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73-755: The Fucha River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River . The river originates in the Eastern Hills of the Colombian capital Bogotá and flows westward through the city into the Bogotá River. It is one of the three important rivers of the city, together with the Tunjuelo and Juan Amarillo Rivers . Fucha is derived from Muysccubun , the indigenous language of

146-454: A Malay word meaning ‘copper’, and the composition of the alloy was especially chosen by the Muisca craftsperson for each votive offering piece. The depletion gilding process works on the principle that gold is resistant to oxidation whereas other metals are not. The piece is treated by coating the surface with acid or packing it in salt, which reacts with the silver and copper contained in

219-598: A ceremony , detailed in the Legend of El Dorado, in which a new king covered his entire body in gold dust, floated on a raft to the center of a lake, and threw large quantities of gold votive offerings into the lake. The legend of El Dorado emerged from six accounts, three by the chroniclers Fernandez de Oviedo , Pedro Cieza de Leon , and Juan de Castellanos , and three by the conquistadores Gonzalo Pizarro , Jimenez de Quesada , and Sebastian de Benalcazar ; subsequent descriptions are elaborations upon these six accounts. While

292-637: A raft into the cold waters of the 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) high lake to the northeast of the Bogotá savanna. After a journey of almost a year, where the Spanish lost over 80% of their soldiers, the conquistadors following the Suárez River , reached the Bogotá savanna in March 1537. The zipa who ruled the Bogotá savanna at the arrival of the Spanish was Tisquesusa . The Muisca posed little resistance to

365-701: A book by Liborio Zerda , and Dimaté confirmed its similarity to the newly found raft. Father Santamaría arranged for the object to be acquired by the Bank of the Republic and placed in the Gold Museum where it remains. The Muisca bartered their salt, emeralds, and cotton cloth to obtain the gold needed for tunjos . The altitude of the region varied greatly, creating small ecological zones in which one or more resources were lacking in each locale, which encouraged trade. Ethnographic studies reveal trade networks in

438-411: A deity in hopes they will provide healing; or to bless a marriage, harvest, building, or ceremony. Offerings may also have been associated with political power, as various chiefdoms vied for power. Sometimes the offering was placed by a jeque , or priest, and sometimes it was placed by a layperson. According to Spanish accounts, the offerings were made to gain favor with a deity, and indeed each shrine

511-422: A gold alloy containing as much as 70% copper, whereas in other regions gold was hammered into the desired shape. Furthermore, the Muisca objects are identifiable by their rough surfaces in comparison to the polished gold in surrounding regions. Muisca art tended to include components that referred back to the raw material used in their own construction; for example, a statue who is depicted to be holding, in pouches,

584-468: A group from Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES), in Bogotá, Colombia, recreated the Siecha raft in gold and identified a plausible casting process. A century later, in 1969, a peasant from Pasca by the name of Cruz María Dimaté found several pieces of gold and ceramics in a cave, and described them to Father Jaime Hincapié Santamaría, a parish priest. The priest showed Dimaté a drawing of the Siecha raft in

657-519: A journey of almost a year, where the Spanish lost over 80% of their soldiers, the conquistadors following the Suárez River , reached the Bogotá savanna in March 1537. The zipa who ruled the Bogotá savanna at the arrival of the Spanish was Tisquesusa . The Muisca posed little resistance to the Spanish strangers and Tisquesusa was defeated in April 1537 in Funza , in the centre of the savanna. He fled towards

730-445: A large offering vessel and a smaller vessel); it may have also included a feline skull that has been lost. The smaller gold work was also a lost-wax casting depicting a human sitting in a litter , or a basket for carrying royalty using human muscle power. The piece depicts the human with closed eyes and an elongated mouth showing the teeth. The larger ceramic piece was 25.8 cm (10.2 in) high by 31.5 cm (12.4 in) wide,

803-444: A large rectangular nose pendant, adorned with bird heads and trapezoidal decorations, as well as a headdress and possibly a crown . Additional trapezoidal adornments can be seen: three pendants , two ear pendants, and three others around the body. He is seated on a duho (a small chair with a high backrest), and leaning backwards. The cacique is surrounded by banners and feather -like projections. The main figure’s importance

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876-402: A mould. For the casting process to succeed, it was necessary to pack the wet mixture around the wax, being careful to fill every crevice thoroughly, ensuring that components that are meant to dangle, such as earrings, do not become fused together during casting. The artisan showed great skill in filling these cracks without breaking or warping the soft beeswax. For repeated elements, such as in

