B.C. - 150 A.D.),
these hamlets were scattered and without any apparent population
nuclei, but during the later Middle Period (150 A.D. - 900 A.D.),
when there was a gradual increase in the population, people
lived in relatively fixed hamlets around springs and soil that
was suitable for farming. Then, in the Late Period (900 A.D.
- 1600 A.D.), as the population continued to grow, new hamlets
were formed, some of the existing ones got bigger, and regions
which had hitherto been uninhabited were occupied. Finally,
during the Modern Period, the population density was not particularly
great.
They grew maize, cassava, pumpkins, potatoes and beans, and
this staple diet was complemented by activities such as hunting,
fishing and picking fruit.
Pottery was highly developed, and focussed above all on funeral
rites and beliefs. Funerary urns are the most elaborate and
highly decorated pottery objects to have been found. Notable
features of these include representations of anthropomorphous
and zoomorphous figures of great artistic value, which are believed
to have had a symbolic meaning connected with fertility. Other
miscellaneous objects that have been found include flat stones
for grinding corn, tools, and pottery, stone and shell artefacts
that are either decorative or have magic-religious characteristics.
Tierradentro
and the Gold Museum Exhibition
Tierradentro:
between mountains
The Páez:
present-day societies living at Tierradentro
Archaeological
Parks: Tierradentro
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