Tequendama
Muisca | |
| Site notes | |
|---|---|
| Archaeologists | Hammen, Correal[1] |
| Public access | Yes |
Tequendama is a
The most important researchers who since 1969 contributed on the knowledge about Tequendama were
Etymology
The name Tequendama means in the Muysccubun: "he who precipitates downward".[6]
Background
During the time before the
Various sites of ancient population have been uncovered during the second half of the 20th and early 21st century, such as Tibitó, Aguazuque, Checua, El Abra and Tequendama.
Description
The site of Tequendama consists of four cave and overhang locations at close distance to each other, called Tequendama I (~11,000-10,000 years BP), II (9500-8300 BP), III (7000-6000 BP) and IV (2500-450 BP).[2] The cave sites have been inhabited probably because of the access to fresh water; the Bogotá River currently flows very close to the site and also the Funza River was nearby.[1]
During the last phase, Tequendama IV, inside the caves and under the overhanging rocks, living constructions were built. At this time it was already ceramic; evidence of the use of pottery was found. The rock art of Tequendama dates to this last phase.[2] In an area, dated at around 2000 years BP, signs of domestication of guinea pigs have been found.[2][7]
The sites of Tequendama were probably inhabited by semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes of maximum 15 individuals. Fruits and
Tequendama I
Tequendama I is situated at an altitude of 2,570 metres (8,430 ft) and
During the next phase, of
Following the colder phase, as of 10,000 or 9500 years BP, the Andean forests returned and more evidences of rodents and less of deer have been found at Tequendama.[14][15]
The tools, mainly made of chert, found at Tequendama I are the result of careful elaboration, more so than at El Abra.[13] More than half of the tools found were primitive knives.[12]
From the 6th millennium BCE (8000 years BP) onwards, the rock shelter areas were less populated; the population seems to have shifted to the plains of the Bogotá savanna.[14]
Twenty bone samples analysed at Tequendama were predominantly males (60%). Children (20%) and women (15%) formed a minor fraction of the remains found.[16] More than 95% of the bones were intact.[17] Evidence of funeral practices have been found at Tequendama.[18] The traditional way of burying the bodies was with their heads towards the east.[19]
Named after Tequendama
Tequendama appears in various present-day names. The public parking company, Parqueaderos Tequendama Ltda., founded in 1985, is named after Tequendama.[20]
- Tequendama Falls (Salto del Tequendama) - 132 metres (433 ft) high waterfall to the west of the Bogotá savanna in the Bogotá River
- Tequendama Falls Museum - museum and former hotel overlooking the waterfall
- Tequendama Province - the province around the falls
- San Antonio del Tequendama - municipality and capital of the Tequendama Province
- Hotel Tequendama - famous hotel in the centre of Bogotá
See also
- List of Muisca and pre-Muisca sites
- Tibitó, Aguazuque, Checua
- El Abra, Piedras del Tunjo, Herrera Period
References
- ^ a b c (in Spanish) Investigaciones arqueologógicas en los abrigos rocosos del Tequendama
- ^ a b c d e (in Spanish) Nivel Paleoindio. Abrigos rocosos del Tequendama Archived 2016-04-29 at archive.today
- ^ Gómez Mejía, 2012, p.153
- Semana
- ^ (in Spanish) Aldea premuisca enreda transmisión de luz a Bogotá - El Espectador
- ^ (in Spanish) Etymology Tequendama
- ^ Correal Urrego, 1990, p.13
- ^ Groot de Mahecha, 1992, p.51
- ^ a b Briceño Rosario, 2010, p.100
- ^ Rivera Pérez, 2013, p.73
- ^ Correal Urrego, 1990, p.7
- ^ a b Correal Urrego, 1990, p.8
- ^ a b Briceño Rosario, 2010, p.101
- ^ a b Correal Urrego, 1990, p.10
- ^ Nieto Escalante et al., 2010, p.95
- ^ Gómez Mejía, 2012, p.154
- ^ Gómez Mejía, 2012, p.157
- ^ Rivera Pérez, 2013, p.74
- ^ Rodríguez, 2005, p.123
- ^ (in Spanish) Parqueaderos Tequendama Ltda - official website
Bibliography
- Briceño Rosario, Jesús Gregorio. 2010. Las tradiciones líticas del Pleistoceno tardío en la quebrada Santa María, costa norte del Peru. Una contribución al conocimiento de las puntas de proyectíl Paleoindias Colas de Pescado - The lithic traditions of the Late Pleistocene in the quebrada Santa María, north coast of Peru. A contribution to the knowledge of projectile points of the Fish Tail Paleoindians (PhD), 1–375. Free University of Berlin. Accessed 2016-07-08.
- Cardale de Schrimpff, Marianne. 1985. En busca de los primeros agricultores del Altiplano Cundiboyacense - Searching for the first farmers of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 99–125. Banco de la República. Accessed 2016-07-08.
- Correal Urrego, Gonzalo. 1990. Evidencias culturales durante el Pleistoceno y Holoceno de Colombia - Cultural evidences during the Pleistocene and Holocene of Colombia. Revista de Arqueología Americana 1. 69–89. Accessed 2016-07-08.
- Gómez Mejía, Juliana. 2012. Análisis de marcadores óseos de estrés en poblaciones del Holoceno Medio y Tardío incial de la sabana de Bogotá, Colombia - Analysis of bone stress markers in populations of the Middle and Late Holocene of the Bogotá savanna, Colombia. Revista Colombiana de Antropología 48. 143–168. Accessed 2016-07-08.
- Groot de Mahecha, Ana María. 1992. Checua: Una secuencia cultural entre 8500 y 3000 años antes del presente - Checua: a cultural sequence between 8500 and 3000 years before present, 1–95. Banco de la República. Accessed 2016-07-08.
- Nieto Escalante, Juan Antonio; Claudia Inés Sepulveda Fajardo; Luis Fernando Sandoval Sáenz; Ricardo Fabian Siachoque Bernal; Jair Olando Fajardo Fajardo; William Alberto Martínez Díaz; Orlando Bustamante Méndez, and Diana Rocio Oviedo Calderón. 2010. Geografía de Colombia - Geography of Colombia, 1–367. Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi.
- Rivera Pérez, Pedro Alexander. 2013. Uso de fauna y espacios rituales en el precerámico de la sabana de Bogotá - Use of fauna and ritual spaces in the preceramic of the Bogotá savanna. Revista ArchaeoBIOS 7-1. 71–86. .
- Rodríguez, José Vicente. 2005. De la sabana a la selva - Un yacimiento formativo ritual en el entorno de la antigua laguna de La Herrera, Madrid, Cundinamarca - From the savanna to the jungle - a ritual formative site in the surroundings of the ancient Lake Herrera, Madrid. Maguaré 19. 103–131. Accessed 2016-07-08.
