Quimbaya
The Quimbaya (/kɪmbaɪa/) were a small, ancient indigenous group in present-day Colombia[1] noted for their gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs.
The Quimbaya inhabited the areas corresponding to the modern departments of Quindío, Caldas and Risaralda in Colombia, around the valley of the Cauca River.
The most frequent designs in these art pieces depicted men and women sitting with closed eyes and placid expression.
Studies of the archeological items point to an advanced cultural development and the political structure of a cacicazgo, with distinct groups dedicated to pottery, religion, trade, gold work and war.
Living in the temperate tropical climate of the modern Colombian "coffee belt", the Quimbaya people were able to cultivate a wide variety of food products, including corn, cassava, avocados and guava.
Hunting provided them with rabbit and deer meat, but remains have also been found of opossums, tapirs, armadillos, foxes and peccaries, among other animals.
This combination of gold and copper, called "tumbaga", would not detract from the attractiveness, brightness and durability of its magnificent pieces creating a spectacular vivacity.
The stylised figures were often designed portraying a social class and included as offerings in burials in tombs representing the guardians or companions for the deceased.
Measuring approximately 5 to 7.5 cm in length, there are over 100 of these relics on display in the Museo del Oro ('Gold Museum') in Bogotá, Colombia.
Tomb artifacts also include funeral masks and sarcophagi, suggesting the central importance of burial rituals and particularly the use of gold as a sacred metal to elevate spiritual preparations for the afterlife.
[6] The artifacts of the Quimbaya Treasure include poporos and other ceremonial vessels, containers, figures, crowns, pendants, necklace beads and pins, bells, musical instruments, nose and ear ornaments.
A large part of the original collection was purchased from grave looters in 1891 by then President of the Republic, Carlos Holguín as a gift to Queen Governor of Spain, María Cristina de Habsburgo.
[6] These 122 artifacts, mainly gold and funeral, were eventually placed on display at the Museo de América in Madrid, Spain where they reside currently.
[6] Gold-works are the predominant material composition and finish type for known Quimbaya artifacts, used extensively across categories, including the range of artistically stylised figure representations of birds, fish, mammals and reptiles of the region.
Numerous ceramic spindle whorls have also been found amongst the Quimbaya treasure, alluding to the large importance of textile production within the culture so much so it is buried alongside individuals within funerary customs.
[8] Even prior to Quimbaya goldsmith prevalence, metal objects played a role in social and class differentiation in the region, signifying the special status of certain individuals and groups in pre-Columbian cultures.
[18] Given the scale, complicity and increasing levels of sophistication involved in modern artifact trading, illicit activity is characterised as largely opaque with considerable investment in investigative efforts required to prove authenticity.
The program does many things to further misinformation such as not only labelling the objects as Tolima "jets" but also creating superficial external recreations on remote controlled planes as a form of ‘proof of flight’.
There has been scientific analysis of pre-Hispanic artifacts, especially of gold-works,[21] [22] on a compositional level, including the physical and radiocarbon examination of materials, techniques and the use of colour, to provide dating and potential geographical context.