949-451: A string of beads or pendants, the Muisca used stone matrices — blocks that have a figure carved in relief — to aid with the building of the wax template; this ensured some uniformity in the repeated element. The mould was built in successive layers, and the artisan may have increased the ratio of clay to charcoal and also increased the grain size of the mixture as the mould grew in size — to improve its structural integrity. The only portion of

1022-476: A time of tension, the raft offering may have been an effort to “reinforce the prestige of a leader in a circumstantial situation”. It is likely that the raft was commissioned by a powerful person such as the cacique . The raft itself was time consuming and produced to a high quality, as were the other objects in the offering. The offering vessel itself is one of the largest known from the Muisca. Although neither conquistadors nor treasure hunters ever witnessed

1095-415: A variety of different compositions, resulting in a wide range of colourations. To create their gold pieces, the Muisca used a method called lost-wax casting. The manufacturing process itself was likely part of the ritual associated with these tunjos . The process began when the Muisca craftsperson created a wax model in the desired shape of the object, using beeswax harvested from the region. The beeswax

1168-461: Is also associated with the chief, and it is significant that none of the figures that surround the central figure face him—a sign of reverence to the cacique . The remaining ten figures that surround the cacique, while all much smaller than him, can be grouped into three sizes: two larger figures standing in the front and center of the raft; two medium sized seated figures that surround them; and six smaller standing figures. The two large figures in

1241-422: Is apparent from his size and his richly adorned body. The nose pendant is also significant in identifying the chief; according to one Spanish chronicler, future caciques were locked in houses from a young age and when they emerged years later, they pierced their ears and wore gold nose pendants to indicate their new status. Nose pendants were among the most detailed and ornate items in Muisca goldworking. The duho

1314-487: Is exhibited at the Gold Museum in Bogotá . The Muisca people, also known as the Chibcha, were situated at 9000 ft elevation in the eastern Andes of Colombia near modern day Bogotá, the town of Tunja , and Lake Guatavita . While most Muisca villages had a chief and priests, the Muisca were generally an egalitarian agricultural people. They made pottery and textiles and mined emeralds and salt , but they lacked

1387-417: Is made of fine paste, and was covered by a red slip. The smaller, rounded vessel was well constructed and finished with a smooth surface and buff. Muisca offerings were common, and varied across time and place. Offerings included human gold effigies, ceramics, emeralds, hair, blood, and animal skulls; and were deposited in lakes, caves, and behind waterfalls. The purpose of the offering was to gain favor with

1460-418: Is present, which has a negative impact on agriculture. Hail is a relatively common phenomenon on the savanna. There is a system of wetlands ( humedales ) that regulate the soil moisture acting like sponges for the rain waters. Fifteen wetlands have a protected status, with various wetlands as unprotected. In 1950, the total surface area of the wetlands amounted to 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres), but due to

1533-405: Is the biggest city worldwide at altitudes above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). The many rivers on the savanna are highly contaminated and efforts to solve the environmental problems are conducted in the 21st century. Bogotá savanna is named after Bogotá, which is derived from Muysccubun Bacatá , which means "(Enclosure) outside of the farm fields". The Bogotá savanna is the southwestern part of

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1606-680: The Golden Raft of El Dorado , is a pre-Columbian votive piece created by the Muisca , an indigenous people of Colombia in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes . The piece probably refers to the gold offering ceremony described in the legend of El Dorado , which occasionally took place at Lake Guatavita . In this ritual, the new chief ( zipa ), who was aboard a raft and covered with gold dust, tossed gold objects into

1679-539: The Magdalena River , the main fluvial artery of Colombia. Word got around among the Spanish colonisers that deep in the unknown Andes, a rich area with an advanced civilisation must exist. These tales bore the -not so much- legend of El Dorado ; the city or man of gold. The Muisca, skilled goldworkers , held a ritual in Lake Guatavita where the new zipa would cover himself in gold dust and jump from

1752-522: The Muisca , who inhabited the Bogotá savanna before the Spanish conquest and means "her" or "female". The Fucha River originates in the locality San Cristóbal in the Eastern Hills of Bogotá and is named in its upper course Quebrada Manzanares, San Cristóbal , Arzobispo and San Francisco River . It flows north from the Tunjuelo River westward and respectively forms the boundary between

1825-572: The New World crops that the Muisca cultivated. Over the course of the 16th to early 20th century, the Bogotá savanna was sparsely populated and industrialised. The rise in population during the twentieth century and the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation reduced the biodiversity and natural habitat of the Bogotá savanna severely. Today, the Metropolitan Area of Bogotá on the Bogotá savanna hosts more than ten million people. Bogotá

