Zenú
Encyclopedia
The Zenú or Sinú are an Amerindian
tribe in Colombia
whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinu
and San Jorge
rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo
. These lands lie within the departments of Córdoba
and Sucre
.
The Zenú culture existed from about 200 BC to about AD 1600, constructing major water works and producing gold ornaments. The gold that was often buried with their dead lured the Spanish conquerors, who looted much of the gold. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the tribe all but died out. The 16th-century Spanish chroniclers wrote about the Zenú who were still living there, but recorded little or nothing about the history of the Zenú.
In 1966 the geographer
James Parsons drew attention to rake-like patterns that were visible on aerial photographs of the wetland
s in the lower reaches of the river San Jorge, patterns that could not have arisen naturally. Ten years later a major reconstructive research started.
, San Jorge, Cauca
and lower Nechí
rivers, all culturally related with similar artistic expressions, concepts of life and death, and environmental practices. Their means of subsistence were hunting, farming, fishing, and trading in raw materials and finished products. Around AD 950, about 160 inhabitants per square kilometer lived in the San Jorge basin. After 1100, the Zenú population decreased for unknown reasons and moved to higher pastures that did not flood, requiring no drainage works, where they lived until the Spanish conquest.
, the Magdalena River
and the Nechí River
, south-west of Santa Cruz de Mompox
, frequently flooded during the rainy season in the mountains from April to November, causing great inconvenience to the residents of the plains. Therefore, from 200 BC onwards these people built a system of channels that enabled them to control the flooding and make large areas practical for habitation and agriculture. The system was expanded continually. Covering 500,000 hectares between 200 BC and AD 1000, it was at its greatest extent in the San Jorge basin, but channels were also constructed in the lower reaches of the rivers Cauca and Sinú.
The Zenú dug channels, sometimes as long as four kilometers, connected to the natural waterways. Perpendicular to these channels, smaller irrigation ditches were dug. The soil left by the excavations was used to build long artificial terraces, two to four meters high, on which they built their houses. During times of high water, the channels led the water to areas where crops were grown. When the water withdrew, the nutrient-rich sludge was used to enrich the land. This system of water management was used over a period of 1300 years.
After the Spanish conquest, the drainage system probably did not function anymore, because the chroniclers made no mention of it. Although the system has now been overtaken by marshes, the channel patterns are still detectable in the landscape.
was built over the grave. On top of the mound a tree was planted, and golden bells were hung in the branches. The golden breastplates that important women and chiefs wore during ceremonies symbolized the pregnancy of women and the virility of men. The roundness of the mound, like the roundness of a breastplate, was an allusion to the place where pregnancy and birth took place. Thus, women possessed great social and political significance. When the Zenú culture was discovered by the Spaniards in the 16th century, the religious center of Finzenú at the river Sinú was led by Toto, a female chief who governed several nearby villages.
earrings.
Semi-filigree, which was not woven with gold thread but cast using the lost wax method, was the characteristic feature of the decoration of Zenú goldwork. Next to casting, gold was also hammered into plates and reliefs. Gold ornaments typically were made of an alloy
with a high degree of gold. Waterfowl, alligators, fish, cat, and deer figures were sources of food as well as elements of their culture. The animal world was depicted in gold pendants and in gold ornaments to be placed on the end of a stick.
, Montelibano
, and Betanci. On their plunder raids, the Spaniards discovered the area by traveling via the Sinú River.
Under the Zenú, each valley made up its own province. The Sinú valley was called Finzenú, with its capital, Zenú. At the time of the Spanish conquest, Finzenú was governed by a woman, Toto. Their most important holy place and the cemetery where dignitaries were buried was at Zenú, near the marsh Betanci. The San Jorge basin where food was grown was called Panzenú, governed by Yapel, with its main political center in Ayapel. Zenúfana, governed by Nutibara, between the rivers Cauca and Nechí, was the primary place where gold was produced.
