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 Centre of the Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park | |
  Location within Colombia | |
| Location | Facatativá,Cundinamarca |
|---|---|
| Region | Altiplano Cundiboyacense Colombia |
| Coordinates | 4°48′59.59″N74°20′45.59″W / 4.8165528°N 74.3459972°W /4.8165528; -74.3459972 |
| Altitude | 2,611 m (8,566 ft)[1] |
| Type | Rock art |
| Part of | Pre-Muisca sites |
| History | |
| Abandoned | Spanish conquest |
| Periods | Herrera Period-Late Muisca |
| Cultures | Muisca |
| Satellite of | Bacatá |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Diego Martínez Celis Álvaro Botiva Contreras Guillermo Muñoz Castiblanco |
| Condition | Threatened |
| Public access | Yes |
Piedras del Tunjo (Spanish for "Tunjo Rocks") is an important archaeological park established on a naturalrock shelter 40 kilometres (25 mi) west ofBogotá in the municipality ofFacatativá.
In theLate Pleistocene, the site used to be the shore of a large lake flooding theBogotá savanna;Lake Humboldt[citation needed] .8 It was used by theMuisca rulers as a refuge during the time of theSpanish conquest. The site is one of the possible places where the soldiers ofGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada killed the rulingzipaTisquesusa in April 1537.
The rocks are covered withpictographs made byMuisca artists on rocks of theGuadalupe Group.[2] Their age has not been confirmed. The area of the park used to be an hacienda, property of a wealthy family since colonial times. It was nationalized in 1946 to establish the park.
Decades of government negligence and lack of policies for the protection of archaeological heritage have resulted in the destruction of most of the ancient paintings.[citation needed]
| Prehistoric-preceramic |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Preceramic-ceramic | ||
