Early Spanish chronicler Pedro Simón as many contemporaneous writers had particular views of the Muisca economy. Modern anthropologists have revised many of the exploitational ideas of the Spanish colonisersMuisca mummies were carried on the backs of the guecha warriors to impress their enemiesThe Muisca Confederation was the confederation of Muisca rulers predating the current departments of Cundinamarca and BoyacáThe flat Bogotá savanna is the result of the Pleistocene Lake Humboldt. The fertile lacustrine soils mixed with volcanic ashes proved very advantageous to the Muisca agriculture
This article describes the economy of the Muisca. The Muisca were the original inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the high plateau in the Eastern Ranges of central present-day Colombia. Their rich economy and advanced merchant abilities were widely known by the indigenous groups of the area and described by the Spanish conquistadores whose primary objective was the acquisition of the mineral resources of Tierra Firme; gold, emeralds, carbon, silver and copper.
The Muisca economy was self-sufficient regarding the basic supplies, thanks to the advanced technologies of the agriculture on raised terraces by the people. The system of trade was well established providing both the higher social classes and the general population abundances of gold, feathers, marine snails, coca, yopo and other luxury goods. Markets were held every four to eight days in various settlements throughout the Muisca Confederation and special markets were organised around festivities where merchants from far outside the Andes were trading their goods with the Muisca.
Apart from agriculture, the Muisca were well developed in the production of different crafts, using the raw materials traded with surrounding indigenous peoples. Famous are the golden and tumbaga objects made by the Muisca. Cotton mantles, cloths and nets were made by the Muisca women and traded for valuable goods, tropical fruits and small cotton cloths were used as money. The Muisca were unique in South America for having real coins of gold, called tejuelos.
Mining was an important source of income for the Muisca, who were called "The Salt People" because of their salt mines in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa. Like their western neighbours, the Muzo -who were called "The Emerald People"- they mined emeralds in their territories, mainly in Somondoco. Carbon was found throughout the region of the Muisca in Eocene sediments and used for the fires for cooking and the production of salt and golden ornaments.
As the clear objective of the Spanish colonisers was to gain access to the rich mineral resources and the golden figures made by the Muisca, many primary accounts of the Muisca economy have been considered biased, misinterpreted or even outright false by later scholars. Pedro de Aguado, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Juan de los Barrios, first conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and many others have written about the economy of the Muisca. Later research, in many cases nuancing or even refuting the scriptures of the early Spanish writers, has been conducted by Carl Henrik Langebaek, Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff, Sylvia Broadbent, Jorge Gamboa Mendoza, Javier Ocampo López and others.
This article describes the economy of the Muisca. The Muisca were the original inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the high plateau in the Eastern...
The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation...
The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (zaques, zipas, iraca, and tundama) in the central Andean highlands of what...
Muisca cuisine describes the food and preparation the Muisca elaborated. The Muisca were an advanced civilization inhabiting the central highlands of...
difference between the elite class (caciques) and the general people. The Muiscaeconomy was based on agriculture and trading raw materials like cotton, coca...
This article describes the art produced by the Muisca. The Muisca established one of the four grand civilisations of the pre-Columbian Americas on the...
The Muisca agriculture describes the agriculture of the Muisca, the advanced civilisation that was present in the times before the Spanish conquest on...
Knowledge of Muisca mythology has come from Muisca scholars Javier Ocampo López, Pedro Simón, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita, Juan de Castellanos and conquistador...
Muisca religion describes the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands of the Colombian Andes before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca...
The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the...
Muisca numerals were the numeric notation system used by the Muisca, one of the civilizations of the Americas before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca...
The Muisca calendar was a lunisolar calendar used by the Muisca. The calendar was composed of a complex combination of months and three types of years...
This article describes the role of women in the society of the Muisca. The Muisca are the original inhabitants of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense (present-day...
figure elaborated by the Muisca as part of their art. Tunjos were made of gold or tumbaga; a gold-silver-copper alloy. The Muisca used their tunjos in various...
Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/ *[ˈmʷɨska]), or Muysca de Bogotá is a language spoken by the Muisca people of the Muisca Confederation, one of...
Muisca raft (Balsa Muisca in Spanish), sometimes referred to as the Golden Raft of El Dorado, is a pre-Columbian votive piece created by the Muisca,...
arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the zipa was the ruler of the southern...
astronomy of the Muisca. The Muisca, one of the four advanced civilisations in the Americas before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, had a thorough understanding...
This is a list of institutes providing research into the Muisca. The three most important universities in Bogotá have a department of anthropology to study...
are agriculture, livestock farming and salt mining. Colombia portal Muiscaeconomy#Mining Nemocón Zipaquirá (in Spanish) Official website Tausa Espejo...
16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (zipa) or king of the Muisca people, an indigenous people of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of Colombia...
This article describes the architecture of the Muisca. The Muisca, inhabiting the central highlands of the Colombian Andes (Altiplano Cundiboyacense and...
The Muisca inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Andes before the arrival of the Spanish and were an advanced civilisation. They mummified...
Muisca music describes the use of music by the Muisca. The Muisca were organized in the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca...
Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense during the arrival of the Spanish...
settlement Bacatá of the Muisca Confederation. Modern Funza was founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada during the Spanish conquest of the Muisca on April 20, 1537...
The economy of Colombia is the fourth largest in Latin America as measured by gross domestic product and the third-largest economic power in South America...
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