San Agustín – The Forgotten Culture

San Agustín – The Forgotten Culture

Whilst the Incas might grab the archaeological headlines in South America, it seems rather sad that the people known only as the “Upper Magdalena Culture” (after the river area they inhabited ) fail to attract the same celebrity – although their sculptural work is arguably superior.   San Agustín and its surrounding area seems to have been a giant necropolis, with a great variety of megalithic funerary monuments, burial mounds and stone statues, including a ceremonial area carved into the stone bed of a stream.  The culture is believed to have panned over 4000 years from approximately 3000 BC to 1350 AD (no one knows why it ended), with most of the sculptures dating from 1 AD to 900 AD. 

Of the more than 600 stone figures which have been discovered, the UNESCO-listed Archaeological Park in San Agustín contains over 200.  Some of the statues have been put to other uses over time (used as foundation stones for house construction; placed at the threshold of a home to ward against evil; displayed in town squares or taken by grave robbers to sell to collectors), but the Colombian Ministry of Culture has created a beautiful wooded area in the park, in which to display the ones it has recovered.

We spent a pleasant afternoon admiring the strange zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and mystical figures and enjoying the hike to the different  “mesitas” – flat or levelled areas in which several tombs were discovered.   A variety of carved slabs and figures originally surrounded each stone tomb, which was located in a “shelter” of stone slabs.  These depict elements of the air, earth and water, such as eagles, reptiles, monkeys and human forms.

We made our way to the “Fuente de Lavapatas” in which intricate figures and water channels have been carved into the shallow rock bed of a stream.  Carved frogs, serpents, lizards and a mother in labour indicate that this area fulfilled a ceremonial purpose of great significance, probably related to fertility or childbirth rituals.  

The following day, we visited the “Alto de los Idolos”, close to the nearby town of Isnos.  This was a much smaller site, but still beautifully landscaped.  The main attraction here was the burial mounds.  The ancient people had used two natural  “mesitas”, then levelled and connected the two by building an embankment.  Also of interest was the fact that two of the sarcophagi had lids (one of which was elaborately carved) and there were still residues of colour to show that they had been decorated originally.  A magnificent tomb “guardian” (a huge stone statue of around 7m high) stood at the base of one of the dolmens. 

Whilst some of the figures looked quite ferocious, it was very difficult to determine what others were carrying.  This one definitely looked like he had an ice cream in his right hand (but why shouldn’t you enjoy a 99* in the afterlife?).

*For those unfamiliar with the term – a “99” is a whipped ice cream served in a cone with a chocolate flake stuck into it.  Yum!