According to the Zenú, Chief Zenúfana, a mythical figure, had governed the lower Cauca and Nechí area. During the Spanish conquest, he was regarded as the foremost of the ancient chiefs because he organized the whole territory of Great Zenú and assigned political, economic and religious duties to the chiefs of Finzenú and Panzenú, who were his relatives. He had enacted laws and regulations that were still in force when Pedro de Heredia
invaded the country. The three chiefs had complementary political, religious and economic duties.
and on the banks of the Magdalena River. They distinguished themselves, however, from the lowland Zenúes who used cemeteries and burial mounds, by burying their dead in large pots which were placed under the floors of their homes.
Unlike the goldsmiths in the river valleys, these goldsmiths used gold alloys which contained a relatively large amount of copper
. These were objects for mass use. To give the surface of these objects a golden appearance
, they were subjected to a chemical heating process. This dissolved the copper at the surface while the gold stayed behind. The gilding is often worn away in the course of time, revealing oxidized copper.
These items are similar to those of the lowland culture: fine cast circular and semi-circular filigree earrings, nose rings with horizontal extensions, pendants adorned with richly attired people, circular or n-shaped nose rings, staff heads, bells, and amphibious people with headdresses. Some designs are realistic, others stylized. People are naturalistically portrayed: people holding gourd
s, musicians with flutes and maracas
, people sitting on chairs with a high back, or standing.
Wildlife from the rugged mountains are often portrayed on these items, but animals from the marsh and river areas are also depicted. A typical feature of the objects produced in the mountains of San Jacinto is the representation of scenes, such as ducks sitting on a branch, a feline figure fighting with an alligator, or a man holding the claws of a bird of prey. Birds, feline and amphibious figures are the animals that are associated with men.
Men and animals, in general, retain their own characteristics, like beautifully attired dignitaries with very stylized bodies, but images have also been found with anthropomorphic portrayals of various beings. These depict a human face and a headdress resembling a bird's crest, with the body of an animal from a swampy area, like a fish
, a lizard
, or a crustacean
.
Some characteristics of their goldwork were unique to these mountain people, but their work is closely related to that of the Zenúes from the rivers. Since many items come from the mountains of San Jacinto, it may have been an important production center. It is unknown when the production of goldwork started in this area, but given the similarity of themes and techniques with those of the goldwork found in river valleys that was already being produced by 200 BC, it could have started a long time ago. Carbon dating has shown that the production of San Jacinto certainly continued until after the Spanish conquest.
Excessive taxation, forced labor, and western diseases caused the decline of the Zenú population after the arrival of the Spanish. The Zenú language disappeared around 200 years ago. The King of Spain designated 83,000 hectares in San Andrés de Sotavento
as a Zenú reserve
in 1773. This reserve existed until it was dissolved by the National Assembly of Colombia in 1905.
The Indian population has fought for the restoration of the reserve, and in 1990 San Andrés de Sotavento was restored as a Zenú reserve with a land area of 10,000 hectares (later 23,000). Here a community of approximately 33,000 inhabitants holds on to centuries-old traditions.
For them, the plaiting and weaving are still connected to their daily lives. It is like recreating their representation of the universe, because weaving brings together knowledge, nature (the fibers), and something substantial, which is the product itself. Weaving both creates and represents their culture. The sombrero vueltiao
is a characteristic example of contemporary Zenú weaving.
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Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribe 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...
whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinu
Sinú River
Sinú River , is a river in northwestern Colombia that flows mostly through the Córdoba Department and into the Caribbean. The river is the third most important river after the Magdalena River and the Cauca River in the Caribbean Region. It is born in the Antioquia Department, flowing south to north...
and San Jorge
San Jorge
San Jorge can refer to* San Jorge Island, an island in the Solomon Islands* San Jorge, Samar, a municipality in the Philippines* San Jorge River, a river in Colombia* São Jorge de Mina, a Portuguese-built castle in Ghana* the Spanish name for Saint George...
rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo
Gulf of Morrosquillo
The Gulf of Morrosquillo is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Colombian Departments of Sucre and Córdoba. From West to East it runs approximately from Boca de Tinajones, mouth of Sinú River, in Córdoba, to Punta San Bernardo in Sucre.- Features :The coastline of the Gulf of Morrosquillo...
. These lands lie within the departments of Córdoba
Córdoba Department
Córdoba is a Department of the Republic of Colombia located to the north of this country in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Córdoba faces to the north with the Caribbean sea, to the northeast with the Sucre Department, east with the Bolívar Department and south with the Antioquia Department...
and Sucre
Sucre Department
Sucre is a department in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The department ranks 27th by area, and it has a population of 772,010, ranking 20th of all the 32 departments of Colombia...
