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This article describes thearchitecture of theMuisca. TheMuisca, inhabiting the central highlands of theColombianAndes (Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the southwestern part of that theBogotá savanna), were one of the four great civilizations of theAmericas.[1] Unlike the three civilizations in present-dayMexico andPeru (theAztec,Maya, and theIncas), they did not construct grandarchitecture of solid materials. While specialising inagriculture andgold-working, cloths and ceramics, their architecture was rather modest and made of non-permanent materials as wood and clay.
Evidence for the Muisca architecture relies on archaeological excavations performed since the mid 20th century. In recent years larger areas showing evidence of the Early Muisca architecture have been uncovered, the biggest of them inSoacha,Cundinamarca.[2][3] All of the original houses and temples have been destroyed by theSpanish conquerors and replaced withcolonial architecture. Reconstructions of some houses (bohíos) and the most important temple in theMuisca religion; theTemple of the Sun inSogamoso, called Sugamuxi by the Muisca, have been built in the second half of the 20th century.
Notablescholars who have contributed to the knowledge about the Muisca architecture areGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, who made the first contact with the Muisca, early 17th centuryfriarsPedro Simón andJuan de Castellanos later bishopLucas Fernández de Piedrahita and modernarchaeologistsEliécer Silva Celis,Sylvia Broadbent,Carl Henrik Langebaek and others.
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the high plateau in the Colombian Andes, has been inhabited for at least 12,400 years, with the earliest evidence inEl Abra,Tibitó andTequendama. During this era, thepaleoclimate andflora andfauna were different from today. It was the end of thePleistocene, whenstadials andinterstadials intercalated and theglaciers in theEastern Ranges were advancing and retreating. When the firsthunter-gatherers arrived from the north (theCaribbean coast and earlier fromCentral America), they encountered still thePleistocene megafauna on the highlands;Cuvieronius,Stegomastodon,Haplomastodon andEquus andium in particular.[4]
During this time and age, as is evidenced inarchaeological excavations at various sites on the Altiplano, the people lived in caves and rock shelters. Theprehistorical period was followed by theHerrera Period, commonly dated at 800 BCE to 800 CE. It was in this era that the agricultural advancement, that started in the latestpreceramic times, caused a change towards population of the plains, away from the caves and rock shelters.[5] This also led to an increase in population which was modest in the early Herrera Period and more pronounced towards the end of it; the start of the Muisca Period at around 800 CE. Further population growth and a more stratified society is observed in archaeological analysis of the Late Muisca Period, from 1200 CE onwards. The first contact with the Muisca happened in 1537 by the troops ofconquistador and explorerGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his brotherHernán.
The houses of the Muisca, calledbohíos ormalokas, were circular structures made of poles of wood and walls of clay, with a conical reed roof. A long beam of wood supported the roof in the centre of the round structure and was attached to the wooden poles. The interior of the roof was decorated with cloths with thin strokes of different colours. On the floor fine straw was placed.[6] Somebohíos, probably those of thecaciques hadceramic floors, as evidenced by findings inMosquera. This was atypical for the Muisca houses.[7]
Although the Spanish chroniclers have reported "great populations" of the Muisca territories,[8] the people lived in small settlements, described by the Spanish conquerors as "dispersed homesteads". As the Maya people, the Muisca related the smaller settlements with their effectiveagriculture.[9] Houses on the Bogotá savanna were built on slightly elevated areas to prevent them from floodings of the various rivers, humedales and swamps, characteristic of the area.[10]Each community had their own farmlands and hunting grounds surrounding their houses. The houses were constructed around a central square with the house of thecacique in the centre. Two or more "gates" in thecercado (enclosure) gave access to the village.[11]The exact number of houses in the villages remains unclear and requires more archaeological work. De Quesada described villages of 10 up to 100 houses. The Late Muisca Period, commonly defined as 1200–1537, is characterised by denser population and larger communities, especially inSuba andCota with more dispersed housing in the vicinity.[12]