1898-567: The Spanish conquest of the Bogotá savanna, the area was inhabited by the indigenous Muisca , who formed a loose confederation of various caciques , named the Muisca Confederation . The Bogotá savanna, known as Muyquytá , was ruled by the zipa . The people specialised in agriculture , the mining of emeralds , trade and especially the extraction of rock salt from rocks in Zipaquirá , Nemocón , Tausa and other areas on

1971-404: The Bogotá savanna, in addition to the capital city of Bogotá , are: Mosquera , Soacha , Madrid , Funza , Facatativá , Subachoque , El Rosal , Tabio , Tenjo , Cota , Chía , Cajicá , Zipaquirá , Nemocón , Sopó , Tocancipá , Gachancipá , Sesquilé , Suesca , Chocontá and Guatavita . Muisca raft The Muisca raft ( Balsa Muisca in Spanish ), sometimes referred to as

2044-463: The Bogotá savanna. The salt extraction, a task exclusively of the Muisca women , gave the Muisca the name "The Salt People". In April 1536, a group of around 800 conquistadors left the relative safety of the Caribbean coastal city of Santa Marta to start a strenuous expedition up the Magdalena River , the main fluvial artery of Colombia. Word got around among the Spanish colonisers that deep in

2117-678: The Fucha River basin. Bogot%C3%A1 savanna The Bogotá savanna is crossed from northeast to southwest by the 375 kilometres (233 mi) long Bogotá River , which at the southwestern edge of the plateau forms the Tequendama Falls ( Salto del Tequendama ). Other rivers, such as the Subachoque , Bojacá , Fucha , Soacha and Tunjuelo Rivers , tributaries of the Bogotá River, form smaller valleys with very fertile soils dedicated to agriculture and cattle-breeding. Before

2190-465: The Golden Man has a foundation in historical truth; El Dorado probably referred to the ruler of the Muisca. The Muisca raft is a small votive offering made from an alloy of gold, silver, and copper. It measures 19.5 cm (7.7 in) long, by 10.2 cm (4.0 in) wide, by 10.1 cm (4.0 in) high. The raft contains eleven human figures — a central, large seated figure representing

2263-465: The Isthmus— Costa Rica , Panama , and Colombia—emerged as a single goldworking region that shared styles and methodology, such as the use of lost-wax casting instead of hammering. Metalworking in the region began with objects for religious rituals and royalty, rather than as tools , weapons , or currency ; this symbolic use from the outset established a precedent for metalworking throughout

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2336-516: The Muisca raft. As part of Colombia’s historical and cultural heritage plan, the government placed Lake Guatavita under legal protection in 1965. The Muisca raft, together with a large collection of other tunjos , are held at the Gold Museum in Bogotá. The museum’s director, archaeologist Maria Alicia Uribe Villegas, as well as archaeometallurgist Marcos Martinón-Torres, have applied modern techniques to study and preserve over 80 such tunjos at

2409-410: The Muisca to the new rule. Between 65 and 80% of the indigenous people perished due to European diseases as smallpox and typhus . The Spanish introduced new crops, replacing many of the New World crops that the Muisca cultivated. The Spanish colonizers engaged in the construction of Spanish-style towns to replace all the indigenous villages and in the process of assimilation and religious convert of

2482-436: The Muisca. The majority of those villages kept their indigenous names, but some were slightly modified in time, like Suacha which became Soacha , Hyntiba becoming Fontibón and Bacatá becoming Bogotá . Over the course of the 16th to early 20th century, the Bogotá savanna was sparsely populated and industrialised. The rise in population during the twentieth century and the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation reduced

2555-562: The Spanish strangers and Tisquesusa was defeated in April 1537 in Funza , in the centre of the savanna. He fled towards the western hills and died of his wounds in Facatativá , on the southwestern edge of the Bogotá savanna. The Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada established the New Kingdom of Granada with capital Santa Fe de Bogotá on August 6, 1538. This started a process of colonisation, evangelisation and submittance of

2628-401: The alloy, but does not react with the gold. The result is a piece with a higher purity of gold on the surface than in the center of the object; the process can be adjusted to yield a variety of surface colorations of the metal. The Muisca generally did not do much else in the way of finishing their gold work, and the Muisca raft followed that trend. There was no effort to fix casting errors, and

