NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 63 
attained by the Chibcha seems in marked contrast to the slight degree 
of urbanism, a judgment that may be influenced by the absence of 
architecture in stone. 
Information provided by the chronicles indicates that the Chibcha 
developed complicated patterns of political organization, including a 
territorial division into two large states, each containing dependent 
chiefdoms. One of the most outstanding aspects of this culture was 
probably its highly formalized religion, which included priests, tem- 
ples, and ofiferings. Various methods were employed for disposal of 
the dead, including mumification, burial in stone-lined tombs, second- 
ary burial in urns, and the use of funerary offerings. As sedentary 
people, the Chibcha practiced agriculture in which maize, potatoes, 
and arracacha (bastardilla) were the principal crops. For this pur- 
pose, terraces were constructed on the slopes of the surrounding hills 
(Haury and Cubillos, 1953). Produce was distributed by means of 
periodic markets and through trade with neighboring tribes, in which 
salt, blankets, and gold were also exchanged. 
CONCLUSION 
From this summary, based on tentative periods and phases in pre- 
Hispanic cultural development in Colombia, the following points 
emerge : 
1. If the association of man with extinct fauna at Tumba de Gar- 
zon is confirmed, the earliest appearance of Paleo-Indian hunters in 
Colombia can be estimated at some 20,000 years ago. 
2. A date of 4875 ± 170 years for the site of Puerto Hormiga 
makes this pottery the oldest so far discovered in South America. 
3. Because of its key geographical location, fronting both on the 
Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, with easy access to the Orinoco and 
Amazon Basins, Colombia was undoubtedly exposed to multiple cul- 
tural influences from groups moving northward and southward across 
the continent. 
4. At the end of Period II and during Period III, Mesoamerican in- 
fluences appear in the form of well-defined complexes, as evidenced 
in the Momil Phase on the north coast, and the Tumaco Complex in 
the extreme southwest adjoining coastal Ecuador (cf. Estrada and 
Evans, this volume) . 
5. At the end of Period II, there is evidence of contact between 
northern Colombia and Venezuela, in the form of similarities between 
pottery of the Malambo Phase and the earliest styles of the Barran- 
coid Series. 
6. Following the Formative Period, Colombia did not follow the 
