Tierradentro Archaeological Park. Guidebook.

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TierradentroNational Archaeological Park

GuidebookEnglish



Photo: Hal moons and salamanders, hypogeum A-0, Alto de El Aguacate, Tierradentro.



Diego Herrera GómezGeneral Director

Víctor González FernándezTexts and Maps

Carlo Emilio PiazziniScientic Subdirector

Mabel Paola LópezHead o Publications

Tiza Orión EditoresText and Style Editing, Design and Diagramming

ICANH ArchivePhotographs

ICANH ArchiveHypogeum S9, Segovia, Tierradentro.Cover Photography

1st Edition, May 2011ISBN 978-958-8181-73-8

Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, 2011

Calle 12 No. 2-41 Bogotá D.C. Tel: (57-1) 5619600 Fax: ext. 144www.icanh.gov.co

All rights reserved. This publication cannot be reproduced as a whole or partlyby any invented or to be invented means, without previous written permission o the ICANH.

Printed in Colombia by Imprenta Nacional de Colombia.



TierradentroNational Archaeological Park

GuidebookEnglish



hoto: Hypogeum SA1, San Andrés, Tierradentro.



Contents

Introduction 7

1 Location 10

2 Tierradentro Today 13

3 Archeological Studies 17

4 Hypogea or Monumental Tombs 23

5 The Funeral Architecture o Hypogea 27

6 The Park´s Sites 29Segovia 29

El Duende 31San Andrés 32El Aguacate 33El Tablón 35

7 The Archeological Park Management 38

8 General Recommendations 42

Bibliography 43



hoto: Hypogeum S9, Segovia, Tierradentro.



Tierradentro / National Archaeological Park / Guidebook | 7

Introduction

T he National Archeological Park o Tierradentro is world-re-

nowned because it has the largest concentration o monu-mental subterranean tombs rom Prehispanic times. The Park

works in protecting, preserving, researching, and exhibiting one o the

most important cultural properties o the Colombian Nation, and one o

the most impressive remains o disappeared indigenous societies.

The archeological region o Tierradentro (gure 1) is part o the cul-

tural area o Alto Magdalena and shares with Valle de la Plata, directly to

Figure 1. Map o Colombia

showing thelocation o the

Tierradentro regionin Colombian

Southwest.



8 | Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, icanh

the South, and with San Agustín zone, even urther South, many o the

general developmental characteristics o their societies during Prehispan-

ic times. Nevertheless, the hypogea –large and elaborate subterranean

unerary chambers without known counterpart (gure 2)– give Tierraden-

tro an exceptional cultural value that has deserved its inscription in the

UNESCO World Heritage List since 1995.

Tierradentro is also the name o the geographical region where the

Municipalities o Inzá and Páez are located, and where archeological re-

mains and the hypogea can be ound. This is a mountainous and volcanic

zone on the east side o the Central Mountain Range o the Northern An-

des. Here, the basin o the Páez River is ormed and it ows into La Plata

River, orming the main tributary o the upper Magdalena River basin.

Figure 2.

Interior view o the entrance stairs,hypogeum S9,Segovia NationalArcheological Park

o Tierradentro.




This region is enclosed, in an approximately triangular shape, on the

West by the Las Delicias, Guanacas and Moras Moorlands; on the East by

the Nátaga Mountains and on the South by La Plata River. The northerncorner is ormed, as a vortex, by the summit o the snow-capped volcano

Nevado del Huila, the highest point in Colombian Andes (5780 m). The

large Páez River, born rom the Páez Lake, close to the summit o Nevado

del Huila, receives as tributaries the abundant waters o San Vicente, Mo-

ras and Ullucos Rivers in its southbound trajectory, as well as numerous

streams o the entire region.

The name, tierra-adentro or inward-land, comes rom the great di-culties in accessibility that the European Conquistadores ound in the

process o Conquest, during the 16th century, when the region was cov-

ered by thick woods that sheltered the indigenous people. Contrasts in

height, water abundance and rich soils ormed by volcanic ash deposits

give the region a great variety o very productive ecologic niches, and the

possibility o relatively rapid access rom any point to exclusive products

o the varied thermal levels, a characteristic o Los Andes Mountain Range

which was well taken advantage o by Prehispanic populations.

Around 1700 MASL, the warmer climate is ideal or corn arming,

which along with beans, arracacha and manioc, orms the core o tradi-

tional agrarian economy in the Northern Andes, while around 2000 MASL,

colder weather lends itsel more or the cultivation o potato, ulluco and

other tubers. Even colder moorland that starts around 3000 MASL oers a

variety o auna, wild ruits, bers and wood.

Climate in this zone o Tierradentro is Andean tropical, with an aver-age rain o 1500 mm per year, with two rainy periods, between April and

May, and October and November. Average temperature is 18ºC with vari-

ations related to rain and rost during dry periods. The region is aected

by an intense volcanic activity that implies requent earthquakes, ash rains

and avalanches.




1. Location

T he Archeological Park o Tierradentro is situated on the val-

ley o San Andrés Stream, a tributary to Ullucos River, around

Latitude 2º 34´ North and Longitude 76º 2´ West, with eleva-

tions rom 1299 to 2600 MASL (gure 3).

Administratively, the Park lies on terrains o San Andrés de Pisimbalá

Village and within the jurisdiction o the Municipality o Inzá, in the De-

partment o Cauca. It is ormed by ve stretches o land located on thezone o concentration o the monumental hypogea, at both sides o the

San Andrés Stream (gure 4) in a valley known or its high density o arche-

ological sites o various types and periods, located over hill ridges, moun-

tain summits and articial terraces built on the hill slopes.

Figure 3.

Map o the SanAndrés valleywith locationso Tierradentroarchaeologicalpark’s sites.