2701-413: The base of the piece, resulting in a large portion of the raft’s base, which was meant to be a crisscross of openwork, showing a thin, solid gold sheet instead. When the casting was complete, the artisan may have treated the piece with depletion gilding , a technique for increasing the purity of gold on the surface of the object. Colombian gold was combined with copper in an alloy called tumbaga ,

2774-412: The biodiversity and natural habitat of the Bogotá savanna severely. Today, the Metropolitan Area of Bogotá on the Bogotá savanna hosts more than ten million people. Bogotá is the biggest city worldwide at altitudes above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). The many rivers on the savanna are highly contaminated and efforts to solve the environmental problems are conducted in the 21st century. The main cities of

2847-445: The bottom of the raft where elements of the design were pressed into the soft base. Each of the wax figures was likely created as a separate piece before being fused together into the ensemble, perhaps by using a warm tool. In addition to the intended design, the artisan added wax feeders allowing for the flow of molten gold. The wax figurine was then thoroughly covered in a wet, equal mixture of fine charcoal and clay, in order to form

2920-501: The central zone of the lake remains untouched. The Spanish found large quantities of gold in Lake Guatavita. When searching for treasure in the lake became too costly, they took gold pieces directly from the Muisca in their villages. The stolen artifacts were melted into ingots and doubloons, which Phillip II had shipped back to Spain. Today, protections are in place to preserve the Muisca heritage, including tunjos like

2993-415: The ceremony, its legend enticed Europeans, who desired gold to pay for their ships, weapons, and horses, and, they hoped, for personal riches. As a result, adventurers have attempted to recover more artifacts. Heidi King describes such efforts: In the centuries since the conquest countless lives and great fortunes have been lost in attempts to recover the treasures. The most serious effort was undertaken at

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3066-408: The chief or cacique , surrounded by ten smaller figures, representing attendants and oarsmen , some of whom wear masks. The figures rest on top of an oval -shaped reed raft, which is composed of a triangle -patterned central support structure, with wire coils around the perimeter. Like most Muisca goldworking, there are no figures-in-the-round ; each figure is cast as a flat plaque , adorned on

3139-444: The end of the sixteenth century by a wealthy merchant from Santa Fe de Bogota who, with the help of eight thousand local workmen, cut a great notch—still prominent in the landscape—into the mountain on one side of the lake and lowered the water level by about sixty feet. Countless gold objects, and other offerings, including an emerald the size of a hen’s egg, were recovered from the edges of the lake bed. Several expeditions followed, but

3212-508: The fertile soils of the frequently flooding Bogotá savanna. More tropical and subtropical agricultural products as avocadoes and cotton were traded with their neighbours, in particular the Guane and Lache in the north and northeast and the Guayupe , Achagua and Tegua in the east. The Muisca were known as skilled goldworkers , represented in the famous Muisca raft , that symbolises

3285-536: The first evidences of settlement in open area space was Aguazuque , whose oldest dated remains are analysed to be 5000 years old. This prehistorical preceramic period was followed by the Herrera Period , commonly defined from 800 BCE to 800 AD. At the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors , the region was inhabited by the Muisca who lived in hundreds of small villages scattered across the plateau. These villages were individually ruled by caciques who at

3358-450: The front each wear a headdress with eleven feathers, carry a maraca (rattle), wear a mask in the shape of an animal head, and carry a trident next to their waist. The two medium-sized figures flank the larger two, and wear a coiled headdress possibly meant to represent fabric . They each carry a poporo — a gourd-shaped flask that contained the lime that was chewed along with coca leaves . The smaller six figures are positioned around

3431-472: The front side with wire-like details and gold jewelry . The surface of the piece is unpolished and appears crude in comparison to Muisca jewelry, but like other votive offerings, the Muisca raft was not intended to be decorative but rather a symbolic offering; the appearance of this piece was typical for its use. Microscopic examination did not reveal any joint anywhere on the raft; the piece, and every ornamental detail, including dangling gold decorations,

3504-534: The gold and beeswax needed to create their signature gold pieces. For those raw materials, they bartered with neighboring peoples. Because the Muisca were an egalitarian people, gold was not concentrated in the hands of few. Instead, all Muisca families decorated their doors and windows with gold objects. Gold was used in Central America by the first centuries AD and was spiritually and symbolically important to Pre-Columbian peoples . The countries of

3577-529: The highlands of Colombia connecting it to surrounding regions, and Spanish language sources confirm that these networks extended to the Inca territories. Barter between the highlands and coast exchanged fish , shells , and gold for coca leaves, chili peppers , and colored feathers . Local traders moved materials between the gold mining regions and the gold-working regions, in which finished products were exchanged for raw gold. Muisca artisans used gold alloys with

