Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan l ...

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

zipa When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

zaque When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a ...

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lang ...

indigenous groups Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and ...

Gámeza Gámeza () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town center is located at from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, ...

pacifier A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple substitute given to an infant to suckle upon between feedings to quiet its distress by satisfying the need to suck when it does not need to eat. Pacifiers normally have three parts: an elongat ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

chroniclers A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and l ...

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory nam ...

Pedro Simón ''Fray'' Pedro Simón (San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time ...

Pedro de Aguado Friar Pedro de Aguado (1513 or 1538 – late 16th or early 17th century) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who spent around 15 years in the New Kingdom of Granada, preaching to the indigenous people. During this time he collected source material ...

Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (August 14781557), commonly known as Oviedo, was a Spanish soldier, historian, writer, botanist and colonist. Oviedo participated in the Spanish colonization of the West Indies, arriving in the first few yea ...

Ezequiel Uricoechea Ezequiel Uricoechea Rodríguez (Bogotá, 9 April 1834 – Beirut, 29 July 1880) was a Colombian linguist and scientist. He is considered one of the first Colombian scientists and a pioneer in Spanish-language linguistics. Biography Urico ...

Liborio Zerda Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)Eliécer Silva Celis and Abel Fernando Martínez Martín have been analysing various Muisca mummies.Martínez Martín et al., 2010Valverde, 2007, p.281Otálora Cascante, 2006, p.4Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.62Martínez et al., 2010, p.113

Background

In the centuries before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of diff ...

in 1537, the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

, high plateau of the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Le ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, was inhabited by the Muisca people. They were an advanced civilisation of mainly

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

and traders. The Muisca did not construct stone architecture, as the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popu ...

,

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

and

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admi ...

did; their houses, temples and shrines were built with wood and clay. They were called "Salt People" because of their extraction of

halite Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, ...

from various salt mines on the Altiplano, predominantly in

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tocancipá to the east; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south; and Subachoque and Pacho ...

, Nemocón and

Tausa Tausa () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tausa is and was an important town on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense due to its salt mine. It was the third most prolific salt deposit fo ...

.

Description

Mummification was a common practice in South American cultures. The

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished i ...

, Paracas and

Chachapoya The Chachapoyas, also called the "Warriors of the Clouds", was a culture of the Andes living in the cloud forests of the southern part of the Department of Amazonas of present-day Peru. The Inca Empire conquered their civilization shortly bef ...

of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

conducted mummifications.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.63 The oldest evidence of mummification in the Americas is known from the

Chinchorro culture The Chinchorro culture of South America was a preceramic culture that lasted from 9,100 to 3,500 years BP (7,000 to 1,500 BCE). The people forming the Chinchorro culture were sedentary fishermen inhabiting the Pacific coastal region of current ...

in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...

of northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and has been dated at 7000 years BP.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.66 The practice was also performed by various

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

cultures in Colombia. Of the cultures to the southwest of the Altiplano, the Calima,

Pijao The Pijao (also Piajao, Pixao, Pinao) are an indigenous people from Colombia. Ethnography The Pijao or Pijaos formed a loose federation of Amerindians and were living in the present-day department of Tolima, Colombia. In pre-Columbian time ...

and

Quimbaya The Quimbaya (/kɪmbaɪa/) were a small indigenous group in present-day Colombia noted for their gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs. The majority of the gold work is made in ''tumbaga'' alloy, with 30% copper, w ...

practiced mummification.Valverde, 2007, p.280 On and close to the Altiplano the Muisca,

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...

and

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

mummified their dead and north of the Altiplano the

Chitarero The Chitarero were an indigenous Chibcha-speaking people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela. They were responsible for the death of the German ''conquistador'' Ambrosius Ehinger in 1533 by means of poisoned arrow ...

and

Zenú The ''Zenú'' or ''Sinú'' is a pre-Columbian culture in Colombia, whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinú and San Jorge rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo. These lands lie within t ...

also executed the mummification process.Momia
-

Banco de la República The Bank of the Republic ( es, Banco de la República) is the central bank of Colombia. It was initially established under the regeneration era in 1880. Its main modern functions, under the new Colombian constitution were detailed by Congress ...

