﻿THE 
  ARCHEOLOGY 
  OF 
  SAN 
  AGUSTIN 
  AND 
  TIERRA- 
  

   DENTRO, 
  COLOMBIA 
  1 
  

  

  By 
  Gregokio 
  Hernandez 
  de 
  Alba 
  

  

  SAN 
  AGUSTlN 
  

  

  Several 
  centuries 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  Spanish 
  Conquest, 
  an 
  ancient 
  and 
  

   characteristically 
  Andean 
  civilization 
  called 
  San 
  Agustin, 
  after 
  a 
  

   village 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Huila, 
  flourished 
  in 
  the 
  southwest 
  of 
  the 
  

   Republic 
  of 
  Colombia 
  in 
  certain 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Departments 
  of 
  Huila 
  

   and 
  Cauca 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  19; 
  map 
  8). 
  Here, 
  about 
  1797, 
  Francisco 
  

   Jose 
  de 
  Caldas, 
  a 
  scholar 
  of 
  New 
  Granada, 
  studied 
  "great 
  numbers 
  of 
  

   statues, 
  columns, 
  temples, 
  tables, 
  and 
  an 
  image 
  of 
  the 
  sun, 
  all 
  of 
  

   stone 
  and 
  in 
  disproportionate 
  shapes" 
  (Caldas, 
  1942, 
  4:42). 
  These 
  

   ruins, 
  which 
  represented 
  a 
  heretofore 
  unknown 
  culture, 
  were 
  subse- 
  

   quently 
  studied 
  more 
  thoroughly 
  by 
  Agustin 
  Codazzi 
  (1863) 
  in 
  1857, 
  

   Carlos 
  Cuervo 
  Marquez 
  (1920) 
  in 
  1892, 
  Konrad 
  Th. 
  Preuss 
  (1931) 
  in 
  

   1914, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  Colombian 
  Ministry 
  of 
  Education 
  during 
  the 
  year 
  

   1937. 
  

  

  The 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  San 
  Agustin 
  culture 
  has 
  been 
  considerably 
  

   extended 
  by 
  the 
  recent 
  investigations 
  to 
  include 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  Tierra- 
  

   dentro 
  in 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Cauca, 
  the 
  region 
  north 
  of 
  San 
  Agustin, 
  

   and 
  the 
  foothills 
  of 
  the 
  Central 
  Cordillera. 
  Since 
  1936, 
  characteristic 
  

   statues 
  and 
  ceramics 
  were 
  also 
  discovered 
  in 
  the 
  zones 
  of 
  Mosco- 
  

   pan 
  and 
  Platavieja, 
  which 
  lie 
  between 
  San 
  Agustin 
  and 
  Tierradentro. 
  

  

  STONE 
  SCULPTURE 
  

  

  The 
  stone 
  sculpture 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  characteristic 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  

   San 
  Agustin 
  culture 
  is 
  fairly 
  common, 
  more 
  than 
  300 
  examples 
  of 
  

   carved 
  reliefs 
  and 
  statues 
  being 
  known 
  (pi. 
  176). 
  These 
  may 
  be 
  

   grouped, 
  according 
  to 
  degree 
  of 
  their 
  complexity, 
  into 
  the 
  following 
  

   classes: 
  (1) 
  Simple 
  scratchings 
  on 
  rock, 
  which 
  differ 
  from 
  petroglyphs 
  

   found 
  elsewhere 
  in 
  America. 
  These 
  carvings 
  are 
  lightly 
  scratched, 
  

   not 
  chiseled 
  on 
  the 
  stone, 
  and 
  occur 
  in 
  grottoes, 
  such 
  as 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  

   source 
  of 
  the 
  Chaquira 
  River 
  in 
  Isnos, 
  or 
  on 
  flat 
  stones 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  

   used 
  for 
  shrines 
  and 
  tombs. 
  They 
  appear 
  to 
  date 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  

   period 
  as 
  the 
  sculptures, 
  which 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  shrines. 
  

   (2) 
  Bas-reliefs, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  human 
  form 
  is 
  represented 
  with 
  the 
  

  

  » 
  These 
  two 
  cultures 
  correspond 
  to 
  zones 
  7 
  and 
  8 
  in 
  the 
  preceding 
  resume 
  1 
  of 
  Colombian 
  archeology. 
  

  

  851 
  

  

  