The Archeological Park can be reached by road rom Bogotá,

using the route Bogotá-Neiva (229 km paved road), Neiva-La Plata (130 km

paved road) and La Plata- Archeological Park (48 km unpaved road). It isalso possible to get there by road rom Popayán (134 unpaved road). Taxis

and buses requently travel this route and may be ound at the Transpor-

tation Terminals o the mentioned cities. There are domestic ights rom

Bogotá to Popayán (Guillermo León Valencia Airport-PPN) and to Neiva

(Benito Salas Airport-NVA). I you are driving, it is recommended you use a

4-wheel drive vehicle since the roads in Tierradentro are requently in pre-

carious condition.

The administrative ofces o the Park are 1.5 km on the way to San

Andrés rom El Crucero, which is a place located 7 km East o Inzá, on the

way to Belalcázar (Páez) or La Plata, and 6 km West o Las Juntas, over the

Páez River Canyon. Normally, the trip to the Park is about 4 hours long rom

Popayán and 11 hours rom Bogotá, via Neiva.

The Archeological Park is managed directly by the Instituto Colom-

biano de Antropología e Historia, ICANH, the national authority or the pro-

tection o archeological heritage, and it comprises El Aguacate, Segovia, El

Duende, San Andrés and El Tablón sites (table 1).

Table 1

List, location and principal features of the Archeological Park Sites

Site Lat. Lon. (WGS84) Principal Features

Administrative ofces N2.570,W76.036 Ethnographic and Archeological Museums

Segovia N2.574,W76.033 64 located hypogea, 25 open

El Duende N2.576,W76.028 13 located hypogea, 5 open

San Andrés N2.577,W76.044 23 located hypogea, 7 open, 1 collapsed

El Aguacate N2.567,W76.049 62 located hypogea, 42 open

El Tablón N2.580,W76.040 9 monolithic statues




Law 103 o 1931 declared the archeological monuments and ob-

jects rom the Upper Magdalena region and rom other places in the

country as “public properties”, giving legal support to the acquisition in

Tierradentro, beginning in 1935, o ve o the premises that contain the

principal archeological sites. In 1936, the archaeological explorations, con-

ducted by José Pérez de Barradas, started to delineate the shape o the

Park, ofcially created in 1945. Another site o the Archeological Park is lo-

cated on the Loma de El Aguacate Hill Ridge and it is administratively parto the Nasa Indigenous Resguardo o San Andrés. The Park was declared as

National Monument by Decree 774 o 1993, which gave the archeological

zone a special legal protection.

In 1995, by petition o the government o Colombia, Unesco includ-

ed The National Archeological Park o Tierradentro, in the list o World Her-

itage under criterion C (iii), because it constitutes a unique testimony to

the everyday lie, ritual, and burial customs o a developed and stable pre-

hispanic society in the northern Andean region o South America, giving

us an outstanding conception o the unerary space.

Figure 4. TierradentroLandscape.Monumental Siteo Segovia, in theoreground, and ElAguacate Edge inthe background.




2. Tierradentro

Today

T he current population o the Municipality o Inzá (801 km2) is

22,000 people, or the most part indigenous o the Nasa ethnic

group, the largest in Colombia, with approximately 120 000

people (17% o the Indigenous population o the country). The most com-

mon languages in Inzá are Spanish and Páez or Nasa Yuwe. The Indigenous population in Tierradentro is organized in 21 Res-

guardos (reservations), each one governed by a Cabildo (council) chosen

by the community, and seven indigenous communities. Besides the Nasa,

in this territory there are Guanacas, Guambianos, Coconucos and Totoroes

ethnic groups, though these are considered minorities.

The Archeological Park o Tierradentro is neighbor to the Indige-

nous Resguardos o San Andrés (44 km2

and 1570 inhabitants) and SantaRosa (22 km2 and 1050 inhabitants).

The current settlement pattern in the region is disperse and very

similar to the one reported by the archeological explorations or Prehis-

panic times, so the houses are close to the crops, which constitute, as it

was beore, the main economic activity. Each Resguardo has a small vil-

lage where traditional weekly markets and religious estivities are held. The

Colonial-time churches, with roos made o straw rom the region, are a

special touristic attraction. A typical rural house is today built to shelter

a nuclear amily and consists o a rectangular structure with walls made

o reeds and mud oors with gable roos. In the interior o the traditional

houses there is a re delimited by three buried stones or tulpas.

Nasa communities have an eminently agricultural economy, direct-

ed to local consumption. Culturally they give earth an almost sacred value,

tenaciously deending their plots and their Resguardo territories, which




belong to the whole community. Internal organization o these polities

and a large part o the indigenous regional struggles are aimed at the re-

covery o agricultural lands that have been gradually lost by pressure ex-erted by other communities in the region with economic and technologic

advantages.

Among the Nasa, the traditional system o slash and burn agricul-

ture, not very productive in the worn out soils o slopes o the region is still

used. Main cultivars are corn, potato, arracacha, beans, coee, peas, sugar

cane and manioc. Agricultural tasks o slashing and planting among the

Nasa are men´s responsibilities, while women and children take care o thegrowing crop. For the important activities o slash and burn and sowing,

as or every important events the Nasa communities organize reciprocal

communitarian work groups called mingas.

The members o the Resguardo are responsible or participating in

mingas, or tasks o communal interest and or perorming duties assigned

by means o an election. The elected members o the Cabildo receive as

a symbol o their authority stas traditionally carved in chonta wood and

decorated with wool tassels and silver plates.