Villa Posse, 1993, p.52 The indigenous groups inhabiting the jungles of the Darién mummified their ''caciques''.Langebaek, 1995, p.214 The Muisca started their mummification practices in the Late Herrera Period, approximately from the 5th century AD onwards.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.68 The use of substances to balm the body and the extraction of the organs has been described by

franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Estebán de Asencio in 1550. The process took eight hours to dry the body with a dusty balm after the intestines were extracted. While the exact composition of the balm has not been determined, the ''moque'' was probably a type of resin, used in other rituals and practices around the mummification.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.70 Another method of preparation of the mummies was more frequent. The body would be dried using fire and smoke and no extraction of organs would be performed. The heat of the fire not only dried the body, also the

phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...

liberated by the smoke would conserve the body and prevent it from decomposing. This process, that also the Guane performed to prepare their mummies, has been described by Pedro Simón.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.71 The dried bodies were wrapped in various layers of cotton cloths, mostly painted. Emeralds were put in the mouths and to cover the eyes and bellybutton of the deceased and sometimes even cloths were inserted in their

rectum The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the gut in others. The adult human rectum is about long, and begins at the rectosigmoid junction (the end of the sigmoid colon) at the l ...

. The ears and nose were covered with cotton cloths as well. During the mummification rituals, the Muisca sang songs and drank chicha for various days in a row. As the Muisca believed in an afterlife,Funeraria Muisca
- Pueblos Originarios the mummies were buried surrounded by

pots Pot may refer to: Containers * Flowerpot, a container in which plants are cultivated * Pottery, ceramic ware made by potters * A type of cookware Places * Ken Jones Aerodrome, IATA airport code POT * Palestinian Occupied Territories, the We ...

with

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

as

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes t ...

s,

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

and

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...

, mantles and golden figures for their stay in another world, similar to ours.Ortega Loaiza et al., 2012, p.8 The mummies of the higher classes were decorated with golden earrings or noserings and with golden feathered crowns and

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

s. The discovery of a cave in

Gámeza Gámeza () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town center is located at from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, ...

, Boyacá in 2007, proved also children were mummified; a mummified baby of a couple of months old was wrapped in cotton cloths and accompanied by a

teether A teether, teething toy, or chew toy is a device given to teething infants. Most modern teethers are silicone, but can also be made of wood or rubber. Some teethers are filled with a fluid or gel that can be frozen or refrigerated. They differ fr ...

, a small bowl, three strings of cotton and a small bag around the neck. In the temples and places reserved for the mummies, the bodies were put on a platform of reed, as an elevated bed, called ''barbacoas''. Other mummies were placed on small wooden stools. The mummies were left there without being buried.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.69 All the mummies found were in a similar sitting position with the arms and legs folded towards the torso.

Ezequiel Uricoechea Ezequiel Uricoechea Rodríguez (Bogotá, 9 April 1834 – Beirut, 29 July 1880) was a Colombian linguist and scientist. He is considered one of the first Colombian scientists and a pioneer in Spanish-language linguistics. Biography Urico ...

described in 1854 that the fingers of the mummified persons were strapped together with cotton cords. Some of the mummies, probably those of the warriors, were found with golden arms in their hands. The fighters were richly decorated with emeralds, crowns and fine cloths and bags of cotton.Martínez & Martínez, 2012, p.72 According to

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory nam ...

who made the first contact with the Muisca, during the conquest, the

guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and p ...

s carried mummies on their backs to serve as an example and to impress their enemies in their

warfare War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

. When his soldiers Miguel Sánchez and Juan Rodríguez Parra raided the

Sun Temple A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the ...

in Sogamoso in September 1537, they found mummies decorated with golden crowns and other objects sitting on raised platforms.

Social classes

Although the Muisca society was generally egalitarian, differences in the burial processes indicate the distinction of the social classes. The higher class people and their families were mummified while lower classes were not. The ''zipa'' and ''zaque'' mummy sites, often in temples and caves, were decorated with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

en stools and guarded by the priests. The ''caciques'' were put together with their slaves and

wives A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...

and the priests (''xeques'') were placed in secret sites. Often the mummies of the ''caciques'' were kept in their own houses and the

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

people consulted their ancestors in their prayers to them. In some cases special '' bohíos'' were constructed to house the mummies of the highest classes, as

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...

s.

