Colombia's first inhabitants migrated from North and Central America. Some groups formed permanent settlements. Among those groups were the Chibchas (or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona. The Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the 3 most important sedentary Indian groups in South America. 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in June June 27: Shelby Foote June 27: John T. Walton June 26: Richard Whiteley June 25: John Fiedler June 25: Chet Helms June 24: Paul Winchell June 21: Jaime Cardinal Sin June 20: Jack Kilby... Map of Central America Central America is an area of the American continent in the Western Hemisphere. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Chibcha hieroglyph Colombias first inhabitants migrated from North and Central America. ... Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... Aymara is the name of a South-American people and of their language. ...

Geographical Extension

The Chibchas linguistic communities were the most numerous, the most territorially extended and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombians. By the 3rd century, the Chibchas had established their civilization in the northern Andes. At one point, the Chibchas occupied part of what is now Panama, and the high plains of the Eastern Sierra of Colombia. The areas that they occupied were the Departments of Santander (North and South), Boyacá and Cundinamarca, which were also the areas where the first farms and first industries were developed, and where the independence movement originated. They are currently the richest areas in Colombia. They represented the most populous zone between the Mexican and Inca empires. Next to the Quechua of Peru and the Aymara in Bolivia, the Chibchas of the eastern and north-eastern Highlands of Colombia were the most striking of the sedentary indigenous peoples in South America. // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... The Andes between Chile and Argentina Computer generated image of the Andes, made from a digital elevation model with a resolution of 30 arcseconds The Andes is a vast mountain range forming a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. ... This word can easily be mistaken for a girls Christian name, and has been heard that way on various occasions. ... Norte de Santander is a department of Colombia. ... Motto: Capital Bucaramanga Governor Area 30,537 km² Population  - Total (2003)  - Density   2,085,084 68 people/km² Adjective santandereano Santander is a department of Colombia. ... Motto: Capital Tunja Governor Jorge Eduardo Londoño Area 23,189 km² Population  - Total (2003)  - Density   1,411,239 61 people/km² Adjective Boyaca (Spanish: Boyacá) is a department of Colombia, one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost... Cundinamarca is a department of Colombia, one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. Most of Cundinamarca is in the Eastern Cordillera, just south of Boyacá, bordered by the Magdalena River on the west, reaching down into the Amazon River basin on the east, and bordering... For other meanings of Inca, see Inca (disambiguation). ... Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... The Aymara are a native ethnic group in the Andes region of South America; about 2. ... Highland or Highlands has these meanings:- The term highland is used in geography for any elevated mountainous plateau. ... It has been suggested that Sexual Victimization of Native American Women be merged into this article or section. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Tribes

In the Oriental Andes, the Chibchas were composed of several tribes, who spoke the same language (Chibchan). Among them: Muiscas, Guanes, Laches and Chitareros. Chibchan languages are a language family indigenous to Colombia and Central America. ...

Pre-Conquest History

The Mesoamericans (Indians originally inhabiting Central America), who arrived in approximately 1200 BCE, introduced the cultivation of corn. The humid and somewhat less hotter climate brought better conditions for the intensive agriculture of corn, sedentarism, demographic growth & the organization of villages. These people built lithic monuments in El Infiernito, Villa de Leyva. They also exploited salt mines in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa. (Redirected from 1200 BCE) Centuries: 14th century BC - 13th century BC - 12th century BC Decades: 1250s BC 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC - 1200s BC - 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC Events and Trends 1204 BC - Theseus, legendary King of Athens is deposed after... villa de leyva Categories: Colombia geography stubs | Cities in Colombia ... Zipaquirá is a town located about 25 km north of Bogotá, Colombia. ...

They were followed by a second wave of Mesoamericans in 500 BCE. Artifacts from a number of distinct cultures, such as those in the areas around San Agustín (in present-day Huila Department), Tierra Dentro (Cauca Department), and Tumaco (Nariño Department), are believed to date from this period.

Between 400 and 300 BCE, the Chibchas traveled from Nicaragua and Honduras and reached Colombia, shortly before the Arawaks arrived from other parts of South America, such as Brazil, Uraguay, and Paraguay. Near the end of the first millennium CE, the Caribs migrated from the Caribbean islands. These warlike newcomers supplanted the Chibchas in the lowlands and forced them to move to higher elevations. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Drawing of Caribe woman Carib or Island Carib is the name of a people of the Lesser Antilles islands, after whom the Caribbean Sea was named; their name for themselves was Kalinago for men and Kallipuna for women. ... This is a list of inhabited islands in the Caribbean. ...

