Cosmological Relations in the Muisca Myth of Bachue
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.29614Keywords:
Bachue myth, cosmology, Iguaque, Milky Way, Muisca, serpentsAbstract
This research paper outlines possible cosmological relations in the Muisca myth of Bachue, a traditional narrative involving the sacred lake of Iguaque, located in the Colombian Andes. The research applied an interdisciplinary approach, considering archaeological, historical, ethnographic, astronomical, social and climatic perspectives. Material culture and historical sources related to the myth highlight the figure of a large animal with a curved back, thought to be associated with mountain lakes, and it is here suggested that Muiscas may have seen in the night sky a huge and humped animal whose back was the Milky Way’s bulge. This paper proposes that between 700 AD to 1000 AD, the period during which the Bachue myth is thought to have originated, the archaeological site of El Infiernito had celestial and landscape alignments involving the Sun, the Milky Way and the Pleiades. Muisca serpent-adorned cups can be interpreted as a representation of a cosmogonic/cosmological model, with concepts such as origin, opposition, duality, water and death, all present in the myth, materialised in these unique ceramic pieces.
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