El Infiernito is a pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 Muisca

Muisca

Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...

 site located at the outskirts of Villa de Leyva

Villa de Leyva

Villa de Leyva is a colonial town and municipality, in the Boyacá department of Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. The town is located some 40 km west of Tunja and has a population of about 9,600 people...

, Boyacá Department

Boyacá Department

Boyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It is composed of several earthworks

Earthworks (archaeology)

In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...

 surrounding a setting of menhir

Menhir

A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...

s (upright standing stones); several burial mounds are also present. The site was a center of religious ceremonies and spiritual purification rites, and also served as a rudimentary astronomical observatory.

History

The area was known by this name long before the discovery of the archaeological site. Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

s called it infiernito, or "little hell," because of the intense heat

Heat

In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...

 of the tropical savanna climate

Tropical savanna climate

Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories "Aw" and '"As."...

. The Spaniards also thought it was diabolical and labeled it as Pagan worshiping.

The first description of the site was made in 1847 by the Colombian army

Colombian Army

The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...

 geographer

Geographer

A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...

 Joaquin Acosta, who reported 25 stone column

Column

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...

s, half-buried in the Moniquira Valley. The findings were studied by Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

 who believed that the site could be used to anticipate astronomical phenomena such as solstice

Solstice

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...

s and equinox

Equinox

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...

es, as indicated by the alignment of the stones with the sun and moon.

Description

The lithic pieces are carved in pink sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, many of them in phallic shapes. A total of 109 monolith

Monolith

A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...

s have been excavated to date: 54 in the north stone row

Stone row

A stone row , is a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones set at intervals along a common axis or series of axes, usually dating from the later Neolithic or Bronze Age. Rows may be individual or grouped, and three or more stones aligned can constitute a stone row...

 and 55 in the south, aligned in an east-west orientation, apparently representing the Muisca

Muisca

Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...

 calendar

Calendar

A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...

, dividing the area in two main parts: the north sacred field (Infiernito N° 1) and the south sacred field (Infiernito N° 2).

Chronology

Archaeological excavations have collected a large number of samples of wood charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 which have been useful for radiocarbon date. Three distinct stratigraphic levels can be observed:

• IAN - 119 - "El Infiernito", N° 2: 2.490 ± 195 Before Present
  Before Present
  Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
  
  .
• IAN - 128 - "El Infiernito", N° 1: 2.180 ± 140 B. P.
• IAN - 148 - "El Infiernito", N° 2: 2.880 ± 95 B. P.

The first stratum

Stratum

In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...

 is rich in animal remains, vegetal ash

Wood ash

Wood ash is the residue powder left after the combustion of wood. Main producers of wood ash are wood industries and power plants.-Composition:...

es, red ochre, incienso and resin

Resin

Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...

s. The second one shows mainly remains of maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 oblation

Oblation

Oblation, an offering , a term, particularly in ecclesiastical usage, for a solemn offering or presentation to God.-Bible usage:...

s. In the third stratum, several pieces of burned carved rocks and lithic flake

Lithic flake

In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage. The objective piece, or the rock being reduced by the removal of flakes, is known as a core. Once the proper...

s, in the remains of a large bonfire

Bonfire

A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...

, are gathered around a large monolith in the south sacred field.

Threats

The first formal archaeological excavations at the site were led by anthropologist Eliecer Silva Celis in 1981; these resulted in the declaration of the site as an archaeological park. The burial mounds were found to have been heavily affected by grave robbery, and the human remains

Human Remains

Human Remains is a British black comedy television series written by and starring Rob Brydon and Julia Davis. It consisted of six episodes that aired in 2000. Each episode documented the relationship of a different couple, all of whom were played by Brydon and Davis and all but two of whom were...

 dispersed. The central column (about 5 meters high) described by Joaquin Acosta in 1850, which apparently allowed the measuring of the sun's astronomical alignment during the equinoxes, was missing.

Other monuments

Other lithic monuments of the Muisca culture exist in Sutamarchán

Sutamarchán

Sutamarchán is a town and municipality in the Department of Boyacá, part of the Ricaurte Province of Colombia.-External links:...

, Tunja

Tunja

Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...

, Ramiriquí

Ramiriquí

Ramiriquí is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province.- Famous people from Ramiriqui :*Mauricio Soler *Jose Ignacio de Marquez - Maps :*...

, Tibaná

Tibaná

Tibaná is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of Márquez Province....

 and Paz de Río

Paz de Río

Paz de Río is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Valderrama Province a subregion of Boyaca....

among other locations.