Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park

4°48′59.59″N 74°20′45.59″W / 4.8165528°N 74.3459972°W / 4.8165528; -74.3459972Altitude2,611 m (8,566 ft)^[1]TypeRock artPart ofPre-Muisca sitesHistoryAbandonedSpanish conquestPeriodsHerrera Period-Late MuiscaCulturesMuiscaSatellite ofBacatáSite notesArchaeologistsDiego Martínez Celis
Álvaro Botiva Contreras
Guillermo Muñoz CastiblancoConditionThreatenedPublic accessYes

Piedras del Tunjo (Spanish for "Tunjo Rocks") is an important archaeological park established on a natural rock shelter 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Bogotá in the municipality of Facatativá.

Description

In the Late Pleistocene, the site used to be the shore of a large lake flooding the Bogotá savanna; Lake Humboldt^{[citation needed]} .8 It was used by the Muisca rulers as a refuge during the time of the Spanish conquest. The site is one of the possible places where the soldiers of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada killed the ruling zipa Tisquesusa in April 1537.

The rocks are covered with pictographs made by Muisca artists on rocks of the Guadalupe Group.^[2] Their age has not been confirmed. The area of the park used to be an hacienda, property of a wealthy family since colonial times. It was nationalized in 1946 to establish the park.

Destruction of the ancient pictographs

Decades of government negligence and lack of policies for the protection of archaeological heritage have resulted in the destruction of most of the ancient paintings.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 
  Rock face with petroglyphs
• 
  Petroglyph on one of the rocks
• 
  Vandalised petroglyph

See also

• Aguazuque, Checua, Tequendama, Tibitó, Sun Temple
• El Abra, Cojines del Zaque

References

Bibliography

• Ulloa, Carlos E; Erasmo Rodríguez, and Jorge E. Acosta. 1998. Plancha 227 - Geología de La Mesa - 1:100,000, 1. INGEOMINAS.

External links

Prehistoric-preceramicPreceramic-ceramic