El abra

The first studies of the archaeological site began in 1967, when for the first time in Colombia a number of stone tools were found along with human bones and fragments of coal of plant origin. Radiocarbon analysis established the approximate age of objects 12,400 ± 160 years BC. er

Since 1969, more extensive excavations have been carried out in collaboration with Indiana State University . In 1970, with the assistance of the Netherlands Tropical Research Foundation (Wotro) and with the support of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology in the region, 4 more archaeological sites from the pre-ceramic period with various cultural layers were discovered. Silty sediments made it possible to accurately reconstruct the climate and vegetation of the time.

In the period of 15000 - 12500 years BC. e., the so-called fuken period ( Fúquene ), the climate in those places was cold and dry, and the vegetation - steppe type. Stone cutting tools and debris from chipping stones indicate the presence of people in a layer that dates from about 13000 BC. er

Around 12,500 BC. er the so-called intermediate period of the Guantiva came , when the temperature slightly increased, resulting in the emergence of the Andean forests and the diversity of the fauna. These conditions contributed to the resettlement of people in the region - groups of hunters who left behind numerous artifacts known as abrienses , including various types of cutting stone tools, knives and scrapers .

The archaeological site of Tibito in the municipality of Tokansip near Zipakira contained stone and bone artifacts, remnants of coal and Pleistocene fauna, dating back to about 11740 BC. er They included two groups of mastodons ( Haplomastodon and Cuvieronius hyodon ), an American horse ( Equus amerhipuus lasallei ), and a deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) with scratches from ritual slaughter.

From 11000 BC. er the temperature began to decline, and the wooded zone receded, with the result that the so-called El Abra period began. For this period, characterized by high mobility of hunters.

Around 10,000 BC e., at the end of glaciation and the beginning of the Holocene, the area of ​​the Andean forests increased again. In the layers of this period the tools abrienses continue to occur, however, a large number of hammers indicates that gathering has become more important. The consumption of rodents and plant food in food is increasing, and the scale of hunting is also decreasing. The use of caves and rock shelters gradually decreases and disappears completely.

The archaeological monument of Aguazuque shows that about 5 thousand years ago groups of hunters, gatherers and gardeners settled on the terraces and hills inaccessible to floods.

• Correal Urrego, Gonzalo 1980: “Estado actual de las investigaciones sobre la etapa lítica en Colombia”; Antropológicas 2: 11-30. Sociedad Antropológica de Colombia, Bogotá.
• Correal Urrego, Gonzalo: 1990: "Evidencias culturales durante el Pleistoeno y Holoceno de Colombia"; Revista de Arqueología Americana , 1: 69-89. Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, México.
• Correal, Gonzalo; Thomas van der Hammen y JC Lerman 1970: "Artefactos líticos de abrigos en El Abra, Colombia"; Revista Colombiana de Antropología 14: 9-46.
• Hurt, Wesley; T. van der Hammen y Correal, G. 1976: "La ecología y tecnología de los abrigos rocosos en El Abra, Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia"; Boletín de la Sociedad Geográfica Colombiana XXX (109): 1-21. Bogotá.
• Van der Hammen, Thomas y E. González 1963: “Historia de clima y vegetación del Pleistoceno suprior y Holoceno de la Sabana de Bogotá”; Boletín Geológico XI (1-3): 189-266. Bogotá.
• Van der Hammen, T. y Correal, G. 1978: "Prehistoric man on the Sabana de Bogota: data for an ecologiacal prehistory"; Paleography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 25: 179-190.

"El hombre prehistórico en la Sabana de Bogotá: datos para una prehistoria ecológica"; Thomas van der Hammen 1992: Historia, Ecología y Vegetación : 217–231. Corporación Araracuara; Bogotá ISBN 958-95379-4-4