Although the date o their arrival in the region has not been yet es-

tablished, during the 16th century, the Nasa (known beore as Páez) already

lived in the Upper Magdalena region and since then, Tierradentro is consid-

ered as their ancestral territory. Organized in strongly centralized chiedom

territories, Paeces were independent and bore enmity towards neighbor-

ing groups, among which were the Pijaos (to the North) and the Yalcones

and Timanaes (to the South). In spite o their traditional rivalry, they ormedcoalitions to conront the Spaniards, who had to make great eorts during

more than a hundred years to achieve control o the region. At the end o

this bloody period, only a ew groups o the Nasa ethnic group survived and

they retreated into the most inaccessible zones o Tierradentro.

The Spanish chronicles o the Conquest describe the Páez chie-

doms as organizations with a leader or cacique who concentrated a

very diused and precarious power which did not allow him to demand




tributes (Rappaport, 1982) or accumulate wealth and who depended on

his generosity and his personal prestige to orm alliances.

Nasa chiedoms o Colonial times seem to represent a very dierent

kind o organization when compared to those shown by the archeologi-

cal evidence or Prehispanic times, which leads to think that the Conquest

disintegrated these polities or that, alternatively, the Nasa occupied the re-

gion short beore the Conquest.

Current Nasa communities (gure 5) denied until not too long ago

that they had a direct historic relation with the builders o tombs and stat-

ues, and thereore rejected a connection with hypogea classiying themas “Pijao tombs” (Sevilla and Piñacue, 2007), which reafrms the hypothesis

o some experts about a relatively recent arrival o this ethnic group to the

zone o Tierradentro, not long beore the Conquest, driving away neigh-

boring populations or, alternatively, occupying an unpopulated territory.

Figure 5.

Indigenouso the Nasa ethnic

group, 1943.




Such recent arrival remains to be conrmed, but some specialists nd sup-

port in linguistic inormation, kinship systems and genetic data that sug-

gest a closer link o Nasa population with Amazonic groups (Langebaek and Dever, 2009).

Recent history o the Nasa and other indigenous groups o Tier-

radentro is marked by social struggles and projects o cultural vindication,

where three caciques called Avirama, Páez and Suin excelled in leading the

war against conquistadores, and the historic and mythic gure o a leader

known as the cacique Juan Tama who, according to oral tradition, is a rein-

carnation o Thunder, and would had lived during Colonial times, but alsohad led the organization o several Resguardos over a very long period.

Nasa shamans or Te-walas are specialists in esoteric knowledge and

are responsible or articulating religious lie, ecology and politics through

traditional ceremonies. The Te-walas consider Juan Tama as their teacher

in the knowledge o medicinal plants and in the relationship with spirits

and supernatural beings, among which are spirits related to the Prehis-

panic tombs which are greatly respected because o certain dangerous

elements that, according to shamanic knowledge, are still contained in

the tombs and in the bones o “Pijaos”. However, these traditional belies

are changing, adjusting themselves to new politic and cultural contexts in

which the relation with oreign visitors and specically cultural tourism are

strategic. In this way, Nasa leaders, specially the youngest ones, see with

new eyes the archeological remains o Tierradentro, to which renewed

values are assigned (Sevilla and Piñacue, 2007).




3. Archeological

Studies

T he existence o the great chamber tombs in Tierradentro

was known rom long beore, but scientic research start-

ed only in 1936 when geologist Geor Burg made a study o

one hypogeum and when archeologist José Pérez de Barradas began his

research unded by the Ministerio de Educación Nacional. Pérez de Bar-radas proposed (1937) that the big tombs with painted decoration at the

sites o El Aguacate, San Andrés and Segovia (gure 6) were built later

than the Classic Period o San Agustín and belonged to a period which he

Figure 6.

Internal view o the walls and roo

o hypogeumS10 in Segovia,

Tierradentro.




called “Flowering Cauca Culture” dated between the 9th and 12th centu-

ries AD. He argued that between the 12th and 15th centuries another cul-

ture (which he called “Recent Cauca”) lived in the region and its remainscould be seen in the zone o Belalcázar, assigning the Nasa ethnic group,

which according to historical data inhabited this region since at least the

16th century, a more recent arrival (Rappaport 1982).

Even though the chronology proposed by Pérez de Barradas did

not have the support o direct methods o radiocarbon dating, invented a

decade ater his studies, it is still accepted by the majority o researchers.

In 1937, Gregorio Hernández de Alba made a technical visit or theMinisterio de Educación in which he described in detail the hypogea and

sketched the rst planes and drawings o the tombs´ interiors (gure 7)

(Hernández de Alba, 1938).

These materials are still located at the Documentation Center o

ICANH and they are a very important support or decision making regarding

restoration and research. In 1938 the Servicio Arqueológico Nacional was

created and it was assigned to it the study and care o archeological prop-erties, including the management o the Park o Tierradentro. From 1952

Figure 7.

Sketch o hypogeum SA5,Segovia site,

Tierradentro.Gregorio Hernándezde Alba (1938).




Figure 9.

Zoomorphic jug o the Regional Classicperiod (1-900 AC) o

Tierradentro used asa unerary oering.

ICANH collection.Museo Nacional,

Bogotá.

Figure 8.

Typical uneraryurn, recovered romhypogeum D5, Altodel Duende. ICANH

collection, MuseoArqueológico de

Tierradentro, Inzá.

on, these matters would be the responsibility o the Instituto Colombiano

de Antropología (today Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia).

The excavations made by Gregorio Hernández de Alba (1938) and Horst

Nachtigall (1955) indicated a close link between San Agustín and Tier-

radentro in a big portion o the archeological sequence, sharing ceramics

styles, the general settlement patterns and the uneral statuary o the Re-

gional Classic Period (1-900 AD). Nonetheless, excavations showed that ce-

ramics associated to hypogea was much dierent rom the styles known

in San Agustín (gure 8).

