History of The Department of Antioquia

The History of the Department of Antioquia began with the arrival of the first human settlers into what is now the Antioquia Department in Colombia. These first settlers are presumed to have arrived from mesoamerica in Central America, some 10,500 years BC, but this can also be traced back to years before since there are proves that in what is now Peru there are human vestiges that date to 22,000 years BC.

Upon the arrival of the Spanish during the 15th Century the land of what is now Antioquia Department was populated by numerous indigenous tribes, specially those pertaining to the Caribs, which according to archaeological findings began to extend through the Caribbean region of the Antioquia Department and then moved south through the Cauca and Magdalena valleys. There isn't much clarity about the Caibe's culture since the Spanish considered Carib any indigenous group that presented armed resistance using bow and poisoned arrows, and that practiced cannibalism and sodomy.

Two groups pertaining to the Carib family were the most predominant in Antioquia Department, the Catíos and the Nutabes that inhabited the region between the Cauca River and Porce River, as well as in the Valley of Aburrá, the other group was the Tahamíes that inhabited the region between the Porce River and the Magdalena River.

The region of the Gulf of Urabá was inhabited by Urabáes and Cunas, which pertained to the group of Chibchan speaking nations. Years before the Quimbayas a different group, not pertaining to the Caribs or Chibchas, inhabited certain areas of southern Antioquia Department, in what is now the municipalities of Abejorral and Sonsón, but it is presumed to have disappeared in the 10th century AD.