Tairona
thumb|upright=1.3|Map showing ancient pre-Columbian cultures in northern South America Tairona or Tayrona was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted of a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which goes back at least to the 1st century AD and had significant demographic growth around the 11th century.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Tairona-Kogi continuity
- Origin of the name
- Arts and crafts
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.3|Map showing ancient pre-Columbian cultures in northern South America Tairona or Tayrona was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted of a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which goes back at least to the 1st century AD and had significant demographic growth around the 11th century.
The Tairona people formed one of the two principal linguistic groups of the Chibchan family, the other being the Muisca. Genetic and archaeological evidence shows a relatively dense occupation of the region by at least 200 BC. Pollen data compiled by Luisa Fernanda Herrera in 1980 shows considerable deforestation and the use of cultigens such as yuca and maize since possibly 1200 BC. However, occupation of the Colombian Caribbean coast by sedentary or semi-sedentary populations has been documented to have occurred by c. 4000 BC.