Herrera Period

The Bogotá savanna, home to the people from the Herrera Period

Dolmen at El Infiernito, site from the Herrera Period

Pictographs at Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park, site from the Herrera Period

The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the Andean preceramic and ceramic, time equivalent of the North American pre-Columbian formative and classic stages and age dated by various archaeologists.^[1] The Herrera Period predates the age of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca and postdates the prehistory of the region in Colombia. The Herrera Period is usually defined as ranging from 800 BCE to 800 CE,^[2] although some scholars date it as early as 1500 BCE.^[3]

Ample evidence of the Herrera Period has been uncovered on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The main archaeologists contributing to the present knowledge about the Herrera Period are the scholars Ana María Groot, Gonzalo Correal Urrego, Thomas van der Hammen, Carl Henrik Langebaek Rueda, Sylvia M. Broadbent, and Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff.

Etymology[]

The Herrera Period is named after Lake Herrera (Laguna de la Herrera) where archaeologist Silvia Broadbent performed the first excavations on the Herrera Period in 1971. Lake Herrera is one of the many remnants of the ancient , a Pleistocene lake that existed on the Bogotá savanna. The lake with an approximate surface area of 280 hectares (30,000,000 sq ft) is situated at an altitude of 2,550 metres (8,370 ft) within the boundaries of the Cundinamarca municipality Mosquera, close to Madrid and Bojacá.^[4] The site of Lake Herrera (Laguna de la Herrera) is close to the archaeological site of Aguazuque.^[5]

Background[]

The region of the Herrea Period and later Muisca Confederation, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; high plateau of the central Colombian Andes has been inhabited since 12,400 years BP. The earliest evidence for inhabitation (lithic tools) are found in El Abra and Tequendama.^[6] This lithic period is roughly defined as from 12,400 to 1000 BCE.^[7] Later sites are Aguazuque and Checua.

Agriculture started around 5000 years before present which led to the development of more complex societies, of which the Herrera Period is one of many in the Andean civilizations. Early evidence of inhabitation has been found in Zipacón and is dated at 3270 BCE.^[8] From the Herrera Period ceramic has been found.^[9] The oldest ceramic evidence found dates to 2500 BP (500 BCE), except for one piece found near Tocarema and dated at 2750 BP.^[10]

The people from the Herrera Period performed agriculture, as evidenced in among others the Thomas van der Hammen Reserve, named after Dutch geologist and botanist Thomas van der Hammen.^[11]

The Late Herrera Period coincides with the (200-900) of the Tairona.^[12]

Archaeological sites[]

Archaeological evidence of the Herrera Period has been found in numerous places on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, among others in Sopó,^[13] Soacha,^[14]^[15] Usme,^[16] Iza, Gámeza,^[17] Facatativá (Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park), Moniquirá (El Infiernito), Chía,^[18] Chita, Chiscas, Soatá, Jericó, Sativasur, Covarachía, Sativanorte and El Cocuy.^[19]

The site in Soacha is one of the most important finds from the Herrera Period, dating from 400 BCE onwards, into the age of the Muisca.^[20]^[21] At the site the remains of 2200 individual people, 274 complete ceramic pots, stone tools, seeds of cotton, maize, beans and curuba, 634 fragmented and intact spindles and 100 tunjos not used for offerings have been found in Soacha.^[21]

Timeline[]

showTimeline of inhabitation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia
	Altiplano Muisca Confederation

Classifications[]

Over the years and based on new findings, various authors have defined periods of Herrera and Muisca. Regional variations also exist, listed below.

Author	Name	Start age	End age	Notes
Romano, 2003	Early Herrera	900 BCE	0	^[1]^[22]
	Late Herrera	0	700
	Early Muisca	700	1100
	Late Muisca	1100	1600
Kruschek, 2003	Herrera	800 BCE	800	^[1]^[23]
	Early Muisca	800	1200
	Late Muisca	1200	1600
Boada, 2003	Herrera	300 BCE	200	^[1]
	Early Muisca	200	1000
	Late Muisca	1000	1600
Cárdenas & Kleef, 1996	Herrera	1500 BCE	800	^[24]
Cárdenas & Kleef, 1996	Muisca	800	1600	^[24]
Peña, 1991	Early Herrera	14th century BCE	4th century BCE	^[1]
	Middle Herrera	4th century BCE	1st century CE
	Late Herrera	6th century CE	10th century CE
	Early Muisca
	Late Muisca
Langebaek, 1986	Herrera			^[1]
	Muisca
	Modern
Schrimpff, 1981	Herrera	400 BCE	200	^[1]
Schrimpff, 1981	Muisca	1400	1500	^[1]

Regional variations[]

Western slopes of the Eastern Ranges[]

Author	Name	Start age	End age	Notes
Argüello, 2004	Herrera	800 BCE	800	^[1]
	Pubenza	800	1000
	Late Period	1000	1550
	Modern	>1550
Schrimpff, 1976	Period I	750	1200	^[1]
Schrimpff, 1976	Period II	1200	1550	^[1]

Boyacá[]

Author	Name	Start age	End age	Notes
Langebaek, 2001	Herrera	400 BCE	700	^[1]
	Late Herrera	700	1000
	Early Muisca	1000	1200
	Late Muisca	1200	1600
	Modern	>1600
Boada, 2007	Late Herrera	700	1000	^[1]
	Early Muisca	1000	1300
	Late Muisca	1300	1600

