Читать книгу Monument Future - Siegfried Siegesmund - Страница 316

The stone monoliths at El Infiernito (Fig. 1) have been the subject of much attention ever since the earliest Spanish missionaries, because of their claimed associations with controversial Muisca rituals and alleged riotous ceremonies (Simon 1981). The arrangement of 26 finely carved and equidistant cylindrical pillars in two parallel rows led Silva Celis (1981) to the conclusion that the archaeological 210site had been a sacred field of astronomical and meteorological observation. The natives had measured the movements of the sun, and thus, solstices and equinoxes were calculated and periods of rain and drought were established, which regulated the production activities of the natives (Silva Celis 1981). A dolmen tomb found in 2006 together with 54 phallic-formed sandstone monoliths and indications of feasting events, suggest that El Infiernito was a central place where inter-community activities were carried out.

Figure 1: General view of the archaeological park.

In this study, preliminary results of an investigation on the main characteristics of the deterioration processes that affect the monoliths of the Monquirá archaeological park El Infiernito are presented. This work will serve as a base for later conservation and restoration activities.