.
The Zenú culture existed from about 200 BC to about AD 1600, constructing major water works and producing gold ornaments. The gold that was often buried with their dead lured the Spanish conquerors, who looted much of the gold. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the tribe all but died out. The 16th-century Spanish chroniclers wrote about the Zenú who were still living there, but recorded little or nothing about the history of the Zenú.
In 1966 the geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
James Parsons drew attention to rake-like patterns that were visible on aerial photographs of the wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s in the lower reaches of the river San Jorge, patterns that could not have arisen naturally. Ten years later a major reconstructive research started.
Pre-Columbian period
Around 200 BC, communities of farmers and goldsmiths lived in the valleys of the SinúSinú River
Sinú River , is a river in northwestern Colombia that flows mostly through the Córdoba Department and into the Caribbean. The river is the third most important river after the Magdalena River and the Cauca River in the Caribbean Region. It is born in the Antioquia Department, flowing south to north...
, San Jorge, Cauca
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...
and lower Nechí
Nechi River
Nechí River is a river of northwestern Colombia. It flows into the Cauca River. Nechí River rises in the municipality of Yarumal, and serves as a boundary between the municipalities of Antioquia, Campamento, Angostura, Anorí, Yarumal, Valdivia, Tarazá, Cáceres, Zaragoza, El Bagre, Caucasia and Nechí...
rivers, all culturally related with similar artistic expressions, concepts of life and death, and environmental practices. Their means of subsistence were hunting, farming, fishing, and trading in raw materials and finished products. Around AD 950, about 160 inhabitants per square kilometer lived in the San Jorge basin. After 1100, the Zenú population decreased for unknown reasons and moved to higher pastures that did not flood, requiring no drainage works, where they lived until the Spanish conquest.
Waterworks
The inland delta formed by the San Jorge River, the Cauca RiverCauca 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...
, the Magdalena River
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...
and the Nechí River
Nechi River
Nechí River is a river of northwestern Colombia. It flows into the Cauca River. Nechí River rises in the municipality of Yarumal, and serves as a boundary between the municipalities of Antioquia, Campamento, Angostura, Anorí, Yarumal, Valdivia, Tarazá, Cáceres, Zaragoza, El Bagre, Caucasia and Nechí...
, south-west of Santa Cruz de Mompox
Santa Cruz de Mompox
Mompox or Mompós, officially Santa Cruz de Mompox, is a town and municipality in northern Colombia, in the Bolívar Department, which has preserved its colonial character. Located on an island in the Magdalena River where it joins the Cauca River, 249 kilometers from Cartagena. Mompox depends upon...
, frequently flooded during the rainy season in the mountains from April to November, causing great inconvenience to the residents of the plains. Therefore, from 200 BC onwards these people built a system of channels that enabled them to control the flooding and make large areas practical for habitation and agriculture. The system was expanded continually. Covering 500,000 hectares between 200 BC and AD 1000, it was at its greatest extent in the San Jorge basin, but channels were also constructed in the lower reaches of the rivers Cauca and Sinú.
The Zenú dug channels, sometimes as long as four kilometers, connected to the natural waterways. Perpendicular to these channels, smaller irrigation ditches were dug. The soil left by the excavations was used to build long artificial terraces, two to four meters high, on which they built their houses. During times of high water, the channels led the water to areas where crops were grown. When the water withdrew, the nutrient-rich sludge was used to enrich the land. This system of water management was used over a period of 1300 years.
After the Spanish conquest, the drainage system probably did not function anymore, because the chroniclers made no mention of it. Although the system has now been overtaken by marshes, the channel patterns are still detectable in the landscape.
