NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 61 
from the large portion of the coast separating Panama from eastern 
Colombia, where traces should be expected if a connection exists and 
the route was by land and not by sea. 
Absence of stratigraphic sequences and absolute dates makes the 
identification of highland phases belonging to Period IV uncertain. 
The Quimbaya and Narino Complexes, found in southwestern Colom- 
bia, have been considered to be contemporary, although they differ 
considerably stylistically. We do not know either their chronological 
position or their possible affiliations with San Agustin and Tierra- 
dentro. Their most typical ceramic features are the abundant use of 
negative painting in two and three colors, and the presence of an- 
nular bases and shoe-shaped vessels (Bennett, 1944) . 
Period V (a.d. 1000-1500). — Much of the information about the 
late pre-Conquest cultures comes from accounts of the chroniclers, who 
observed the climax of many of the aboriginal cultural patterns before 
their extinction. Archeologically, Period V is characterized by a well- 
marked tendency toward regionalism. In northern Colombia two great 
cultural complexes develop out of the cultural homogeneity of the 
preceding period. The slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta 
were the center of development for the Tairona Culture, while the 
lower courses of the Sinu and San Jorge Rivers were occupied by the 
Betanci-Viloria Complex, believed by Reichel-Dolmatoff (1958, p. 
484) to have intruded into the region from the interior. 
Poisoned arrows, trophy heads, taking of slaves, necklaces of hu- 
man teeth, war dances, objects of gold, copper, and shell, primary 
and secondary burial in urns, cannibalism, and stockades for protec- 
tion of houses are traits mentioned in the Spanish chronicles as char- 
acteristic of the area as a whole. Houses constructed over tombs of 
compacted earth, which were also used as cemeteries, an abundance 
of anthropomorphic jars, bichrome and excised decoration of pot- 
tery, and highly developed metallurgy in gold and tumbaga are men- 
tioned for the Betanci-Viloria Complex. The typical settlement pattern 
over the whole area at this time is large villages along the rivers and 
adjacent lagoons. Subsistence was principally agricultural. 
Some investigators have suggested that the origins of Tairona Cul- 
ture are to be found in the plains of the northern part of the country, 
while others have tried to correlate certain of its traits with Meso- 
america and Central America. However, efforts to reconstruct its der- 
ivation are impeded by the absence to date of a complete chronologi- 
cal sequence and the absence of carbon- 14 dates for the earliest 
manifestations of Tairona Culture. The same is true of the Betanci- 
Viloria Culture. 