3650-399: The initiation ritual of the new zipa in Lake Guatavita . This ritual, where the zipa covered himself in gold dust and jumped in the 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) altitude lake, gave rise to the -not so much- legend of El Dorado . In April 1536, a group of around 800 conquistadors left the relative safety of the Caribbean coastal city of Santa Marta to start a strenuous expedition up

3723-423: The lake as offerings to the gods, before immersing himself into the lake. The figure was created between 1295 and 1410 AD by lost-wax casting in an alloy of gold with silver and copper . The raft was part of an offering that was placed in a cave in the municipality of Pasca . Since its discovery in 1969, the Muisca raft has become a national emblem for Colombia and has been depicted on postage stamps. The piece

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3796-672: The larger Andean plateau, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The savanna is a montane savanna , bordered to the east by the Eastern Hills , the Sumapaz mountains in the south, the hills of Tausa and Suesca in the north and western hills of Cundinamarca in the west. The total surface area is 4,251.6 square kilometres (1,641.6 sq mi). The average temperature of the plateau is 14 °C (57 °F), but this can fluctuate between 0 and 24 °C (32 and 75 °F). The dry and rainy seasons alternate frequently during

3869-498: The light struck his golden body, the chief would dive into the lake, thus washing the gold off, and would emerge as a human ruler born from the divine golden sun. Music, shouting, and then tossing of large quantities of gold into the lake accompanied the ceremony. However, some experts doubt that the El Dorado depicted in the legend represents the ceremony at Lake Guatavita. The city of El Dorado probably never existed, but El Dorado

3942-604: The localities Rafael Uribe Uribe (south) and Antonio Nariño (north) and Tunjuelito and Ciudad Bolivar (south) and Kennedy (north) of the Colombian capital and is canalised between the Carrera Séptima and the Avenida Boyacá . South of the locality Bosa , the Fucha River flows into the Bogotá River . The Fucha River is highly contaminated. Four of the fifteen protected wetlands of Bogotá are located in

4015-492: The main ingredient of the Muisca cuisine . Today, this species of deer, as well as the once common spectacled bear , is restricted to protected areas surrounding the Bogotá savanna. The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve is a protected area in the north of Bogotá. The earliest confirmed inhabitation of present-day Colombia was on the Bogotá savanna with sites El Abra , Tequendama and Tibitó , where semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers lived in caves and rock shelters. One of

4088-428: The mould was pre-heated to several hundred degrees to allow the smooth flow of molten gold into all the cracks and details before hardening; it also helped protect against fracture from cooling too fast. The final step in the casting was to hammer open the mould, revealing a perfect copy of the beeswax figurine, this time in gold. However, the Muisca raft did have issues during the casting process—a fracture developed at

4161-554: The names of Joaquín and Bernardino Tovar partially drained a nearby lagoon , and found a votive raft that they associated with the ceremony referred to in the legend of El Dorado . It was in the hands of diplomat Salomón Koppel who sold it to a museum in Germany, the Ethnologisches Museum . However, when the artifact arrived in the port of Bremen it was destroyed in a fire. Nevertheless, through reverse engineering,

4234-429: The perimeter of the raft and each wears a headdress and carries a small stick. The uniformity of the figures suggest that the raft was created by a single, highly trained artisan. Researchers have applied radiocarbon dating to remnants of charcoal that were left on the raft by the casting mould; the tests yielded a date of 1295–1410 AD for the raft’s construction. Using X-ray fluorescence , researchers have identified

4307-434: The region’s history. Muisca gold pieces are distinct from those of other Pre-Columbian peoples, in terms of their use, manufacture, and appearance. The Muisca votive offerings, called tunjos , were not worn as clothing or jewelry, but instead were used for symbolic purposes. They were often small enough to hold in the hand; sometimes as small as 1.5 cm (0.59 in). The tunjos were lost-wax casts using tumbaga ,

4380-423: The same time paid tribute to the zipa , ruler of Bacatá. The Muisca were known as "The Salt People", thanks to their extraction of rock salt from brines in large pots heated over fires. This process was the exclusive task of the Muisca women . The economy of the Muisca, meaning "person" or "people" in their indigenous version of Chibcha ; Muysccubun , was self-sufficient due to the advanced agriculture on

