Taironas

The taironas were an indigenous group that lived in the Colombian departments of Magdalena, Guajira and Cesar, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, including the basins of the Guachaca and Don Diego rivers., Buritaca and the low coastal area included within the Tayrona National Natural Park.

This is a group of Chibcha affiliation. It is presumed that the name tairona may be related to the terms teyuna and teiruna, that have been found in several languages of the indigenous peoples that still survive in the Sierra de Santa Marta, all of them of Arhuac-Magdalene descent. Among these peoples are the Kogi, who presumably may be descendants of the Tairona. Regarding the language of the Kogi, it is suggested that there is a certain kinship with the ancient language of the Tairona; currently there are still about 8 thousand speakers. by koguy-tairona.

History of the Taironas

Archaeological research distinguishes a first phase of this culture called Neguanje between the 6th and 10th centuries, followed by the multiplication of stone towns by the phase known as classical Tairona. Thus, the first terraces and stone constructions of Teyuna, the Lost City, date from around 650 AD. C., during the Neguanje phase. Above them and upwards, new terraces and buildings multiplied from the year 1100 to 1600.

The archaeolithic sites demonstrate that the territory of diffusion of this culture was both on the coast and north of the Sierra Nevada, between the Ancho River to the east and the Frío River to the west. In the XVI century it covered what the Spanish called the provinces of Betoma, Posigueica, Buritica and Tairona and the coastal strip between Cape San Juan de Guía and Ciénaga.

This society was organized in political units of various dimensions that exercised control over different territories in the mountain massif, from the Caribbean Sea to the summits of Gonavindua (Simón Bolívar Peak) and Aloglue (Christopher Columbus Peak). The population was independent and was led by its own chief, with different alliances and enmities between them.

The first contact with the Spanish conquerors occurred in 1498 with the arrival of Fernando González de Oviedo, with whom the chiefs of the area established commercial relations. In 1525, with the founding of the city of Santa Marta by Rodrigo de Bastidas, the Spanish attempted to establish a stronger presence in the area, beginning the Spanish colonial enterprise in this part of the South American continent. Between 1525 and 1599, relations between the indigenous peoples of the area (which included, in addition to the Tairona, the Guanebucán, the Malibúes, the Guajiros, the Kosina, and the Chimila, among others) and the Spanish settlers were characterized by their instability.: Intense periods of conflict and war in which attempts were made to dominate the inhabitants were followed by years of tense calm in which the Spaniards were forced to establish peaceful relations with the different communities.

During this time, the Tairona burned Santa Marta several times, conquered the Spanish fort of Bon hida, established trade relations with English and French pirates, and generally managed to limit the growth of the Spanish colony. Between 1599 and 1600, the governor of Santa Marta, Juan Guiral Velón, undertook an intense military campaign to subjugate these populations. A failed attempt at an alliance between the different towns gave rise to the governor being able to capture the chiefs one by one, cutting off their heads and dismembering them. The residents who did not manage to escape were taken to the surroundings of Santa Marta and handed over to encomenderos. The survivors went into the highest parts of the massif to escape the Spanish, and their descendants are the Koguis, who have remained isolated until now.

It is estimated that today their "pure" They number 50,000 people, while mestizos and zambos with Tairona blood number several million people, mainly on the Caribbean coast of Colombia (1.5 to 2 million in the Sierra Nevada).

Towns and infrastructure

Within the Tairona territory all the towns and cities were connected by a network of stone roads, which extended from the low slopes to the most remote places of the Sierra Nevada. Their homes were circular in shape, generally built on stone terraces; They had no windows, the roofs were made of mountain palm. The walls were made of adobe and small stones, and were painted with lime and water, although they were sometimes made of straw in the cities closest to the water.

In the construction of cities, the terraces provided by trees and wood were first made; Later these terraces were used for agricultural work and to build homes. Pipes were made to bring mountain water to homes; Both the canals and the cities and the cultivation terraces were designed in such a way as to avoid erosion.

The size of each home indicated the importance of the inhabitant. There were also special buildings, such as warehouses and temples.

One of the best-known villages and Tairona archaeological sites is known as Ciudad Perdida (Teyuna or Buritaca-200). It was a major city, covering about 13 hectares, and recent demographic studies suggest that it was inhabited by between 1,500 to 2,400 people living on at least 11,700 square meters in 184 round houses built on stone-paved terraces. There are many other sites of similar or larger size.

A larger place, Pueblito is located near the coast, in the Tayrona national natural park. According to research by Reichel Dolmatoff, it contains at least 254 terraces and had a population of about 3,000 people. Regional archaeological studies show that there were also large villages on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, such as Antigua and Poseguieca. Currently it is possible to access Pueblito from Tayrona Park, where there is a beach called La Piscina, a small bay with a row of large stones that served as a fish trap, which is why the Taironas came here to fish, not There is certainty as to how these rocks arrived, whether it is natural or the natives brought them.

In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta there are also several sites of cave paintings and petroglyphs. Among these, the Donama stone stands out, an enigmatic carved rock that, according to some researchers, is a code of nature.

Goldsmithing

In the area of goldsmithing, the Taironas had a main role, as they developed many techniques such as:

• the lost wax, which consisted of making mud molds surrounding a wax figure, which melted after heating the mud packing. After removing the melted wax, the gold poured liquid into the space left by the wax figure, then waited for it to solidify and break the mould to remove the desired figure.
• the tomb, a alloy of copper and gold that allowed saving resources and melting more easily the gold.
• treatments to improve the quality of gold, such as heat it up to copper oxidation and then dip it in icy water to get a permanent golden patina and prevent the piece from quarteting. Finally the process ended with the roof of the piece until it came to perfection.

It is believed that several of these techniques were developed by the Muiscas and exported to the Tairona people. At the same time, they are also considered exporters of goldsmithing and spinning techniques: while most of the early Muisca works seem crude and poorly finished (even when the quality of the gold is superior), the Taironas are technically perfect. The lost wax technique improved the aesthetics of the works, so the Muiscas practically abandoned the direct embossing method, which in addition to being inaccurate reduced the useful life of the piece (due to the risk of cracking), and which also restricted the sheet works, since embossing on raw gold is almost impossible. In turn, the Taironas, by learning methods such as immersion of the piece in water, substantially improved the quality of the material and the beauty of the ornament.

Ceramics of the Taironas

Tairona ceramics have been dated from the year 200 BC. C. and until 1650, and on the Colombian Caribbean coast there is evidence of ceramics between at least 2500 BC. C.. Their works were made in mud or clay. Recent research by archaeologist Alejandro Dever in Chengue, Tayrona Park, demonstrates significant variations for a chronological division into five phases:

• Phase 1, from 200 a.C. to 500 d.C. and phase 2 from 500 to 900, both forming the period Nehuange. The chronology of the region has also been raised by Carl Henrik Langebaek in his book The Prehispanic Population of the Santa Marta bays, published at the University of Pittsburgh (2005)..
• Phases 1, 2 and 3 of the call period Tayronafrom 900 to 1650. These three phases are characterized by a significant increase in variation.