Tolima culture
The Tolima Culture was a pre-Columbian archaeological civilization in inland Colombia . It developed in the period 1000 BC. Chr. To 700 n. Chr. On the middle reaches of the Magdalena River . Similar to the Quimbaya culture and the Tairona culture , the artistic focus in their area was on goldsmithing .
etymology
The word Tolima , Tulima or Dulima comes from the now extinct Panche language and means snow flow or clouds river . The same name is also used for the Department del Tolima and the Nevado del Tolima volcano .
Geographical distribution
The distribution area of the Tolima culture, which is essentially limited to the departments of Tolima and the north of Huila , was centered around the middle reaches of the Río Magdalena. Starting from the warm river plains, it spread to the slopes of the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Occidental .
Timeframe
The Museo del Oro in Bogotá divides the Tolima culture into two phases:
- Late Tolima - year 0 to 700/800 AD, late phase until 1150 AD
- Early Tolima - 1000 BC Until the beginning of our era.
The forerunners of the Tolima culture, who lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers , can date back to 6050 BC. To be traced back. When exactly the transition to arable farming (cultivation of maize and bulbous plants such as manioc ) and to a sedentary way of life took place, could not be determined, but was likely to occur before the emergence of ceramics in the 1st century BC Be done. Gold processing began in the 1st century. Between the 5th and 7th centuries there was a change in the Tolima culture, which was expressed in different forms of settlement and ceramic styles. In the late phase, dated between 990 and 1150 AD, the custom of second burials developed .
Sites
Significant sites of the Tolima culture include:
- Arrancaplumas - 1st century BC BC - first pottery
- Ataco and Venadillo - year 0 to 5th century AD - gold objects, especially the peculiar fish figurines
- Rioblanco - 4th century - ceramic and gold objects
- Río Saldaña - from the 9th century - pots and bowls with triangular motifs and straight lines on the edges
- Mayacas and Colorados - 12th century - settlements, rubbish heaps, stone workshops , and cemeteries
- Sabanas del Tigre near Tamalameque - late phase - urns with stylized frog motifs and people with skull deformation
- Mosquito at Ocaña - late phase - urns with complete depictions of people
- Río La Miel (Puerto Serviez and Puerto Salgar) - Late phase 990 to 1150 AD - Second burials
- El Espinal - late phase - urns with mixed decorations human / animal
Works of art
Metal processing
The Tolima culture is distinguished from the 1st century AD by its goldsmith work , especially by its followers . However, in contrast to comparable objects from neighboring civilizations, such as the Quimbaya culture or the Calima culture , their execution is flat, shadowless and highly schematic. But it is precisely this high degree of abstraction that suggests that the Tolimas were already very intellectual, refined and well-organized designers for their time. By combining anthropomorphic and zoomorphic characteristics, they achieved a balanced mixture of art and myth , which manifested itself in gentle, geometric lines.
Earrings , pendants, necklaces and breast ornaments were made in the Tolima style . In addition to gold, Tumbaga , an alloy of gold and copper, was also used .
Above all, precisely cut gold sheet was processed , from which geometric, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs were worked out. Further characteristics are repetitive motifs, abstract representations of humans, animals and human-animal hybrids. The animal motifs include big cats, fish, lizards, frogs, crickets and bats. In general, animals had a high place in magical practices - the Tolimas especially the bat . The anthropomorphic representations are usually very abstract, the heads almost rectangular or semicircular and the limbs stretched out like a staircase . At that time, stairs were seen as a symbol for the descent into the afterlife or the resurrection in the light.
Similar to the Quimbaya culture, peculiar fish figures made using the lost wax technique also appear in the late Tolima . Since they resemble modern aircraft , they were hijacked by representatives of pre-astronautics for their theses. But it is likely to be depictions of flying fish - beings with mystical powers that move in two very different worlds.
The world view as an explanation of the finds
Gold objects were not considered art objects by the Tolimas, but were rather worn as personal talismans . The ethnic universe of the indigenous people was divided into three worlds:
- the dark, damp underworld with a female character - the realm of death, symbolized by animals such as fish and bats
- the bright, dry upper world with a male character - the source of life, symbolized by birds and the golden sun
- Mediating between these two worlds is our existence, the main task of which is to maintain the balance between the two spheres. This role is ultimately condensed in the jaguar , the most powerful predator in South America, which can bring death, but also represents the sun through the golden jaguar fur . The golden talismans therefore gave their wearers the energies of the figures depicted - the forces of water, air and earth.
Ceramics
The first ceramic objects appear in the area of the Tolima culture in the 1st century BC. At the Arrancaplumas site in the municipality of Honda . The characteristic fruit-like vases show traits related to the early ceramics of the Caribbean coast and the southwestern savannah of Bogotá . Pots, jugs, drinking cups and bottles are also important.
Burial forms
In the late phase of the Tolima culture, secondary burials , cremations and urns were buried . Those who had already been buried were dug up again after a certain time and ritually buried again in urns. For this purpose, shaft graves were created, into which a side chamber opened and in which 3, sometimes even up to 70 urns could be found. The urns were filled with calcined bone fragments, large fragments of bones and skull debris.
Grave goods
The deceased were given plenty of ceramics with them on their last trip, which had been specially made for this purpose - including drinking cups, pots and jugs that were painted with red tones and had a geometric design. Occasionally gold jewelry, spindles, rollers and axes were also found among the additions. The animal motifs include frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, big cats, toads and bats. Human beings were often depicted sitting on a bench in a meditative posture.
symbolism
Many archaeologists see a return to the uterus in the custom of the second burial urn . The human beings in a sitting position are interpreted as necromancers , whose hieratic posture radiates authority and spiritual power. The jaguars and birds that appear in this context can be assigned to the popular themes of jaguar man and flight of the shaman . Because of their ability to shed their skin or regrow their tails and limbs, snakes and reptiles also have the symbolic power of metamorphosis or the passage to another state of being.
Individual evidence
- ^ Enora Gault: El hombre y el animal en la Colombia prehispánica . In: Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino . 17, Nº 1, 2012, p. 11-30 .
- ^ Barney-Cabrera, E .: La geometria del oro en el Tolima . In: Historia del arte colombiano . 1 No 19, 1975.
- ^ Antonio Grass: The faces of the past. Translated by Debra McKinney . Litografia Arco, Bogota 1982.