Excavations in theLas Delicias neighbourhood of Bogotá, on an alluvial terrace of theTunjuelito River in 1990, exposed six circular structures of 4.6 metres (15 ft) in diameter, which is slightly smaller than living spaces found in other areas, e.g. inFacatativá (5 metres (16 ft)).[13] The occupation of these houses has been dated from the start of the Muisca Period until the colonial period. The living space was occupied in two stages, starting from 950 BCE, followed by a next phase dated at 750 BCE. Thedating has been done based on carbon, taken from the floors of the area. Ceramics, animal bones, swindles, seeds and jewellery has been found in this location too.[14]
ArchaeologistSilva Celis uncovered in 1943 housing structures in Soacha with four different temporal levels with indications of population in the form of ash deposits from fires and animal bones.[15]
Various scholars agree that the housing of the Muisca was egalitarian; little differentiation between the living spaces of thecaciques and the lower-class people has been found, especially in Soacha.[16][17]
It has been described -byPedro Simón among others- that at the entrance posts of the houses of thecaciqueshuman sacrifice remains were hanging and the posts smeared with blood from the victims, who were regarded as sacred when they were young boys (moxas) or captured from neighbouring indigenous groups. Archaeological evidence from Mosquera supported this thesis.[18]
The roads of the Muisca people were unpaved, which makes it hard to identify them in archaeological excavations. Some of the roads were trade routes, with the eastern neighbours (Llanos Orientales), in the north with theGuane people and in the west with the Panche and Muzo, others were sacred routes. Examples of holy roads, used for pilgrimages, were found inGuasca andSiecha. Routes communicating Muisca territories withcotton producing areas ran throughSomondoco andSúnuba. The roads crossing the mountains surrounding the Altiplano were narrow, making it more difficult for the Spanish conquistadores to cross them, especially with horses. Once they reached the open terrains of the Bogotá savanna, movement became easier.[19]
The Muisca, as part of theirreligion, built various temples throughout their territories. The most sacred were theSun Temple inSugamuxi and theMoon Temple inChía. The Sun Temple was built to honourSué, the Sun god of the Muisca, and the Moon Temple was honouring his wife,Chía. Also notable was theGoranchacha Temple, according toMuisca myths built byGoranchacha. On one of the islands inLake Fúquene there had been a temple with grand decoration and 100 priests, as described by De Piedrahita.[20]
Pedro Simón noted that the temples were built with wood from theguayacán tree, to make them last long.[21]
According to De Piedrahita, themoxas were raised in the temples to make them as sacred as possible for when they would be sacrificed, which meant a great honour to the families who donated the young boys.[20]
Other structures of the Muisca were mostly religious in character. Apart from their celebrations at natural areas, such asLake Guatavita,Lake Iguaque,Lake Tota,Lake Fúquene,Lake Suesca and theSiecha Lakes, the Muisca constructed some places where religious ceremonies were held, such as theCojines del Zaque and theHunzahúa Well, both inHunza, present-day Tunja.
As an exception to the wood-and-clay structures of the houses and temples of the Muisca people, allegedly one of their structures had been made of stone; thefortress of Cajicá, just north of present-day Bogotá. The structure is described with walls of 80 centimetres (31 in) thick and 4 metres (13 ft) high, but modern scientists have cast doubt on the structure and if it existed in thepre-Columbian era.[22]
The first construction of post-conquest architecture took place shortly after De Quesada had conquered the city of Bacatá, later called Santafe and known as the capital Bogotá in modern age. At the location of present-dayTeusaquillo, twelve houses and a church in the style of the Muisca -with wood and clay- had been constructed.[23]
It was a general policy of the Spanish, eased by the non-permanent architecture of the Muisca, that existing structures would be taken down and replaced by Spanish colonial architecture.
Reconstructions of Muiscabohíos and the most important temple of Sogamoso, are displayed in theArchaeology Museum in Sogamoso. This work has been done in the early stage of archaeological research on the Altiplano, in the 1940s.Eliécer Silva Celis was the architect and archaeologist involved in the reconstructions.
Archaeological work has been hindered by the constant expansion of the capital Bogotá in which vicinity and territory many ancient structures were built. An archaeological expedition of 2002 proved that within months the previously unoccupiedarchaeological site was already covered with construction.[24]
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