Mummy SO10-IX

The mummy from Sativanorte, named ''SO10-IX'' and belonging to the collection of Silva Celis in the Archaeology Museum of Sogamoso, has been studied in detail by various researchers.Otálora Cascante, 2006, p.5 The mummy has been donated to the archaeologist by Abraham López Ávila in 1962. Interviews with López Ávila revealed that the mummy had been found by children in the vicinity of Sativanorte,

Sativasur Sativasur is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Northern Boyacá Province. It is approximately 132 km from Tunja, the capital of the department. Sativasur borders the municipalities S ...

and

Socotá Socotá is a town and municipality in the Valderrama Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The municipality is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The urban centre is at an altitude of at a distance of fro ...

on the western bank of the

Chicamocha River Chicamocha River is a river of Boyacá and Santander in central-eastern Colombia. It is part of the Magdalena river system that flows into the Caribbean Sea. Chicamocha River originates in the municipality of Tuta in the department of Boya ...

.Martínez et al., 2010, p.115 The mummy has been

carbon dated Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

by researchers at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance durin ...

at 615 +/- 35 years before 1950; between 1300 and 1370 AD.Martínez et al., 2010, p.118 The first analysis of the mummy SO10-IX has been performed in 2004, by a group of researcher of the UPTC in

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department ...

. The mummy was unwrapped in flexion, simulating the

fetal position Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso. A compact position is ...

, missing the upper left limb, with partial loss of the right lower limb, conserving the leg and foot. Loss of skin and soft tissue to the bone at the pelvis and the abdominal region have been noted. The upper limbs were flexed, the hands interlaced and tied with a cotton cord; they were placed on the right side of the head. Three fragments of cotton blankets accompanied the mummy. The body showed evidence of perforations caused by cadaveric fauna. Remains of ''

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

'' (''

Ancognatha ''Ancognatha'' is a genus of rhinoceros beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. There are more than 20 described species in ''Ancognatha''. Species These 22 species belong to the genus ''Ancognatha'': * '' Ancognatha atacazo'' (Kirsch, 1885) * '' ...

'' and ''

Phyllophaga ''Phyllophaga'' is a very large genus (more than 900 species) of New World scarab beetles in the subfamily Melolonthinae. Common names for this genus and many other related genera in the subfamily Melolonthinae are May beetles, June bugs, and Ju ...

'') were identified and remains of the left lung have been described in the thoracic cavity. The cranium was undeformed and showed remains of straight black hair with signs it had been cut. Cotton was found inside the ear and nostrils. One of the vertebrates showed an abscess.Martínez et al., 2010, p.116 The mummy has been identified as probably a male of an established age of 30 +/- 5 years old. The length of the individual has been estimated at . The teeth of SO10-IX did not have cavities and in the mouth remains of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from ...

and diatoms have been discovered.Martínez et al., 2010, p.117 Analysis of the mummy provided that it probably had been a ''shaman'', based on the perforated ears, and that he suffered from illnesses in his limbs, cared for by the Muisca community.

Other Colombian Andean mummies

Muisca mummies have been discovered in Gachantivá, Iguaque,

Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNES ...

, Moniquirá,

Socotá Socotá is a town and municipality in the Valderrama Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The municipality is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The urban centre is at an altitude of at a distance of fro ...

,

Sogamoso Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ador ...

,

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department ...

, Ubaté,

Pisba Pisba (sometimes spelled Pisva) is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of La Libertad Province. Pisba is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between and . Distance to Soga ...

,

Usme Usme is the 5th locality of the Capital District of Bogotá, capital city of Colombia. Usme is located in the south of Bogotá, bordering to the north the localities of San Cristóbal, Rafael Uribe Uribe and Tunjuelito, to the west the locali ...

and

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and ...

and mummies wrapped in cloths in Boavita,

Tasco Tasco (also known as Tasco Worldwide) sells consumer telescopes. Tasco mainly imports telescopes for amateur astronomers but has expanded into other optical products, such as spotting scopes, microscopes, binoculars, telescopic sights, and othe ...

, Tópaga,

Gámeza Gámeza () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town center is located at from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, ...

and

Gachancipá Gachancipá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Guatav ...