Later research (Chaves, 1972; Langebaek, 1955, 2009) conrmedthat during the Formative Period (1000 BC-1 AD) and the Regional Classic

Period (1-900 AD), Tierradentro was inhabited by agricultural societies that

shared with San Agustín the disperse settlement patterns, statuary, ceram-

ics (gure 9) and goldwork. Ceramics o all the Prehispanic sequence is so




similar that in current archeological studies the same ceramics chronology

is used or Valle de la Plata and or San Agustín and Isnos zones (gure 10)

although there is recent inormation o some sites that suggest later datesor the end o the Formative 3 Period and Regional Classic Period in Tier-

radentro, when compared with the San Agustín zone (Langebaek and De-

ver, 2009).

Regional surveys o the Ullucos, Malvasá, Río Negro and San Andrés

valleys (gure 11) show that sedentary occupation o Tierradentro begun

during the Formative 1 period (1000-600 BC) with a series o small residen-

tial sites, which were very disperse and had a density o less than 1 person/ km2 (Langebaek and Dever 2009). During Formative 2 (600-300 BC) popu-

lation in the region doubled, but with less than 2 persons/km2 it was still

very low. It seems that in this period salt exploitation begun, and some re-

mains identied in the Plano de Segovia, can be interpreted as the exist-

ence o specialization in the economic organization. Although population

was dispersed during these periods, not all o the valleys had the same oc-

cupation. Residential areas were more requent in the valley o the Stream

o San Andrés and somewhat less in the valley o the Ullucos River. Dur-ing Formative 3 (300 BC-1 AD) regional population increased drastically to

something less than 10 people/km2 and clear demographic concentra-

tions appeared in the valley o the Stream o San Andrés, where the Arche-

ological Park is now located, and also in the lower zone o the same valley,

the Plano de Segovia. A third concentration, more tenuous, appeared also

in the Malvasá valley.

These concentrations are analogous to the ones ound in the archeo-

logical surveys o San Agustín and Valle de la Plata regions, where they have

been interpreted as political units or chiedoms whose territories are delim-

ited by areas o lesser density than expected and that were ormed by some

hundreds o people whose houses show clear spatial concentration.

During the Regional Classic Period (1-900 AD) the population contin-

ued to increase to something less than 20 people/km2 and or the rst time

residential sites covering several hectares are identied, specically in San




Figura 10.

CeramicsChronology or the

Alto Magdalenaregion.

Figure 11.Map o the

regional survey o Tierradentro –let–

with distributiono the Prehispanic

settlement, romLangebaek and

Dever (2009),compared to the

distribution o hypogea (upper-

right) and sites withstatues (lower right).




Andrés Valley, in Loma de Segovia and in Plano de Segovia. Demographic

units were larger at this time and a new one appeared in the valley o Río

Negro. During this period the inhabitants carved stoned statues o ClassicAgustinian style, but with some iconographic characteristics that distin-

guish them. The statues are concentrated in and around the upper part o

the Valley o San Andrés (gure 11), where there is also the largest demo-

graphic concentration and a spatial association between statues and u-

nerary mounds at least in the El Hato Site.

Nonetheless, in contrast to other regions o the Alto Magdalena,

in Tierradentro there is no clear association between ceremonial centers,with unerary mounds and statuary, and demographic concentrations. For

example, the zone o dense occupation in Plano de Segovia only shows

one statue and there are other sites with statues but lacking mounds and

concentration o residential remains or this period. It is possible that there

were monumental tombs just like the ones ound at San Agustín, but the

intensity o illegal excavations could have destroyed the mounds. The ew

Tierradentro gold objects that are known could also belong to this period,

given that they are similar to those rom San Agustín and the Calima region,urther North. However, the original contexts o the tombs that produced

such gold work have already disappeared.

During the Regional Classic Period, the population does not show

a strong tendency to choose ertile soils, which has led some authors to

propose that the control o agricultural production was not a determi-

nant or the chiedoms organization during this period (Langebaek and

Dever, 2009).

Population´s levels and concentration during the Recent Period

(900AD-1530 AD), and carving o San Agustín style statues ceased. It is

likely that the individual mound tombs were replaced by hypogea that o-

er a sharp contrast because they were built to contain the remains o a

group o people. During this period, human occupation reached its maxi-

mum with a density o approximately 40 people/km2, much higher than

the current population density (o approximately 30 people/km2).




There is no reliable inormation yet about the relationship between

the dense population o the Recent Period and the indigenous populations

described in Spanish documents during Conquest and Colonial times. It ispossible that, as in other parts o the Alto Magdalena, depopulation had

taken place beore the Conquest and that the indigenous populations dur-

ing the Colonial Period would have occupied a largely uninhabited area,

although it is also possible that there had been a continuity in popula-

tion but that Conquest aected the traditional structures so quickly that

no descriptions o dense chiedoms o the Recent Period remained. In any

case, population drastically decreased beore the historical records. It was

only ater the Colonial period that demographic levels similar but smaller

than to those o Prehispanic times were reached again.

4. Hypogea

or Monumental Tombs

In spite o the great similarity in residential patterns and demo-

graphic dynamics o Tierradentro to the rest o the Alto Magdale-

na, hypogea and some ceramics, dated tentatively to 600-900

BC, are an exclusive trait o this region that marks a clear separation rom

the cultural patterns o San Agustín at the end o the Regional Classic Pe-

riod. The only two radiocarbon dates or the Tierradentro tombs (Chavez

and Puerta, 1986) come rom organic material ound in a primary burial

in Santa Rosa (630±80 AD) and rom a unerary urn rom a hypogeum in

Loma de El Aguacate (850±220 AD). Nonetheless, less elaborated monu-

mental hypogea rom other regions in Southwestern Colombia have also

been dated to the Recent Period, which supports the idea that hypogea

can be dated back to the end o the Regional Classic Period.




