Aguazuque
 Location within Colombia
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| Location | Soacha, Cundinamarca |
|---|---|
| Region |
Bogotá savanna, Altiplano Cundiboyacense,  Colombia
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| Coordinates | 4°36′08″N 74°16′35″W / 4.60222°N 74.27639°WCoordinates: 4°36′08″N 74°16′35″W / 4.60222°N 74.27639°W |
| Altitude | 2,601 m (8,533 ft) |
| Type | Open area settlement |
| Part of | Pre-Muisca sites |
| Area | 76 m2 (820 sq ft) |
| History | |
| Periods | Andean preceramic-Herrera |
| Cultures | Herrera |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Correal |
| Public access | Yes |
Aguazuque is a pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the western part of the municipality Soacha, close to the municipalities Mosquera and San Antonio del Tequendama in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It exists of evidences of human settlement of hunter-gatherers and in the ultimate phase primitive farmers. The site is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the relatively flat highland of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense close to the present-day course of the Bogotá River at an altitude of 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) above sea level. Aguazuque is just north of another Andean preceramic archaeological site; the rock shelter Tequendama and a few kilometres south of Lake Herrera. The artefacts found mostly belong to the preceramic period, and have been dated to 5025 to 2725 BP (3000 to 700 BCE). Thus, the younger finds also pertain to the later ceramic Herrera Period. There were some difficulties in dating of the uppermost layer due to modern agricultural activity in the area; the sediments of the shallower parts were disturbed.
At Aguazuque multiple palaeoantropological finds have been made; stone and bone tools, remains of fireplaces and a multitude of pre-Columbian foods, primitive circular housing, various burial sites of individual and group interments and in the youngest dated layers, evidences of ceramics.
The site represents a transition from a hunter-gatherer culture towards the earliest evidence of agriculture. A phase of settlement is attested where the people moved away from the caves and rock shelters and started inhabiting open area grounds.
Investigation of Aguazuque has been conducted since 1986, mainly by archaeologist Gonzalo Correal Urrego who published the results of his studies in the book Aguazuque - evidencias de cazadores, recolectores y plantadores en la altiplanicie de la Cordillera Oriental in 1990.
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Wikipedia