Early prehispanic settlement in the Magdalena Valley in Tolima, Colombia. Balance and perspectives

Abstract

The Department of Tolima in Colombia (South America) is located at the beginning of the upper stretch of the vast basin of the Magdalena River, which, in geographical terms, is called the Region of the High Magdalena. This territory comprises the slopes and high Andean mountains that form the Central and Eastern Cordilleras (mountain chains) and the Magdalena inter- Andean plain or valley in this area of Colombia.Based on a few sites excavated in the high Andean forests of Central and Eastern Cordilleras, as well as the finding of isolated artifacts in the lowlands of Tolima and from information provided by some well contextualized and dated sites in adjoining regions, we show how the Tolima Department could have been inhabited by human groups beginning as early as 16,000 years 14C B.P.In this article, the current evidence about the presence of ancient preceramic settlers in the Tolima and bordering zones is reviewed, providing information aimed at supporting the assertion that the Tolima region was occupied during the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene.Likewise, this essay also addresses the recent geological history of the region with greater emphasis on the important role that volcanism has had on the configuration of the regional landscape. The lack of evidence for an early presence of humans in the valley of the Tolimense Magdalena, is most likely due to the burial of preceramic cultural materials by layers of fluviovolcanic sediments, many meters thick, resulting from the strong volcanic eruptions which took place during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, in the middle and high areas of the Central Cordillera in Tolima.