Not every tomb associated with the ceramics material exclusive to

Tierradentro was in urns and collective tombs. Several individual primary

burials have been ound in shallow shat tombs, with a small lateral cham-ber where the body, along some unerary oerings was laid. I the chronol-

ogy o residential places is well dened and homogenous or all the Alto

Magdalena, the chronology o hypogea, including their excavation date

and the period in which the large multiple tombs were used, is still a very

controversial topic.

The hypogea appear in groups or cemeteries, on the edges and

summits o articially attened hills. Composed o downward stairs andunerary chamber (gure 12), they were carved in the volcanic rock which

is the natural geologic ormation that prevails in the region. Carving o

the tombs, that reach up to 9 m diameter, with depths o up to 7 m, was

perormed with simple chisels and adzes o andesite and basalt, tools

that have been ound in some o the archeological excavations. The u-

nerary chamber oten contains lateral niches (gure 13) and in the larger

and more elaborate hypogea two or three columns seem to support the

concave roo. To prepare the base or the large murals, the carved wallswere covered with plaster that smoothed the surace. Human remainsFigure 12.

Side cut o hypogeum SA3,San Andrés,Álvaro Chavesand MauricioPuerta, 1986.

Tierradentro.




were exhumed rom their primary tombs and careully prepared and

deposited or the second burial inside elaborate unerary urns, thus it is

believed that these sacred spaces were opened during relatively long pe-

riods, when modications to their constitutive elements could have been

made; this helps us to understand their role as ceremonial areas but, on

the other hand, makes more difcult to establish the chronology o their

production.

The dimensions o many o the hypogea exceed the measurements

o studied residential structures which rarely reach 8 m in diameter. It is

admirable then, the work investments required to excavate the chambers,

carve the columns and stairways and paint these articial caves, all done

with a stone based technology.

According to existing inormation, and probably by the end o the

Regional Classic Period (900 AD), the great shat tombs with lateral cham-ber were being used as secondary collective burials or the members o

certain amilies or groups who deserved special treatment ater death and

whose remains were re-buried in pits inside the unerary room or depos-

ited in the elaborate ceramics urns that were placed in niches carved on

the walls o the precinct. Simpler shat tombs with a small chamber were

used or the majority o the population or or the rst stage o primary

burial o individuals whose remains were nally taken to the monumental

Figure 13.

One o thedecorated nichesound inside thehypogeum S30,

Segovia site, Tierradentro.




tombs. Hypogea, carved in volcanic rock under the surace o places also

used or residency, were prousely decorated with niches, stairways, an-

thropomorphic columns and geometrical gures o red, black and whiteserpents and lizards that reproduce aspects o the elite houses but that

placed them in an underworld inhabited by dead ancestors.

The exact meaning o the paintings and the geometric zoomorphic

and anthropomorphic stylizations is lost, but Sevilla (2009a) nds similari-

ties with the geometric designs in textiles made by modern Nasa or the

jigras cuetanderas, or bags or carrying coca leaves, in which certain rhom-

boid patterns are associated with basic concepts o the indigenous worldview. Even though these patterns are ound in several other Amerindian

cultures, and are present too in murals and painted ceramics, the resem-

blance leads to think that there could be a relationship between the deco-

ration patterns o hypogea and creation myths.

Hypogea are not the only monumental tombs in the region that

also contains apparently older mounds with stone tombs and statues o-

cused on a single powerul individual. These two kinds o tombs are very

dierent and the hypogeum has the characteristics o a amily mausole-

um, suggesting the commemoration o important amilies or lineages,

signaling also a contrast between possible bases o power in these hier-

archical societies (known also as cacicazgos or señoríos) that built dierent

unerary monuments at dierent times. These patterns support Drennan´s

idea (2008) about a shit rom individual power related with personal pres-

tige to a more institutional and group-oriented power, related to control

o key aspects o economic organization by the elite.Most Prehispanic monumental hypogea are located in the San An-

drés Valley o Tierradentro, but similar though smaller, less decorated and

also less studied hypogea, have been reported in other zones o the Alto

Magdalena region, including Saladoblanco, close to the main San Agustín

sites and also in the region o Cumbre-Pavas in the Calima archeological

zone. The regional importance o the locations containing hypogea is evi-

dent since these same places are also center o demographic occupation




or all the Prehispanic sequence and also show concentration o the u-

nerary sites with San Agustín style statues. Residential remains have been

ound recently directly along the hypogea in the Archeological Park andalso outside this zone in a wide region occupied today by the villages o

Inzá, Belalcázar, San Isidro, El Marne and San Andrés de Pisimbalá. In this

way, the valley o San Andrés that seems to have been a unerary ceremo-

nial center throughout the sequence, also was a demographic center and

surely a political and social axis or the chiedoms o the region.

5. The FuneralArchitecture of Hypogea

Hypogea are shat tombs with lateral chambers, which are

a much extended type o tomb in all Prehispanic America,

but concentrated in the North o South America and theSouth o Central America. However, the hypogea o Tierradentro are more

elaborate and complex than the shat tombs in any other region.

Each hypogeum has a vault and a shat and lateral entrance to the

chamber. To make the access easier, the shat has some kind o stairways

carved in the rock, usually in zigzag or spiral patterns, though in some cas-

es the entrance is a straight stairway. The care and preparation o this ac-

cess stairway suggests that descent to the chamber, maybe or visiting theburied people, was a ceremonial act o great importance.

