These relics are in stone, in pottery of many varieties and forms, and in the metals gold, copper, silver and tin in various alloys. So large was the quantity of gold that from a single cemetery over fifty thousand dollars in value have been extracted. No wonder that Columbus and his companions gave to this region the appellation Castillo del Oro, Golden Castilé.
Such a condition of civilization is in accord with the earliest descriptions of the Chiriqui tribes. When in 1521 Francisco Compañon overran their country, he found the Borucas and their neighbors living in villages surrounded with high wooden palisades, the posts firmly lashed together, making a solid wall of defence.[250]
The culture of the Chibchas has been portrayed by numerous writers, and it deserves to rank as next to that of the Nahuas and Kechuas, though in many respects inferior to both of these. Their chiefs held by succession through the female side, the matriarchal system prevailing throughout their tribes. Agriculture was diligently pursued, the products being maize, potatoes, yucca and cotton. Artificial irrigation by means of ditches was in extended use. Salt was prepared on a large scale by evaporation, and their skill in the manufacture of cotton cloth was notable. Copper and bronze were unknown, and all their tools and weapons were of wood and stone. In this respect they were in arrears of their not distant neighbors, the Kechuas. Gold, however, they had in quantity, and knew how to smelt it and to work it into vases and ornaments of actual beauty. The use of stone for building was unknown, and their finest structures were with wooden walls coated with clay and roofed with straw.
In spite of what has sometimes been brought forward, it is not likely that they had any method of writing, and much that has been advanced about their calendar is of doubtful correctness. They had neither the quipos of the Peruvians nor the picture writing of the Mexicans. The carved stones which have sometimes been produced as a species of calendar were probably merely moulds for hammering gold into shape.
Quite a body of their mythologic legends have been preserved, replete with interest to the student of the religious sentiment of this race. They indicate an active imagination and may be regarded as quite authentic.
The Chibchas proper, as well as the Aroacos, were meso- or brachycephalic, the cephalic index ranging above 80. They were of moderate stature, dark in color, the face broad, the eyes dark and often slightly oblique, the cheek-bones prominent and the general appearance not handsome.
CHIBCHA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Aruacs (Aroacos), in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and on Rio Paramo.
- Bintucuas, a sub-tribe of the Aruacs.
- Borucas, sub-tribe of Talamancas.
- Bribris, sub-tribe of Talamancas.
- Bruncas, see Borucas.
- Cabecars, sub-tribe of Talamancas.
- Chibchas, on upper Rio Magdalena, near Bogota.
- Chicamochas, about 4° N. lat.
- Chimilas, in the sierra of Santa Marta.
- Chitas or Chiscas, near Sierra de Morcote.
- Duits, near Duitama.
- Guacicas, east of Bogota, on the head-waters of Rio Meta.
- Guamacas, a sub-tribe of Aruacs.
- Guaymis, on both slopes of the Cordillera, in Veraguas.
- Köggabas, a sub-tribe of the Aruacs.
- Morcotes, near San Juan de los Llanos.
- Muois, a sub-tribe of the Guaymis.
- Murires, a sub-tribe of the Guaymis.
- Muyscas, see Chibchas.
- Sinsigas, in the sierra near Tunja.
- Talamancas, in the sierra in Costa Rica.
- Tayronas, in the Sierra de Santa Marta.
- Terrabas, a sub-tribe of Talamancas.
- Tirribis, a sub-tribe of Talamancas.
- Tucurriques, a sub-tribe of the Talamancas.
- Tunebos, in the sierra east of Bogota.
- Valientes, a sub-tribe of the Guaymis.
3. The Paniquitas and Paezes.
A number of tribes living to the north and west of the Chibchas seem to have belonged to one stock. They are mentioned by the older historians as acting in alliance, as in constant war with the Chibchas, and several of them as speaking dialects of a tongue wholly different from the Chibchas. Their stage of culture was lower, but they were acquainted with the bow, the sling and the war-club, and had fixed habitations. I give the list of these presumably related tribes, and apply to the stock the name of one of the modern tribes which retain the language.[251]