Nariño

The cold high plain of the Andes on the border between Colombia and Ecuador was inhabited around the seventh century AD by a group called Capulí by archaeologists. This culture, which buried its chiefs in tombs up to 30 or 40 metres deep, had commercial dealings with the inhabitants of the Amazonian slopes and the Pacific coast and worked fine gold by hammering, using similar techniques to those of the southwest of Colombia.

At the same time the region was occupied by another group, Piartál, whose pottery, woodwork, textiles and gold are remarkable for their refinement of design. Their goldworking technique is unique in the metallurgical panorama of the country. Their descendants, known as Tuza, were influenced by the last Incas of Perú, and were still living in the area at the time of the Spanish conquest.

•  

  Return to Precolombian Jewlery