The vault is generally oval-shaped though it varies in the complex-

ity o its design and in elaboration o the internally carved elements, such

as niches and vestibules. The ceiling o the hypogea has been carved in a

curved orm, probably to distribute the weight o the roo in a more eec-

tive way. Used apparently or better supporting the larger vaults, central

and lateral columns were carved in some cases. On the other hand, the




oor is not always smooth, as some excavations known as “cists” that con-

tain uneral urns have been requently ound. There are also several types

o purely decorative, high relies and bas relies carved as part o the walls,combined with paintings so as to create the eect o a much elaborate

underworld house. Internal sculpture includes horizontal or vertical bands

that seem to represent the posts and wooden beams o the house o the

living. There are also stylized anthropomorphic representations carved in

the columns in some o the tombs.

The majority o monumental hypogea also has as decoration very

elaborate murals, generally painted over a white plaster in red, black andyellow paints made with minerals that are common in the region. The mo-

tis are generally geometric, although there are also some naturalistic rep-

resentations, especially o animals as in El Aguacate.

Given the complexity o design and the variety o constitutive ele-

ments, it is clear that the excavation o these tombs implied careul previ-

ous planning. Choosing the right place, with a rock stratum with enough

depth, dening measures, proportions, spaces dedicated to niches, carv-

ings and high relies, as well as the exact orm o the stairways and vesti-

bules should have had ollowed a very deliberate plan that required an

impeccable perormance. These characteristics suggest the existence o

true specialists in charge o the creation o these impressive monuments.




6. The Park´s Sites

T he archeological sites with the most important hypogea that

have been yet ound –Segovia, San Andrés, El Duende and

El Aguacate– are today archeological reservations and also

the exhibition places o a representative sample o the magnicent Prehis-

panic hypogea. The visitor can descend through the original stairways and

witness rsthand the most decorated hypogea, the biggest ones or those

that are an example o the various types o decorative designs. Besides thesites with hypogea, that appear to orm some kind o “necropolis”, the re-

gion has important examples o Agustinian statues and abundant remains

o domestic activities rom societies that dwelt here since at least 1000 BC.

The Archeological Park also includes El Tablón, one o the most important

sites eaturing statues rom the Regional Classic Period in the northeast

zone o the Alto Magdalena. A brie review o the most relevant character-

istics o these sites ollows.

Segovia

The most attractive monumental site at the Park and also the one o

easiest access is located over the summit o Segovia Hill, 400 m East (ten

minutes by oot) rom the park´s administrative ofce. Segovia, with 25 hy-

pogea open to the public (gure 4) is notable because o the great vari-

ety in tomb shape and decoration (gures 6 and 14). It has the largest, themost complex and the best preserved hypogea. It includes several tombs

with central columns, multiple niches and polychrome murals, measuring

2.5 to 6.0 m in depth and showing various types o designs o stairways

and o internal area distribution. Decoration is outstanding in tombs S1,

S4, S9 although there are also simpler hypogea in the site, as S16 and S19

(gure 15). From the total o 63 hypogea registered in Segovia, 22 have




been studied by archeologists Álvaro Chaves, Mauricio Puerta, Eliécer Silva

Celis, Stanley Long, Horst Nachtigall, and Gregorio Hernández de Alba.

In these excavations, many unerary urns, bowls and pots have been

ound. Most o the pieces can be seen at the Archeological Museum lo-

cated near the park´s administrative ofce. Recent studies have shown re-

mains o residential activities rom the Formative Period (1000 BC-1 AD),Regional Classic Regional Period (1-900 AD) and Recent Period (900 AD-

1530 AD) in the relatively at areas around the hypogea.

O course, this does not mean that there was not a division between

the residential and the burial areas, but hypogea were in any case an inte-

gral part o Prehispanic settlements.

Figure 14.

Detail o ananthropomorphiccolumn, hypogeumS9. Segovia,

Tierradentro Park.




Figure 15.

Comparison o

dierent hypogeaoorplans atSegovia (rom let

to right, S8, S9, S16,and S19). From

Chaves and Puerta(1986).

El Duende

Located 600 m (ten minutes by oot) to the Northeast o Segovia,

over a hill, El Duende has ve hypogea in exhibition, all o them decorated

with painted murals. Hypogeum D4 is special because it has a rectan-

gular chamber with the representation o a hipped roo, decorated with

rhomboids and black lines that come down rom the ceiling and cross

horizontal lines (gure 16). These kind o structures, similar to the roos

Figure 16.

Cut o hypogeumD4, monumentalsite o El Duende,

Tierradentro Park.




o contemporary indigenous houses, have led some authors to propose

that hypogea represented houses. The depth o monumental tombs at

El Duende is 1.40-5.80 m. In several o the hypogea excavated by arche-ologist Eliécer Silva Celis in 1940, unerary urns with applied and modeled

decoration and with human and animal representations were ound (gure 8).

Archeological studies at El Duende have not shown yet residential occu-

pation directly in the site where tombs were excavated although the adja-

cent area does have residential occupation rom every Period.

San Andrés

Located 1500 m (30 minutes by oot) north o the park´s adminis-

trative ofce, on the road that gives access to the village o San Andrés

de Pisimbalá, the unerary site on the Hill o San Andrés presents seven

open hypogea, all decorated with murals with red and black painting over

white, and central columns. Hypogeum SA5 is special in this group be-

cause it includes the representation o human aces (gure 17). The depth

o these hypogea is 2.70-5.20 m. The ceiling o one o San Andrés hypogea

Figure 17.

Painted ace,hypogeum SA5.San Andrés site,

Tierradentro.




collapsed, destroying its murals and carvings, so its internal structure with

symmetric niches and careul orientation o unerary architecture is now

visible.

Geologist George Burg excavated several o the tombs o San An-

drés site in 1936 and ound polished stone artiacts and the typical ceram-

ics urns with incisions lled with white paste. Recent studies show that the

site, although it is located on rough-topography hill side, was also used as

residence especially during the Recent Period.

