The Quimbaya civilization is a South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n civilization

Civilization

Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...

, noted for spectacular gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs. The majority of the gold work is made in tumbaga

Tumbaga

Tumbaga was the name given by Spaniards to a non-specific alloy of gold and copper which they found in widespread use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and South America.-Composition and properties:...

 alloy, with 30% copper, which imparts beautiful color tonalities to the pieces. The Quimbaya inhabited the areas corresponding the modern departments of Quindío, Caldas

Caldas

Caldas may refer to:*Çaldaş, Azerbaijan* Caldas Department, in Colombia.* Caldas, Antioquia, a town in Antioquia, Colombia.* Caldas, Minas Gerais, a town in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil...

 and Risaralda

Risaralda

Risaralda may refer to:* Risaralda Department, in Colombia* Risaralda River* Risaralda, Caldas a town and municipality in Caldas Department...

 in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, around the valley of the Cauca river

Cauca River

The Cauca River is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. Born in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Pinillos in Bolívar Department, and the combined river eventually flows out into the Caribbean Sea. It has a...

. There is no clear data about when they were initially established; the current best guess is around the 1st century BC.

The Quimbaya people reached their zenith during the 4th to 7th century AD period known as The Quimbaya Classic. From this period comes the most emblematic piece of this culture: the Poporo Quimbaya

Poporo Quimbaya

Poporo Quimbaya is a precolumbian artpiece of the classic quimbaya period, currently exhibited in the Gold Museum in Bogotá, Colombia. Its primary use was as a ceremonial device for chewing of coca leaves during religious ceremonies...

 (currently exhibited in the Gold Museum

Gold Museum

The Gold Museum is a museum located in Bogotá, Colombia. It displays an extraordinary selection of its pre-Hispanic gold work collection - the biggest in the world - in its exhibition rooms on the second and third floors...

). The most frequent designs in the art pieces are anthropomorphic, depicting men and women sitting, with closed eyes and placid expression. There are also many designs of fruits and poporo

Poporo

Poporo is a device used by indigenous cultures in present and pre-Columbian South America for storage of small amounts of lime . It is constituted by two pieces: the receptacle, and the lid which includes a pin that is used to carry the lime to the mouth while chewing coca leaves...

s.
Most of the retrieved items are part of funeral offerings, found in the inside of sarcophagi made of hollow trunks. The gold represented a sacred metal and the passport for the afterlife

Afterlife

The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...

. Around the 10th century the Quimbaya culture disappeared entirely due to unknown circumstances; studies of the archeological items point to an advanced cultural development and the political structure of a cacicazgo

Cacique

Cacique is a title derived from the Taíno word for the pre-Columbian chiefs or leaders of tribes in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles...

 with separated groups dedicated to pottery, religion, trade, gold work and war.

See also

• Indigenous peoples in Colombia
  Indigenous peoples in Colombia
  The indigenous peoples in Colombia comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country's present territory prior to its discovery by Europeans around 1500.-Origins:...
  
  
• Spanish Empire
  Spanish Empire
  The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
  
  
• Population history of Amerindians
  Population history of American indigenous peoples
  The population figures for Indigenous peoples in the Americas before the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus have proven difficult to establish and rely on archaeological data and written records from European settlers...
  
  
• Malagana
  Malagana
  Malagana, also known as the Malagana Treasure is an archaeological site of Colombia named after the same name sugarcane estate where it was accidentally discovered in 1992...
  
  treasure