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k (in Spanish) Chronology of pre-Columbian periods: Herrera and Muisca
^ Kruschek, 2003
^ Langebaek, 1995, Ch. 4, p. 70
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Lake
^ Correal Urrego, 1990, p. 87
^ Correal Urrego, 1990, p. 29
^ (in Spanish) Lithic Period in Engativá
^ Nieto Escalante et al., 2010, p. 96
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Boyacá
^ Argüello García, 2015, p. 56
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period agriculture at the Thomas van der Hammen Reserve Archived 2016-08-06 at the Wayback Machine
^ (in Spanish) Tairona at the Museo del Oro, Bogotá
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Sopó
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Soacha – El Espectador
^ (in Spanish) Largest Herrera Period village in Soacha Archived 2016-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Usme – El Tiempo
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Iza and Gámeza
^ Cardale Schrimpff, 1985, p. 104
^ Cárdenas & Kleef in Reyes Zambrano, 1995, Ch. 2.1.3
^ Adriaan Alsema, Archaeologists uncover remains of pre-Columbian village in central Colombia. November 1, 2014
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b (in Spanish) Dating of the Soacha Herrera Period site Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
^ Argüello García, 2015, p. 38
^ (in Spanish) Herrera Period – Universidad Nacional de Colombia
^ (in Spanish) El páramo: ecosistema de alta montaña, Chapter 2.1.3 – Banco de la República

Bibliography[]

Argüello García, Pedro María. 2015. Subsistence economy and chiefdom emergence in the Muisca area. A study of the Valle de Tena (PhD), 1–193. University of Pittsburgh. Accessed 2016-07-08.
Cardale de Schrimpff, Marianne. 1985. En busca de los primeros agricultores del Altiplano Cundiboyacense - Searching for the first farmers of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 99–125. Banco de la República. Accessed 2016-07-08.
Correal Urrego, Gonzalo. 1990. Aguazuque: Evidence of hunter-gatherers and growers on the high plains of the Eastern Ranges, 1-316. Banco de la República: Fundación de Investigaciones Arqueológicas Nacionales. Accessed 2016-07-08.
Kruschek, Michael H.. 2003. The evolution of the Bogotá chiefdom: A household view (PhD), 1-271. University of Pittsburgh. Accessed 2016-07-08.
Langebaek Rueda, Carl Henrik. 1995. Arqueología Regional en el Territorio Muisca: Juego de Datos del Proyecto Valle de Fúquene - Regional Archaeology in the Muisca Territory: A Study of the Fúquene and Susa Valleys, 1-215. Center for Comparative Arch, University of Pittsburgh. Accessed 2016-07-08.
Nieto Escalante, Juan Antonio; Claudia Inés Sepulveda Fajardo; Luis Fernando Sandoval Sáenz; Ricardo Fabian Siachoque Bernal; Jair Olando Fajardo Fajardo; William Alberto Martínez Díaz; Orlando Bustamante Méndez, and Diana Rocio Oviedo Calderón. 2010. Geografía de Colombia - Geography of Colombia, 1-367. Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi.
Reyes Zambrano, Pedro; Tamara Cárdenas, and Antoine M. Kleef. 1995. El páramo: un ecosistema de alta montaña - The páramo: an ecosystem of the high mountains, 1-168. Accessed 2016-07-08.

External links[]

[Chronology-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k (in Spanish) Chronology of pre-Columbian periods: Herrera and Muisca

[2] Kruschek, 2003

[3] Langebaek, 1995, Ch. 4, p. 70

[4] (in Spanish) Herrera Lake

[5] Correal Urrego, 1990, p. 87

[6] Correal Urrego, 1990, p. 29

[7] (in Spanish) Lithic Period in Engativá

[8] Nieto Escalante et al., 2010, p. 96

[9] (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Boyacá

[10] Argüello García, 2015, p. 56

[11] (in Spanish) Herrera Period agriculture at the Thomas van der Hammen Reserve Archived 2016-08-06 at the Wayback Machine

[12] (in Spanish) Tairona at the Museo del Oro, Bogotá

[Sopo-13] (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Sopó

[14] (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Soacha – El Espectador

[15] (in Spanish) Largest Herrera Period village in Soacha Archived 2016-06-25 at the Wayback Machine

[16] (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Usme – El Tiempo

[17] (in Spanish) Herrera Period evidence in Iza and Gámeza

[18] Cardale Schrimpff, 1985, p. 104

[19] Cárdenas & Kleef in Reyes Zambrano, 1995, Ch. 2.1.3

[20] Adriaan Alsema, Archaeologists uncover remains of pre-Columbian village in central Colombia. November 1, 2014

[NuevaEsperanza-21] Jump up to: ^a ^b (in Spanish) Dating of the Soacha Herrera Period site Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine

[Argüello_p38-22] Argüello García, 2015, p. 38

[UniNacional-23] (in Spanish) Herrera Period – Universidad Nacional de Colombia

[Paramo-24] (in Spanish) El páramo: ecosistema de alta montaña, Chapter 2.1.3 – Banco de la República

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