El Aguacate

Located over a ridge o difcult access and an astonishing view,

1200 m (two hours by oot) rom San Andrés, El Aguacate presents 42

open tombs. The Aguacate ridge divides the riverbeds o the San Andrés

Stream, to the North, and the Ullucos River, to the South. Along the very

narrow ridge o this hill 64 monumental tombs have been ound, practical-

ly aligned one besides the other. Many o them are deteriorated by erosion

and illegal excavations and vandalism. This kind o deterioration demands

that the ICANH, as the national authority in Archeology, carries out contin-

uous monitoring and preventive conservation programs nanced by vari-

ous governmental entities.

Tombs at this site are relatively small, which is partially explained

by the reduced space available on the ridge (gure 18). They lack central

columns but do have niches and circular cavities carved on painted walls

with radial pattern in red, black and white, and with naturalistic decorativemotis (gure 19), dierent rom the geometric motis o the other sites. In

1995, archeologists Álvaro Chavez and Mauricio Puerta described 56 hy-

pogea. It is possible today to enter 42 o them, but it is recommended to

visit only tombs with ormally enabled access in order to avoid causing

erosion o the ragile structures.




Figure 19.

Cut and details o hypogeum A-0,Alto de El Aguacate,decorated withmoons andsalamanders.

Figure 18.

Panorama o ElAguacate Hill,showing theentrance tohypogea located on

the ridge.




Although topographical conditions are difcult, remains o domes-

tic activity were recently ound in a stratum 20-30 cm deep, a ew meters

rom hypogeum A60 in the highest part o El Aguacate Hill. This suggeststhat instead o orming a separate, well delimited “necropolis”, like it has

been previously proposed (Langebaek and Dever, 2009), El Aguacate

tombs, as in the case o other sites, were integrated into the dispersed ru-

ral Prehispanic settlement.

El TablónLocated 750 m Northeast o San Andrés, and 1500 m (30 minute by

oot) rom the park´s administrative ofce, El Tablón is a monumental u-

nerary site rom the Regional Classic Period (1-900 AD) as well as a dense

residential occupation site rom the Formative Period (1000 BC-1 AD) un-

til the Recent Period (900-1530 AD). Located on a natural sloped terrace

North o San Andrés Stream, it included originally 11 monolithic statues

(although only nine are exhibited today at the site), characterized by natu-

ralistic human representations.

Although they belong to the same sculptural tradition o the stat-

ues o San Agustín (Huila), the 42 monolithic carvings that are known in

Tierradentro have a characteristic stylistic unity (gure 20, gure 21). Most-

ly, they are standing human representations, classied basically in two

groups: 1) Small, simple, roughly-carved statues representing naked hu-

man beings almost without ornaments, and 2) More careully and elabo-

rate carved statues, with gures more than 2 m high, generally o dressedindividuals. There are other monolithic pieces that do not t this pattern: 8

statues with zoomorphic gures, 3 house carvings and a polished disc.

Materials used or monoliths are andesite and tu, volcanic rocks

readily available in the region. Carvings must have been perormed with

basalt or granite artiacts, and i these statues t the existing pattern in

Valle de la Plata and San Agustín zone, they must have been originally




located near individual slab tombs rom the Regional Classic Period, and

covered by earth mounds.

In Tierradentro there has not been yet an excavation o the typi-

cal Augustinian unerary tumuli, where the majority o statues have been

ound. But in El Tablón Site there is evidence o intense looting activity

Figure 21.

Statue 475.El Tablón,

Tierradentro Park.

Figure 20.

Statue No. 479.El Tablón.

Tierradentro Park.

Photo: Funerary urn, Tierradentro. ICANH colection, Museo Nacional de Bogotá.




which has let big unlled excavations that show previous existence o

large earth structures suggesting the most probable location o earth

mounds and other associated unerary elements.

A recent study showed that the areas with damaged earth struc-

tures (gure 22) contain relatively ew remains o domestic activity, but

are located directly to the Northeast o a concentration o several articial

terraces associated to great quantities remains o domestic activity. Arti-

cial terraces, visible on the naturally sloped surace as at and horizontal

oval shaped areas measuring some 15 m in diameter, probably indicate

the location o the houses where waste material was produced, especiallysherds o ceramic vessels and lithic artiacts.

Other sites at Tierradentro where monolithic statues have been

ound are Loma Alta, San Francisco, Turminá, San Isidro, San Andrés, El

Picacho, Santa Rosa, Páez, and El Hato. In this last one, located 3 km to the

Southeast o the Archeological Park on the road to Inzá, some monolith-

ic carvings can still be ound. The statues, however, have been moved ar

Figure 22.

General view o El Tablón Site during

recent archeologicaleld work. Area o probable unerary

moud construction.




away rom their original locations and they are located today at the Park´s

museum, in the Municipality o Inzá, and in collections in Popayán, Inzá

and Belalcázar.

Although there are no systematic studies o the spatial distribution

o these monuments, the sites with statues rom the Regional Classic Pe-

riod around the Archeological Park, seem to surround the locations with

hypogea (gure 11), and are associated to areas with intensive domestic

activity, which implies that the areas where the hypogea were built, already

had restricted uses since the beginning o this Period, or even beore.

7. The Archeological Park Management

Management o the National Archeological Parks in Co-

lombia is a unction o the Instituto Colombiano de An-

tropología e Historia, ICANH. Its Management Plan or the

Preservation o the National Archeological Parks includes Tierradentro main-

tenance, inormation updating, review o the Archeological and Ethno-

graphic Museums´ scripts, signposting, research, conservation, restoration,

supervision o tourism and divulgation.

