The Foods and Crops of the Muisca: a Dietary Reconstruction of the Intermediate Chiefdoms of Bogotá (Bacatá) and Tunja (Hunza), Colombia
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THE FOODS AND CROPS OF THE MUISCA: A DIETARY RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERMEDIATE CHIEFDOMS OF BOGOTÁ (BACATÁ) AND TUNJA (HUNZA), COLOMBIA by JORGE LUIS GARCIA B.A. University of Central Florida, 2005 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2012 Major Professor: Arlen F. Chase ABSTRACT The Muisca people of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia had an exceptionally complex diet, which is the result of specific subsistence strategies, environmental advantages, and social restrictions. The distinct varieties of microclimates, caused by the sharp elevations in this part of the Andes, allows for a great biodiversity of plants and animals that was accessible to the native population. The crops of domesticated and adopted plants of the Muisca include a wide variety of tubers, cereals, fruits, and leaves that are described in detail in this thesis. The Muisca used an agricultural method known as microverticality where the different thermic floors are utilized to grow an impressive variety of species at various elevations and climates. This group also domesticated the guinea pig, controlled deer populations and possibly practiced pisiculture, patterns that are also described in this text. Some of the foods of the Muisca were restricted to specific social groups, such as the consumption of deer and maize by the chiefly classes and the consumption of roots and tubers by the lower class, hence the complexity of their dietary practices. The utensils utilized in the preparation and processing of foods, including ceramics and stone tools were once of extreme importance in the evolution of the Muisca diet and form an important part of this research as well as the culinary methods that are described in the Spanish chronicles and by contemporary experts. The majority of food products utilized by the Muisca in antiquity are still part of the diet of contemporary Colombians and the current uses of these foods can allow us to understand how these products were used by this pre-Columbian society. On the other hand, knowledge of the practices used by the Muisca can facilitate the preservation of these foods in the modern diet and avoid the introduction and replacement of these foods by non- native products, which can be less nutritious. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Elayne Zorn, especially for her guidance and contribution of ideas that I implemented during this investigation. This thesis could have never been finished without her unconditional support. I would like to thank my thesis committee Dr. Arlen Chase, Dr. Diane Chase, and Dr. John Walker for their support, advice, and especially for their patience; to my mother for using a great variety of foods in her cooking found in our country, many of them described in this work; Jennifer Navarra, my wife and plant ecologist, who aided me in the taxonomic identification and description of plants mentioned in this text; Lisa Lomitola for her wonderful inking of the majority of the artifact drawings shown here and to all my colleagues who reviewed this work. I am grateful to the staff at the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, especially to Luz Elena Gomez for facilitating the permits to access the ceramic and stone tools deposit at the museum and to Angela Ovalle. I want to thank the staff at the section of Libros Raros y Manuscritos at the Luis Ángel Arango library in Bogotá for allowing me access to this collection; to the Department of Anthropology at the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia in Tunja for granting me access to their collection of faunal and plant remains, especially to Helena Pradilla for granting me permission to use materials from her research in this thesis and for allowing me to export osteological material for a possible future project. I also thank all the merchants and farmers who gave me information about food products. Special thanks go to: Milly Tocancipa for letting me use her house as a laboratory to examine, cook, measure and store food products; to Gloria Patrón for giving me an insider’s experience of the produce markets and introducing me to farmers and merchants there; and to Angel Cardec, director of the Office of International Studies at UCF, for his support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Overall Aims and General Questions ......................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................ 11 Archaeology .............................................................................................................................. 11 Ethnohistory .............................................................................................................................. 16 Ethnography and Ethnobotany .................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER THREE: THE MUISCA ............................................................................................ 21 Geography and the Environment .............................................................................................. 21 Periods of Human Occupation in Cundinamarca and Boyaca .................................................. 22 Preceramic Period ................................................................................................................. 23 The Herrera Period ................................................................................................................ 24 The Early Muisca Period ...................................................................................................... 27 The Late Muisca Period ........................................................................................................ 29 Political Structure and Social Organization .......................................................................... 32 CHAPTER FOUR: MATERIALS, METHODS AND ANALYSIS STRATEGY ...................... 35 Archaeology .............................................................................................................................. 35 Ethnohistory .............................................................................................................................. 38 Ethnobotany .............................................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS ...................................................................................................... 42 Plants ......................................................................................................................................... 43 iv Tubers and Roots .................................................................................................................. 44 Canna edulis: Achira or Canna ......................................................................................... 44 Arracacia xanthorrhiza: Arracacha ................................................................................... 49 Tropaeolum tuberosum: Cubios or Navos ........................................................................ 52 Oxalis tuberosa: Ibias ........................................................................................................ 55 Ullucus tuberosum: Chuguas, Rubas or Ulluco ................................................................ 56 Polymnia edulis: Jicama ................................................................................................... 59 Solanum tuberosum, Solanum colombianum or phureja, Solanum andigena, Solanum rybinii and Solanum boyasence: Potatoes......................................................................... 59 Manihot esculenta: Yuca................................................................................................... 62 Ipomoea batatas: Sweet Potatoes ...................................................................................... 63 Methods for the Preparation of Roots and Tubers ............................................................ 65 Grains/Cereals ....................................................................................................................... 66 Zea Mays: Corn................................................................................................................. 66 Methods for the Preparation of Corn ................................................................................ 72 Chenopodium quinoa: Quinoa .......................................................................................... 73 Legumes ................................................................................................................................ 76 Phaseolus vulgaris: Frijól, Common Bean........................................................................ 76 Arachis hypogaea: Peanut ................................................................................................. 80 Erythrina