Tairona - Geographical Location

Geographical Location

The archaeological sequence of the region spans from approximately 200 BCE to the 17th century CE when the Tairona were forcibly integrated into the Spanish Encomienda system. The available Carbon-14 dates show that the coastal sites were occupied from perhaps as early as 200 BCE, much earlier than those at higher elevations, including some of the largest centers, at 1,200 metres (3,937 ft) above sea level. The coves and inlets on the Caribbean coast, like Chengue, Nehuange, Gayraca, Cinto and Buritaca, where villages have only more modest architecture, show the longest occupations, spanning the whole 1,800 years.

Knowledge sources about the pre-Columbian Tairona civilization are limited to archaeological findings and a few written references from the Spanish colonial era. One of the first descriptions of the region was written by Pedro Marty Angheira and other explorers who visited the region between 1505 and 1524, and was published in 1530. Angheira portrays the Tairona valleys as densely populated, with extensive fields irrigated in the same way as those in Tuscany. Many villages were dedicated to fishing and traded their marine goods for the rest of their needs with those living inland. Angheira describes how they aggressively repelled the Spanish when they attempted to take women and children as slaves in the first contacts. It appears that as a result, the first contacts with the Tairona were very violent and the Spanish suffered great losses, which resulted in a more diplomatic strategy from the first governor of Santa Marta Rodrigo de Bastidas.