Economy

The Chibchas farmed, mined for salt and emeralds, and traded with other groups. They were skilled artists who were known for their pottery, gold work and cotton fabrics. They used emeralds as currency for trading. Emerald (Be3Al2SiO6) is a variety of the mineral beryl, colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes iron. ... Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville in the 14th century Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium spp. ...

The Chibchas had advanced cultivation techniques, and the area they occupied was very fertile. This, coupled with a very disciplined, skilled and experienced pool of agricultural labor, was later used by the colonial farmers (encomenderos & haciendados).

"El Dorado" myth

In one of their rituals, the top priest or "cacique" covered his body with gold dust, rode a small boat to the center of Lake Guatavita and submerged himself. This ceremony might have been the origin of the myth of "El Dorado", which attracted many Spanish adventurers, who came looking for places where there was plenty of gold, but never existed in reality. A ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. ... Lake Guatavita is located in the municipality of Sesquilé, in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. ... In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, and folkloristics a myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. ... El Dorado (sometimes spelled Eldorado) is a mythical city of gold (sometimes called the Lost City of Gold) which was thought to be located somewhere in the Americas, more specifically South America. ...

Culture

From the cultural point of view, the Chibchas were similar to the Inca. They practiced agriculture with the help of an extensive irrigation system. They made cotton fabrics and were experts with gold, making very fine laminates decorated with wire or strip motives and very stylized anthropomorphic figures. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... For other meanings of Inca, see Inca (disambiguation). ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville in the 14th century Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium spp. ... A variety of fabric. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ...

Linguistics

The Chibcha language (Chibchan) was so important in the area that when the Spanish conquerors came they had a communication problem in their quest to evangelize and use native resources. At some point they thought of using it as a main language for the new Kingdom of New Granada, at the same level of the Quechua, Aztec and Tupi. Chibchan languages are a language family indigenous to Colombia and Central America. ... New Grenada was the name given to a group of colonial provinces in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia. ... Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... Sculpture commemorating the moment when Aztecs found the sign for Tenochtitlan foundation place given by Huitzilopochtli. ... Tupi is the name of one of the main ethnic groups of Brazilian indigenous people, together with the related Guarani. ...

On May 10, 1783, through a decree called "Cédula Real," the Spanish colonialists prohibited the use of native languages. May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Religion

The creed of the Chibchas was similar to the pantheistic fetishism of American aborigines in general. Human sacrifices were not uncommon, but most of the offerings consisted of goods such as gold, emeralds, and fruits of the field. Shamans, or Zeques, were numerous, and acted as medicine men, diviners and/or oracles. Specifically, Shaman (saman) is a term in Evenk, Manchu and other Manchu-Tungus languages for an intellectual and spiritual figure; who usually possess power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, one of which is analogous to the function of a healer in other cultures. ... Among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. ... Divination is the occultic practice of ascertaining information by supernatural means. ... An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...

Bochica was the main god, considered a solar god, a great master and civilizator. Among his rivals, there was Chia (the moon), which some considered married to Bochica, and Chibchacum. For some, Chiminigagua was the Chibcha's supreme god.

Chibchacum was protector of the people, the farmers, and the traders. According to a myth, Huitaca put a vengeance plan against the god Bochica. Huitaca spread bad teachings between the Chibchas, who then gave themselves to lust, partying and were unwilling to work. This behavior offended Chibchacum, who decided to punish them with torrential rains, which flooded the plains of Bacatá. Seeing that the rains would not stop, they asked for the intervention of the god Bochica to stop the malefice of Chibchacum, offering Bochica sacrifices and fasting. However, Bochica did not respond to their calls until a long time after they started asking him. One day, when the Chibchas already thought that their god had abandoned them, they finally saw the first ray of sunlight after Bochica, with a stick of gold, opened a trench where the Bacatá plains had flooded. Thus, Bochica created the "Salto del Tequendama". When everything got back to normal, the Chibchas started seeding again and continued their offerings and sacrifices to the god Bochica.

The god Bochica designated the god Chibchacum to carry the Earth on his shoulders. They called the earth Pachamama which means "Mother Earth". At that moment the Earth was sustained over 4 "Guayacanes". Because of this the Chibchas though that all earthquakes were due to the god Chibchacum, who when tired of carrying the earth on one shoulder, passed the earth to the other shoulder. That is why Chibchacum was considered the god of earthquakes. It was also the protector of the traders and the farmers because it would make sure that the Earth would always be guarded and nothing would interrupt its equilibrium. In Inca mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama was a dragoness fertility goddess who presided over planting and harvesting. ...