Symbol of fertility
In the Zenú culture, women were the symbol of fertility, wisdom and respect. Female characters were frequently portrayed in clay and placed in the graves of the dead as a symbol of human and agricultural fertility. The presence of these statuettes in the grave symbolized conception and rebirth in the underworld, in the same way that seeds germinate and grow. During the funeral ceremony, which was attended by the whole community with music and dance, a moundTumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
was built over the grave. On top of the mound a tree was planted, and golden bells were hung in the branches. The golden breastplates that important women and chiefs wore during ceremonies symbolized the pregnancy of women and the virility of men. The roundness of the mound, like the roundness of a breastplate, was an allusion to the place where pregnancy and birth took place. Thus, women possessed great social and political significance. When the Zenú culture was discovered by the Spaniards in the 16th century, the religious center of Finzenú at the river Sinú was led by Toto, a female chief who governed several nearby villages.
Gold ornaments
The web of canals was reflected in their art, culture, and symbolic thinking. For the Zenú, the world seemed to be a large wicker-work, on which living beings were placed. This symbolism is reflected in the patterns of fishing nets, textiles, pottery and goldwork. As the web of channels was the place where daily life took place, so also did people and animals appear in the metallic fabric of cast semi-filigreeFiligree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
earrings.
Semi-filigree, which was not woven with gold thread but cast using the lost wax method, was the characteristic feature of the decoration of Zenú goldwork. Next to casting, gold was also hammered into plates and reliefs. Gold ornaments typically were made of an alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
with a high degree of gold. Waterfowl, alligators, fish, cat, and deer figures were sources of food as well as elements of their culture. The animal world was depicted in gold pendants and in gold ornaments to be placed on the end of a stick.
Textiles and wickerwork
Pre-Columbian textiles and wickerwork of the Zenú are almost completely lost, but the tools they used for production these items, such as needles and spindles made of bone, shells, and ceramics, did survive. The development of woven fabrics can be traced from numerous representations in gold and ceramic objects. Women were portrayed in long woven skirts with a variety of patterns.Zenú identity
The themes expressed in gold or ceramics show that the various communities in these areas were politically and religiously related. The designs on textiles and clay baskets, the female clay figurines, and the construction of the burial mounds were similar for all the people of these river valleys. Like the channel system, which remained in use for many centuries, these cultural features lasted a long time and are part of what is called the Zenú tradition. Artisans from different localities in the area, however, expressed these ideas in their own way, making it possible to distinguish between them. Nevertheless, they showed a common Zenú identity.Zenúes of the river valleys
From 1100 onwards, the Zenú population declined for unknown reasons, and until the Spanish conquest the Zenú lived on higher pastures around AyapelAyapel
Ayapel is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.Ayapel is a Colombian municipality located in the far eastern department of Cordoba and bathed by the waters of San Jorge and Ayapel swamp....
, Montelibano
Montelíbano
Montelíbano is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Montelíbano....
, and Betanci. On their plunder raids, the Spaniards discovered the area by traveling via the Sinú River.
Under the Zenú, each valley made up its own province. The Sinú valley was called Finzenú, with its capital, Zenú. At the time of the Spanish conquest, Finzenú was governed by a woman, Toto. Their most important holy place and the cemetery where dignitaries were buried was at Zenú, near the marsh Betanci. The San Jorge basin where food was grown was called Panzenú, governed by Yapel, with its main political center in Ayapel. Zenúfana, governed by Nutibara, between the rivers Cauca and Nechí, was the primary place where gold was produced.
According to the Zenú, Chief Zenúfana, a mythical figure, had governed the lower Cauca and Nechí area. During the Spanish conquest, he was regarded as the foremost of the ancient chiefs because he organized the whole territory of Great Zenú and assigned political, economic and religious duties to the chiefs of Finzenú and Panzenú, who were his relatives. He had enacted laws and regulations that were still in force when Pedro de Heredia
Pedro de Heredia
Pedro de Heredia, Spanish conqueror, founder of the city Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia.Noble from birth, for being involved in many brawls he was forced to leave Spain. He established himself in La Española. Later on, he accepted the job of lieutenant offered by the governor of Santa Marta,...
invaded the country. The three chiefs had complementary political, religious and economic duties.
Zenúes in the mountains of San Jacinto
Related groups of Zenú goldsmiths, merchants, and sailors lived around the time of the Spanish conquest in the mountains of San JacintoSan Jacinto
San Jacinto is Spanish for Saint Hyacinth; as a place name, it may refer to:* San Jacinto, Bolívar, Colombia* San Jacinto, Chiquimula, Guatemala* San Jacinto, Comondú, Mexico* San Jacinto, Lerdo, Mexico* San Jacinto, Ancash Region, Peru...
and on the banks of the Magdalena River. They distinguished themselves, however, from the lowland Zenúes who used cemeteries and burial mounds, by burying their dead in large pots which were placed under the floors of their homes.