The ICANH, with the Universidad del Cauca and in consultation with

indigenous authorities and other local communities, is developing nowa Project or Integral Management o the Archeological Park, looking to

raise additional resources to solve the most serious problems o deterio-

ration o archeological properties, and its better exhibition and scientic

research. To support divulgation o scientic and cultural inormation, the

Park maintains the Archeological Museum o Tierradentro, exhibiting ex-

amples o several kinds o Prehispanic artiacts and materials recovered

during research in the region, and also the Ethnographic Museum o




Tierradentro in which the most relevant elements o material culture o

the Nasa communities are exhibited, specially the objects related to eve-

ryday practices in their traditional cultural context.

For the management o the Park, the ICANH has a sta or admin-

istrative, protection and conservation tasks. Besides the scientic and ad-

ministrative sta, the Park has one manager and 14 ofcial workers, native

to the region, that are involved in surveillance, maintenance and visitors´

assistance.

Resources or the Park´s management come rom the Nation´s

General Budget, assigned annually through the Budget Law, and in less-

er extent rom the entrance tickets or visitors. The ICANH has registered a

Project o Investment in the Ofce o National Planning to support these

activities. Operational resources, such as utilities and sta expenses, also

come rom the Nation through the annual expense budget. Secondary

unding sources include the Park´s own resources, generated in part by

the entrance tickets, as well as the contribution o Ministerio de Cultura

and Fundación de Investigaciones Arqueológicas Nacionales o the Bancode la República.

Among the actors that threaten the preservation o hypogea in the

Archeological Park are moisture, biological agents, and the great magnitude

earthquakes that are not rare in the region, besides the constant activity o

the Nevado del Huila volcano. Additionally, Tierradentro archeological sites

have been aected by looting and illicit trafc. Although legislation is clear

in orbidding non authorized interventions and the commercial trading o

these cultural properties, authorities nd very difcult to control the dis-

persed illegal excavations.

In spite o the eorts dedicated to the preventive conservation o the

Park, threats to the archeological cultural properties are a constant source

o worry. Due to the act that the principal damage agents in the hypogea

are moisture and biological agents, ICANH has developed a preventive con-

servation program that includes research on materials or reconstructing




volcanic stone structures (Durán, 1999), research on the causes o damage

in the hypogea structures and paintings (Guerrero 1990), studies on drain-

age systems (Ingeniería e Hidrosistemas, 1990), reconstruction o collapsedcolumns, as or hypogeum S8 o Segovia, and covering ample zones with

geotextiles such us around Hypogea S18 and S19 , in Segovia, to decrease

the volume o rainwater penetrating the structures. A program or control-

ling biological agents with biocides has also been developed, as well as a

program or preventive maintenance and cleaning.

In 1995, with the help o Unesco, the ICANH held the rst Workshop

in Conservation o Hypogea o the National Archeological Park (Colcultura1995), and its conclusions and recommendations have been included in the

current management plan. The ICANH has a complete record o the state o

conservation and damage o 75 hypogea, which has been complemented

recently with independent studies unded by the Fundación de Investiga-

ciones Arqueológicas o the Banco de la República (Sevilla, 2009b).

Photo: Administrative Ofce, Tierradentro Park.




Besides the activities o preventive conservation, the ICANH has in-

tervened some hypogea that suered serious damage as consequence o

the earthquake o June 6, 1994, known as the Páez Avalanche. In Segovia(Hermida, 2000) the intervention o two structural columns o hypogeum

S8 responded to structural aws that threatened the physical integrity o

one o the most elaborate hypogea.

As preparation or such intervention, a team o engineers and restorers

developed resistant materials that are compatible to the local volcanic

rock. In the same place and with help rom UNESCO, ICANH developed a

successul waterproong project (Hermida, 2001).In San Andrés, ICANH has removed some o the cement oors built

in the 1970´s to mitigate the eect tourist trafc which nally resulted too

heavy or channels hypogea. The ICANH carries on continuous mainte-

nance in draining channels, sheds and internal suraces o the hypogea to

minimize and control deterioration.

The preservation o important remains o the particular way o

thinking, and o particular conceptions o lie and death o Prehispanic so-cieties located in what today is Tierradentro is o national and internation-

al interest, but it largely depends on the active collaboration o local and

regional authorities, who have in their hands a valuable scientic, historic

and cultural heritage that deserves being handed over to uture genera-

tions as a testimony o ancestral cultures.




8. General

Recommendations

In Colombia, archeological heritage belongs to the Nation and it

is inalienable, indeeasible and imprescriptible (Article 72 o the

National Constitution, General Cultural Law 397 o 1997, 1185 o

2008). It is a crime to commercialize, intervene, export or dispose o archeo-

logical properties without ofcial authorization. Tierradentro has sueredlooting and illicit trafc o archeological properties and visitors do risk get-

ting involved in illicit activities i they do not know these norms.

Visitors should not participate in any kind o excavation; should not

buy handcrats that may be archeological items. When buying, demand

that handcrated objects that resemble archeological pieces do have the

word “Réplica” engraved, in accordance to Decree 833 o 2002. I you see

suspicious excavations, or the sale o pieces that may be archeological,

please inorm the Parks´ ofce or the Tourist Police.

Murals and carvings in the hypogea, statues and other archeologi-

cal remains are threatened also by erosion and biodeterioration that may

be accelerated by contact with oreign elements. Due to a lack o precau-

tion, paintings and carvings may suer irreversible damage. Please do not

touch, scratch or write on the surace o archeological elements, and do

not pour on them any liquid. I you see vandalism, please alert the Park´s

ofce or the Tourist Police. Archeological Heritage is a cultural property o the nation and o humankind and everyone must be entitled to enjoy it

but also should protect it and preserve it or uture generations.




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Tierradentro Archaeological Park. Guidebook.

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