The myth of the god Chibchacum is similar to some myths of other cultures, such as the Bible's universal deluge or the Greek Atlas designated to carry the Celestial Vault on his shoulders. The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture, Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their (differing but overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... In Greek mythology, Atlas was a member of a race of giant gods known as Titans. ...

Housing

The Chibchas lived in villages, the houses being mostly circular, and of wood and thatch.

Politics

After the Inca, the chibchas constituted states under the strict personal control of the "caciques". They were a culturally developed civilization at the time they encountered the first Spanish conquistadores. Cacique can mean: A cacique is a tribal chief in Latin America, particularly of the Spanish West Indies and Brazil from the 16th century. ... Conquistador (meaning Conqueror in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who achieved the Conquista (this Spanish term is generally accepted by historians), i. ...

The Chibchas had a clan System. At the head of each clan stood a council, guided by the oracular utterances of the leading shamans, while an elective war-chief (Uzaque or Cacique) represented the executive. A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... A council is a group of people who usually possess some powers of governance. ... Specifically, Shaman (saman) is a term in Evenk, Manchu and other Manchu-Tungus languages for an intellectual and spiritual figure; who usually possess power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, one of which is analogous to the function of a healer in other cultures. ... Cacique can mean: A cacique is a tribal chief in Latin America, particularly of the Spanish West Indies and Brazil from the 16th century. ...

According to tradition, the tribe of Tunja was the most powerful of the Chibcha tribes until the second half of the 15th century. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

Spanish Conquest

The Spanish Conquistadores arrived between 1499 and 1536, looking for gold and emeralds. They ^{[citation needed]}dislocated the Chibchas' political and social structures. The first Spanish settlement was established on the Caribbean coast and was called Santa Marta. The capital city of Santa Fé de Bogotá was founded in 1538. The Chibchas submitted to the Spanish conquest (almost peacefully) in 1541. In 1550, military rule was replaced by a civil administration. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish brought in many thousands of slaves from Africa to work in mines and on farms. In 1571 the Chibcha population was comprised of approximately 150,000 people. By the 17th century the Chibcha culture was practically extinguished. Conquistador (meaning Conqueror in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who achieved the Conquista (this Spanish term is generally accepted by historians), i. ... 1499 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 2 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Emerald (Be3Al2SiO6) is a variety of the mineral beryl, colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes iron. ... The city of Santa Marta Santa Marta (named for the Biblical Martha) was the first city to be founded in Colombia and second in South America after Cumaná (1521) in Venezuela. ... Bogotá (known officially in Spanish as Bogotá D.C., formerly Santafé de Bogotá D.C.), is the capital and largest city in Colombia, with a population of roughly 7. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events The first official translation of the entire Bible in Swedish February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. ... Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ...

Present day

The Chibchas are ^{[citation needed]}one of the most studied populations in anthropologic historiography, having numerous publications dedicated to linguistics, etnohistory, archaeology & bioanthropology. The region has numerous radiocarbon dates and an extensive Pre-Columbian cemetery.

The museums of Santafé de Bogotá, Tunja, Sogamoso, Socorro, Bucaramanga, Floridablanca, Pasca and Pamplona offer permanent expositions, domestically and internationally, with many samples of jewelry making, pottery, textiles, mummies and human remains (bones). Bogota (Spanish: Bogotá) officially named Bogotá D.C. (), is the capital of Colombia, as well as the largest and most populous city in the country with a population of roughly 7. ... Tunja is a city in Colombia, capital of the Boyacá department. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Socorro is a Spanish word that means aid, by providing help or relief. ... Bucaramanga is the capital of the department of Santander, Colombia, fifth city in terms of importance in that country, and seventh in terms of population, Bucaramanga is one of the fastest growing cities in Latin America. ... Floridablanca is a town in the Philippines. ... Golden Muiscan Boat representing the rite of El Dorado Pasca is a small municipality in the Cundinamarca department, Colombia. ... Pamplona (Basque: Irunea / Iruñea / Iruña) is the capital city of Navarre, Spain. ...

It can be said that the image of the Pre-Hispanic development of Colombia is associated mostly with the Chibchas.

At present the Chibchas have ceased to form autonomous tribes but are not extinct.Some of their descendants currently live near the Magdalena River, close to Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. But they can be found in large cities or rural areas, leading lives of commoners.www.albinoblacksheep.com Magdalena River - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Bogota (Spanish: Bogotá) officially named Bogotá D.C. (), is the capital of Colombia, as well as the largest and most populous city in the country with a population of roughly 8. ...