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The north western part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta,
in northern Colombia, was inhabited from 200 A.D. to the time
of the Conquest by farmers and artisans who worked stone and
metal and who exploited the great variety of resources that
were available, from the sea right up to the perpetual snows
of the high Sierra. At first they settled along the coast, but
later they spread to the highlands, where they built cities
of stone. Their pre-Hispanic history covers the Nahuange and
Tairona periods. Today, this area is inhabited by Koguis, Wiwas,
Ikas and Kankuamos.
The earliest communities of goldsmiths, farmers and fishermen
who lived on the coast at the foot of the northern and western
slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta exploited various
resources from the sea, the beaches, and the nearby marshes,
rivers and hills, and they also grew maize and other products.
After 200 A.D. they were expert goldsmiths and skilful artisans
who carved shells and semi-precious stones.
They realistically portrayed women, birds and feline figures
on pottery containers and on pendants or breastplates made of
shell, stone or metal. There was a certain degree of schematisation
in the frogs and lizards that were embossed on metal sheets.
Various breastplates depict leading male figures or mythical
heroes carried aloft on litters by assistants. Dignitaries adorned
with bird breastplates and crests are related to the sun and
to two-headed snakes, which support them.
Outstanding examples of Nahuange goldwork include objects that
have been hammered in the gold and copper alloy called tumbaga.
These have highly polished surfaces, and many are in bright,
reddish tones. Dots, circles, triangles, schematic animals and
two-headed snakes are combined in decorative motifs that adorn
emblematic breastplates and nose rings.
Archaeological digs in Nahuange Bay in 1922 by Alden Mason
revealed a grave that had been made from stone slabs, and this
was extremely important for defining the style of Nahuange goldwork.
The grave included objects which are today preserved at the
Field Museum in Chicago; these are similar to those displayed
in the Gold Museum reconstruction. One of the metal pendants
found in the tomb, a female figure, contained carbon which has
been dated as coming from the year 310 A.D. Because a professional
in the subject carefully recorded this association of gold,
pottery, stone and shell objects, archaeologists were able to
identify the type of ornaments and utensils that were used during
the period, to which they gave the name of the bay.
The lifestyle of the Nahuange period changed around 900 A.D.,
and the period known as Tairona started.
On the rugged ridges and in the deep, forested valleys of the
north western corner of the Sierra Nevada, people in the Tairona
period built cities on stone foundations, paved paths and drainage
channels. They grew maize, cassava and avocadoes on terraced
slopes. Their chieftains, who held both political and religious
power, were adorned with highly-ornamented gold objects. Pendants
and breastplates in the shape of birds with spread wings show
that certain ideas in the symbolic thought of these societies
continued right through from the Nahuange period to the time
of the Conquest.
The Taironas withstood the Conquest by fighting wars that lasted
for more than 75 years. Various Spanish chroniclers met them
and wrote marvellous descriptions and accounts. Friar Pedro
de Aguado had the following to say in 1573:
"The people are greatly adorned with gold objects and
jewels. The males wear ear rings and nose rings in their nostrils,
and large breastplates on their chests. Around their necks are
many kinds of beads. ….. The women wear almost the same
jewels as the men".
In 1514, the chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo
also wrote that the indians of Santa Marta "……..
had gold jewellery, feathered crests and blankets with many
pictures woven in them, together with many cornelian stones…….
emeralds and jaspers and others".
People's destiny was determined during the Tairona period by
a powerful shaman elite, who claimed to control the essential
forces of nature, the order of the cosmos, and human actions.
They were responsible for overseeing the material and spiritual
wellbeing of the community. They are portrayed in countless
objects in a state of trance and transformation, such as in
the emblematic bat-man figure, who was the lord of darkness
and of the underworld.
The figure of man transformed into a bat can be seen on breastplates,
pendants and metal bells, on stick heads carved out of bone,
and on pottery objects. But the costumes that were worn for
symbolising this transformation have also been found in the
tombs of leading dignitaries of the Tairona period. The ornamentation
on their metal visors was an allusion to the membranes inside
the animal's ear; the cylindrical nose rings raised the nose
to make it look like the nostril of certain bat species, and
the sub-labial ornaments imitated the fleshiness of the animal's
lower lip.
The society's mythical history was recreated during the ritual.
In a special atmosphere, and with the help of hallucinatory
substances, those taking part were transformed into their mythical
ancestors so they could intercede for equilibrium in the universe.
Carved stones and other objects were deposited in shrines, homes
or lakes, or on paths and crops, during offering or payment
ceremonies, for fertility purposes or to get illnesses cured,
or to protect the family and the community.
Later, Chibcha-speaking groups on the Sierra Nevada held beliefs
and concepts that were the same as those of other societies
from the same linguistic family. They shared the symbol and
ideology of the bird with spread wings and the sense of offerings
with people from the central range.
Tairona and the
Gold Museum Exhibition
Territory and
Subsistence
Paradise Found
and Lost
A Powerful Shaman
Elite
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