﻿THE 
  CHIBCHA 
  

  

  By 
  A. 
  L. 
  Kroeber 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  The 
  Chibcha 
  culture 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  famous 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  

   (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  28) 
  map 
  7). 
  In 
  fact, 
  it 
  is 
  often 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  representing 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  culminations 
  of 
  native 
  civilization 
  in 
  the 
  Americas, 
  equal 
  to, 
  

   or 
  only 
  just 
  behind, 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Aztec-Maya 
  and 
  Inca. 
  But 
  the 
  Chib- 
  

   cha 
  left 
  no 
  historic 
  impress, 
  no 
  persisting 
  influence 
  on 
  the 
  modern 
  life 
  

   in 
  their 
  former 
  area. 
  They 
  have 
  also 
  left 
  surprisingly 
  few 
  physical 
  

   monuments; 
  their 
  archeology 
  is 
  meager. 
  Even 
  their 
  speech 
  died 
  out 
  

   long 
  ago. 
  It 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  they 
  achieved 
  much 
  less 
  of 
  a 
  cultural 
  con- 
  

   struct 
  in 
  their 
  day 
  than 
  Mexicans 
  or 
  Peruvians. 
  Why 
  then 
  do 
  they 
  

   stand 
  out 
  in 
  our 
  consciousness? 
  

  

  The 
  primary 
  reason 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  they 
  achieved 
  states. 
  They 
  

   were 
  in 
  a 
  fair 
  way 
  to 
  attaining 
  to 
  political 
  structures 
  of 
  type 
  similar 
  at 
  

   least 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Aztec, 
  if 
  not 
  the 
  Inca. 
  Considerable 
  masses 
  of 
  men 
  

   had 
  come 
  under 
  the 
  control 
  of 
  individuals, 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  moved, 
  in 
  

   peace 
  and 
  at 
  war, 
  with 
  direction, 
  and 
  at 
  any 
  rate 
  with 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  

   consecutive 
  development. 
  That 
  there 
  were 
  several 
  such 
  states, 
  and 
  

   that 
  these 
  were 
  still 
  contending, 
  does 
  not 
  reduce 
  the 
  situation 
  materi- 
  

   ally 
  below 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  conditions 
  in 
  the 
  Aztec 
  area: 
  not 
  by 
  more 
  than 
  

   a 
  generation 
  or 
  two. 
  The 
  Chibcha 
  had 
  definitely 
  passed 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  

   amorphous, 
  endlessly 
  reshifting 
  status 
  of 
  mere 
  tribal 
  life, 
  which 
  seems 
  

   to 
  us 
  so 
  essentially 
  historyless 
  in 
  its 
  potentialities. 
  It 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  they 
  

   possessed 
  very 
  little 
  history, 
  as 
  yet, 
  when 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  broke 
  them. 
  

   But 
  the 
  same 
  might 
  be 
  said, 
  with 
  only 
  relative 
  qualification, 
  of 
  the 
  

   Peruvians. 
  

  

  To 
  what 
  this 
  political 
  development 
  was 
  due, 
  which 
  in 
  Colombia 
  was 
  

   so 
  highly 
  localized 
  among 
  the 
  Chibcha, 
  is 
  not 
  wholly 
  clear. 
  The 
  most 
  

   nearly 
  satisfying 
  explanation, 
  probably, 
  is 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  a 
  population 
  of 
  

   superior 
  density, 
  due 
  in 
  turn 
  to 
  a 
  favorable 
  terrain: 
  an 
  altitude 
  suf- 
  

   ficient 
  to 
  temper 
  the 
  climate 
  of 
  the 
  Tropics, 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  good-sized 
  

   valleys 
  with 
  much 
  level 
  land, 
  a 
  fertile 
  soil, 
  and 
  a 
  grass 
  savannah 
  inter- 
  

   spersed 
  with 
  enough 
  larger 
  vegetation 
  to 
  take 
  it 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  mere 
  

   semiarid 
  plains. 
  Not 
  that 
  these 
  geographical 
  conditions 
  will 
  of 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  produce 
  political 
  organization; 
  but 
  a 
  natural 
  environment 
  more 
  

  

  887 
  

  

  