Unlike the goldsmiths in the river valleys, these goldsmiths used gold alloys which contained a relatively large amount of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
. These were objects for mass use. To give the surface of these objects a golden appearance
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
, they were subjected to a chemical heating process. This dissolved the copper at the surface while the gold stayed behind. The gilding is often worn away in the course of time, revealing oxidized copper.
These items are similar to those of the lowland culture: fine cast circular and semi-circular filigree earrings, nose rings with horizontal extensions, pendants adorned with richly attired people, circular or n-shaped nose rings, staff heads, bells, and amphibious people with headdresses. Some designs are realistic, others stylized. People are naturalistically portrayed: people holding gourd
Gourd
A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Gourd is occasionally used to describe crops like cucumbers, squash, luffas, and melons. The term 'gourd' however, can more specifically, refer to the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita or also to their hollow dried out shell...
s, musicians with flutes and maracas
Maracás
Maracás is a town and municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil.-References:...
, people sitting on chairs with a high back, or standing.
Wildlife from the rugged mountains are often portrayed on these items, but animals from the marsh and river areas are also depicted. A typical feature of the objects produced in the mountains of San Jacinto is the representation of scenes, such as ducks sitting on a branch, a feline figure fighting with an alligator, or a man holding the claws of a bird of prey. Birds, feline and amphibious figures are the animals that are associated with men.
Men and animals, in general, retain their own characteristics, like beautifully attired dignitaries with very stylized bodies, but images have also been found with anthropomorphic portrayals of various beings. These depict a human face and a headdress resembling a bird's crest, with the body of an animal from a swampy area, like a fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, a lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
, or a crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
.
Some characteristics of their goldwork were unique to these mountain people, but their work is closely related to that of the Zenúes from the rivers. Since many items come from the mountains of San Jacinto, it may have been an important production center. It is unknown when the production of goldwork started in this area, but given the similarity of themes and techniques with those of the goldwork found in river valleys that was already being produced by 200 BC, it could have started a long time ago. Carbon dating has shown that the production of San Jacinto certainly continued until after the Spanish conquest.
Modern times
San Andrés de Sotavento
San Andrés de Sotavento is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia.-References:...
as a Zenú reserve
Reserve
-Economic:* Official gold reserves, held by central banks as a store of value* Foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities...
in 1773. This reserve existed until it was dissolved by the National Assembly of Colombia in 1905.
The Indian population has fought for the restoration of the reserve, and in 1990 San Andrés de Sotavento was restored as a Zenú reserve with a land area of 10,000 hectares (later 23,000). Here a community of approximately 33,000 inhabitants holds on to centuries-old traditions.
For them, the plaiting and weaving are still connected to their daily lives. It is like recreating their representation of the universe, because weaving brings together knowledge, nature (the fibers), and something substantial, which is the product itself. Weaving both creates and represents their culture. The sombrero vueltiao
Sombrero Vueltiao
The sombrero vueltiao or sombrero vueltiado is a traditional hat from Colombia and one of its symbols. It is made out of Gynerium sagittatum known locally as caña flecha, a type of cane that grows in the region...
is a characteristic example of contemporary Zenú weaving.
Sources
- Museo del Oro Zenú, Cartagena de Indias
- Museo del Oro: Zenú, people and gold on the Caribbean plains
- Plazas, C. e.a. (1986) La cultura del oro y el agua. Un proyecto de reconstrucción Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico Número 6, Volumen XXIII
- Sáenz, J. (1993) Mujeres de barro: estudio de las figurinas cerámicas de Montelíebano Boletín Museo del Oro. Nº 34–35
- Plazas, C. e.a. (1981) El Legendario Zenú Boletín del Museo del Oro. Año 4, septiembre – diciembre
- Herera M. (1993) Los Señores de Zenú Revista Credencial Historia. (Bogotá – Colombia). Edición 44 Agosto
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