4453-436: The story was embellished with each telling, every version had several details in common, such as the lake and the gold dust. It is also known that the Muisca venerated lakes. Jennings details the ceremony as it occurs in one telling: The El Dorado tale derives from the investiture ceremony of the Muisca rulers. The new chief was coated in gold dust and taken on a raft to the center of the sacred Lake Guatavita. At sunrise, when

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4526-528: The substance from which it is made. Birds are a common motif in Colombian gold work. Muisca goldworking influenced a wide region. Local copies of Muisca votive figurines have been found as far away as the Linea Vieja region on the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica. Some of these design traditions remained unchanged for 1,000 years and were prominent at the time of contact. The Muisca raft commemorates

4599-461: The surface remained unpolished; charcoal remnants from the mould were left in crevices on the figures. The offering that contained the Muisca raft was placed in a cave in the side of a hill, known as La Campana, located between Lázaro Fonte and El Retiro streets in the Pasca municipality, Cundinamarca. The offering contained three other artifacts, including a smaller gold work, two ceramics (including

4672-418: The unknown Andes, a rich area with an advanced civilisation must exist. These tales bore the -not so much- legend of El Dorado ; the city or man of gold. The Muisca, skilled goldworkers , held a ritual in Lake Guatavita where the new zipa would cover himself in gold dust and jump from a raft into the cold waters of the 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) high lake to the northeast of the Bogotá savanna. After

4745-486: The urbanisation of the Colombian capital the total area has been reduced to 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres). Despite the continuous urbanisation and industrial activities, the Bogotá savanna is a rich biodiverse area with many bird species registered. The diversity of mammals, amphibians and reptiles is much lower. Before the arrival of the European colonisers, the savanna was populated predominantly by white-tailed deer ,

4818-409: The wax model that was not covered was a small opening near the bow of the raft where the molten gold would later be poured in. Once the clay and charcoal mould dried and hardened, the artisan applied heat to melt the beeswax, and allowed it to run out of the opening, creating a figurine-shaped cavity in the clay. This was the only mould used to cast the Muisca raft. Just prior to the actual casting,

4891-511: The western hills and died of his wounds in Facatativá , on the southwestern edge of the Bogotá savanna. The Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada established the New Kingdom of Granada with capital Santa Fe de Bogotá on August 6, 1538. This started a process of colonisation, evangelisation and submittance of the Muisca to the new rule. Between 65 and 80% of the indigenous people perished due to European diseases as smallpox and typhus . The Spanish introduced new crops, replacing many of

4964-403: The year. The driest months are December, January, February and March. During the rainy months, the temperature tends to be more stable with variations between 9 and 20 °C (48 and 68 °F). June, July and August are the months that present the largest variations of temperature, and during the morning frost in the higher terrains surrounding the savanna is possible. Sometimes also ground frost

5037-509: The “chemical signature” of the gold used in the Muisca raft, and concluded that it came from the lowlands near the banks of the Magdalena river where people still pan for gold today. There are two known Muisca golden rafts ; one from Pasca, the subject of this article, and another from Siecha, which was lost. The Siecha raft was the first to be discovered, and it aided in the discovery of the Pasca raft. In 1856, two brothers from Siecha by

5110-421: Was associated with a distinct god that heard specific concerns. Uribe Villegas details the account of one Spanish chronicler: The Muisca had one god for each necessity. Chibchacum , of the Bogotá province, was the god of merchants, goldsmiths, peasants, and wealthy people; Nencatacoa , of drunkenness, weavers, and blanket painters. Cuchaviva , the rainbow, to whom one should offer figurines of “low karat gold”,

5183-419: Was created in a single pour of gold. The manufacturing process was intensive; the entire process, from shaping a beeswax template to breaking the mould and revealing the gold piece, likely required hundreds of hours of work undertaken by a single craftsperson. The central figure, the cacique , is naked, seated, and folds his arms over his chest in a W pattern, a common feature in Muisca gold pieces. He wears

5256-403: Was the god of childbirth. Among the many gods, Bochica , the main deity, was lord of chiefs and captains, and, like Chibchacum, received only gold offerings. The message of a Muisca offering was more important than the display. In the case of the Pasca offering containing the Muisca raft, it is likely that it was a response to current political tensions among various chiefdoms in the region. In

5329-452: Was worked into two basic shapes: flat sheets from which geometric shapes could be cut out, such as for the figure’s torso; and threads of rolled beeswax, as thin as 1 mm (0.039 in), that could be used for coils and adornments, including finer details such as the eyes or feathers. These constructions reveal great skill on the part of the artisan — the components are highly uniform with few mistakes. The only signs of finger work occur on

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