. The mummies of Usme, discovered in 2007, revealed an extensive burial site of . Oval and circular graves have been found, together with

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

s and some of the findings showed evidence of

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

. The 135 human remains have been dated to the 8th or 9th century until the 16th century AD. Evidence for alive burials were numerous and it is estimated it would take twenty years to fully analyse the site.Estudio de tumbas Muiscas evoca el mito de la Leyenda del Dorado
/ref> Mummies by surrounding groups were found in Chiscas,

Sierra Nevada del Cocuy The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita or Guican National Natural Park (or Sierra Nevada de Chita or Sierra Nevada de Güicán, es, Parque Natural Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita o Guican is a national park and a series of highlands and glaciated peaks l ...

(

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

),

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muz ...

(

Muzo people The Muzo people were a Cariban-speaking indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a highly war-like tribe who frequently clashed with their neighbouring indigenous groups, especially the Muisca. ...

),

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with ...

,

La Belleza La Belleza is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Ca ...

and Los Santos (

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...

),

Silos Silos is the plural of silo, a farm structure in which fodder or forage is kept. Silos may also refer to: * Silos, Norte de Santander, Colombia * Los Silos, a municipality and town on the island Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain * The Silos, Monta ...

(

Chitarero The Chitarero were an indigenous Chibcha-speaking people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela. They were responsible for the death of the German ''conquistador'' Ambrosius Ehinger in 1533 by means of poisoned arrow ...

) and Ocaña ( Mosquito culture). Until 2012, seventy mummies have been analysed in Colombia, of which 54 of the

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lang ...

-speaking people. The remaining 16 mummies have been found in the

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the ...

and belonged to the Yuko culture. The majority of mummies discovered after the conquest were found in caves and represented scenes; they were organised in circles. In the Muisca history caves, together with lakes, waterfalls and rivers, have been important. In 1602, 150 mummies were discovered in a cave in

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and ...

, and were organised in a circle around the mummy of the ''cacique''. The scene was completed with many small

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

cloths. The circular organisation around the ''cacique'' resembled the organisation of the Muisca villages, where the central ''bohío'' belonged to the

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...

of the settlement. In 1885 Muisca scholar

Liborio Zerda Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)paramo, at altitude within the municipality of

Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Galli ...

. The mummy was wrapped in cotton mantles and decorated with golden objects. The body was eternalised in a

squatting position Squatting is a versatile posture where the weight of the body is on the feet but the knees and hips are bent. In contrast, sitting involves taking the weight of the body, at least in part, on the buttocks against the ground or a horizontal object ...

. Some of the Muisca mummies found were so well conserved, that their facial expression didn't look like the people died hundreds of years ago. The Zenú and Panche oriented their mummies with the head to the east, while the Muzo buried their dead with the head to the west. The Muisca commonly directed the heads of the deceased to the east, although other graves have been found oriented to the south.

Museum collections

Muisca mummies are on display or in the collections of museums in Colombia. The

Museo del Oro Museo may refer to: *Museum (2018 film), Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro), station on line 1 of the Naples Metro *Museo, Seville, neighborhood of Seville, Spain {{disambiguation ...

(mummy from Pisba, Boyacá), the Museo Arqueológico Casa del Marqués de San Jorge and the Museo Nacional in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

have Muisca mummies on display and the mummies from Sativasur and Gámeza are kept in the

Archaeology Museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological Types Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as N ...

in Sogamoso.Valverde, 2007, p.276 The mummy found in Gachantivá is part of the collection of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Analysis of the mummy from Pisba
*
The Muisca mummies from Pisba and of a 10-year old child from Gachantivá
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Museo del Oro Museo may refer to: *Museum (2018 film), Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro), station on line 1 of the Naples Metro *Museo, Seville, neighborhood of Seville, Spain {{disambiguation ...

*
Video of Muisca mummy analysis
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Museo del Oro Museo may refer to: *Museum (2018 film), Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro), station on line 1 of the Naples Metro *Museo, Seville, neighborhood of Seville, Spain {{disambiguation ...

{{Muisca navbox, Topics, state=expanded

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan l ...

Background

Description

Social classes

Mummy SO10-IX

Other Colombian Andean mummies

Museum collections

See also

References

Bibliography

External links