Monumentality and landscape in the prehistoric world

The disturbing aspect that the sacred acquires, is a constant present in the material vestiges of missing cultures and those that still exist. In archaeological practices, one frequently finds ritual evidences easily identifiable. The position of a cadaver deposited in its tomb, its orientation concerning the solar trajectory, the location of the tomb in direct relationship to the environment, the location of cemeteries indicating an understanding of space distribution for the inhabitants (this more in function of it’s geographical axis, than of cosmology, etc.; these are all evidences that links daily activity to the existence of an ideological body that determines in a defiant manner the behavior of the individual or group.

It is certain that so many locations, sites, and materials used by the prehistoric human nuclei on all the planet, were related by a reality that at the present time escapes any intent of explanation: the existent relationship between the daily and the sacred.

Although the utilization of certain materials is due in good part to the ease of their availability in the immediate environment, another type of element doesn't have this connotation and their presence has a meaning that makes it special.

We have not yet recognize the ignorance that we possess concerning the activities of cosmology, astronomy, and religions practiced by the prehistoric societies; following the same postulate, we are in no condition of understanding the meaning of the mythical discourse of the contemporary non-western communities.

These sacred sites suggest symbolic references to several levels of reality and of social necessities.

It is very probable that in the origin of human societies, art, and religion were inseparable aspects of a collective life.

It is the sacred environment, that although unknown does not quit being present. The common denomination that relates the examples that I have selected, and imposes the presence of that enigmatic and disquieting common territory to all human societies.

The images that accompany this proposal intend to emphasis the relationship man - construction - half-closed or if permitted in a slightly abstract manner, reflection - half - nature.

It is well known worldwide the importance of the architectural vestiges and urbanization that are conserved in the Central American territory. Sculptures and Olmecan pyramids that are exposed, the Toltecan influences, the Teotihuacan of the Aztecs, the diverse cities in Mayan territory in several versions (Tikal, Palenque, Bonampak, Chichen, Uxmal, Yaxchilan, etc.), have all surprised and continue to surprise because of the majestic extension of the outstanding views, one which supposed a sophisticated and complex social system that we are only beginning to understand.


Teotihuacan - Mexico	Cabeza Olmeca - La Venta

From equal form for the central part of the cone American austral, as well as in the proximity of the coast, like in the region of the Sierra range the ruins of Tiahuanaco, Chan Chan and their citadels, the pyramid of Huaca Larga Peru in the central coast, the strength of Sacsahuamán, Cuzco, Machupichu, and Nazca among other examples. They impose us to respect them for the magnitude of their achievements and the coherence of their realizations.


Aerofotograph Chanchan - Perú	Aerofotograh Colibrí Nazca - Perú

Because of the respect that these sites command, they have come to form part of a historic worldwide patrimony, and a stamp of citizenship has been placed on the ancestors of the American territory.

However the American settlements imposed a different series of adaptations to climates and environments so diverse. It would be a grave error to lose other types of archaeological vestiges so important in the understanding of our past. Archaeological vestages that placed manifestos on particular forms of regional developments On this web site we will present of some of the archaeological sites located in the north west part of South America, specifically the area that today is the territory of Colombia.

The common element that bonds the sites that we present on this web site, is in context to where they are located; that is to say, their careful and relationship intentional with the landscape. We can observe diverse evidences that suggest to us a complex and differentiated cultural activity: from the pictographs cliffs of Chiribiquete, the San Agustín statuary, the columns of Infiernito, the Hipogeos of Tierradentro, the Sinú hydraulic system, to even the Tayronan terraces of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta.