|
|
|
From
200 B.C. onwards, agricultural chieftainships built a canal system
that was to control floodwater on the hot Caribbean plains for
the next 1,300 years. The web or weave metaphor was present in
the drainage channel network, fishing nets, pottery, and the goldwork
that was made of alloys rich in gold. Water birds, alligators,
fish, feline figures and deer were both sources of food and essential
elements of their symbolic thought.
The deceased were buried with clay figures of women and covered
with tumuli on which trees were planted, and bells were hung
from the branches of these trees. The roundness of the tumuli
and breastplates signified gestation and rebirth.
Between 1100 A.D. and the Conquest, the Zenúes retreated
to the high grasslands and the Sinú valley, while related
groups occupied the Serranía de San Jacinto and the banks
of the Magdalena. The goldsmiths of the Serranía de San
Jacinto made objects for mass use out of alloys that were rich
in copper: ear rings, pendants with richly-attired persons,
and amphibian-men.
Zenú
and the Gold Museum Exhibition
The Zenú
Tradition
The Weave and
Representing the Universe
Technology and
Scenes from Everyday Life
|
