Pre-Columbian gold of Colombia

Long before Europeans arrived, the peoples of what is now Colombia developed gold metalwork of extraordinary technical quality. For many of them, gold was not wealth in the modern sense but a sacred material tied to the sun, fertility and ritual.

Who and where #

Goldworking peoples include the Muisca (Cundiboyacense highlands), the Quimbaya (Cauca Valley and Quindío), the Tairona (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), the Calima and the Zenú. The Gold Museum of the Banco de la República in Bogotá holds tens of thousands of pieces.

Materials and techniques #

• Gold and tumbaga, an alloy of gold and copper.
• Lost-wax casting, with wax models and wax threads for the designs (see lost-wax casting).
• Depletion gilding: copper is removed from the surface of the tumbaga so the piece looks like pure gold.
• Hammering and rolling.

Traditional pieces and their meaning #

• Tunjos: Muisca votive figures offered to lakes and deities.
• Muisca raft: a small gold raft with figures, found in Pasca in 1969, linked to the chief's ceremony and to the origin of the El Dorado legend.
• Quimbaya poporo: a gold vessel for the lime chewed with coca leaf; today a symbol of Colombian goldwork.
• Pectorals and nose ornaments: ornaments that indicated rank, with bird and feline motifs and part-human, part-animal figures.

The tradition today #

Contemporary Colombian goldwork draws on this heritage, and the filigree of Mompox, among others, is still alive. Because it is the heritage of specific peoples, it is important to know the origin of a piece and not to confuse replicas with originals, whose trade is regulated.

See also #

• Gold
• Lost-wax casting
• Copper
• Symbols in traditional jewelry and their meaning