The history of human habitation in the Andean region of South America stretches from 15,000BC to the present day. The habitation of the region has been challenged by its unique geography and climate, leading to the development of unique cultural and societal organization.
Colombia is named after Christopher Columbus, even though he never set foot on the soil. It was Alonso de Ojeda, one of Columbus' companions on his 2nd voyage, who was the 1st European to set foot on the land in 1499. He briefly explored the Sierra Nevada of St. Martha and was astonished by the wealth of the local people. Their gold and their stories about fabulous treasures inland gave birth to the myth of "El Dorado," a mysterious kingdom abundant in gold. In its most extreme interpretation, "El Dorado was believed to be a land of gold mountains littered with emeralds and the people of the land threw gold offerings into its sacred waters. From the moment the Europeans arrived in 1509, their obsession with EL Dorado became the principal force driving them into the interior. The population at that time numbered between 1.5 and 2 million spread out across the Andean mountains.
Attracted by the presumed riches of the land, the shores became the target of numerous expeditions, and several short-lived settlements were founded along the coast. In 1525 the first stones of St Martha were laid and in 1533 Cartagena was found and soon became the principal center of trade.
Colombia is considered the only overland gateway to South America and the route pioneered by the first ancient settlers, who migrated from other lands. The territory of the Andean mountains that form the core of the land, was the location of the most significant earliest settlements.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancient Colombian Andes had well-established hunter-gatherer cultures, with the earliest human habitants concentrated along the Caribbean coast and the Andean mountains.
The Cave system of 'El Abra' site, located just North of Bogota, is considered among the very first human settlements in the Americas. In 1960 ancient petro-glyphs and mastodon bones were uncovered and carbon dated around 11,500BC.
In 3,000BC, two civilizations lived in the adjacent River Valleys of the Magdalena and the Cauca. Divided by impossible-to-cross peaks, the Rivers were the highways, and near St. Agustin lie the headwaters of both rivers. Both civilizations met at this point to trade, to worship and to bury their dead. 500 statues (the largest 7m high) are found scattered over a wide area surrounding St. Agustin. Many of them are anthropomorphic figures, some realistic, others resembling masked monsters. There are also sculptures depicting sacred animals such as the condor, jaguar, and frog. A great deal of pottery was also uncovered around the area. They did not have a written language and the people disappeared many centuries before the European arrival, but their mystical legacy is one of the most important archaeological sites on the continent.
After St. Agustin, Tierra-Adentro (Under-the-ground) is another remarkable and awe-inspiring site. While St. Agustin is noted for its statuary, Tierra-Adentro is noted for its elaborate underground tombs. So far, 100 of this unusual funeral temples have been unearthed surrounded by the Andean mountain scenery. Their art reveals a high degree of skill in gold and pottery.
Most of the ancient population evolved from 3 main streams: -Quimbayas, who inhabited the Western slopes of the Central Cordillera; -Chibchas, who were skilled in farming, mining, and metal work; -Caribes, a type of warlike people who ultimately migrated to Eastern South America and the Caribbean islands.
The tribal cultures that still continue to thrive today are:
-Ar'Huaco, with a population of 27,000, concentrate in Northern Colombia. They believe the Sierra Nevada of St. Martha is the heart of the world and that the planet's well being depends on it.
-Awa, with a population of 32,000, inhabits the forests of Northern Ecuador and Souther Colombia. Their habitat is considered the most bio-diverse places on the planet. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, today they also farm livestock and grow a broad variety of vegetables.
-Kogi, with a population of 20,000, still live in much the same way their ancestors did (Tairona). They live in stone and thatch huts, worshiping 'Mother Nature'(Aluna) and viewing the Earth as a living being and humanity as its children. They have lived in the Sierra Nevada of St Martha since the pre-European era.
-Muisca, number approximately 10,000 now. As a civilization they occupied around 18,000 sq mi in Colombia's Eastern Range before the European arrival. They remain as an active defenders of the region's natural resources as well as the rights of its Andean communities.
-Nukak, with a population of 500 nomadic hunter-gatherers from the fringe of the Amazon basin, this tribe became famous as an "un-contacted people" discovered in the early '80s. They are expert hunters using blowguns and darts coated with a poison (curare manyi) made from various plants. Endangered by disease and other political encounters, they are now a focus of indigenous rights campaigns by the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia.
-Wayuu, the largest tribe with a population of around 450,000. Nearly a third of them are based in Northern Colombia, the rest live in North West Venezuela. Inhabiting in the arid the Guajira Peninsula, the matriarchal Wayuu were among the few tribes never successfully subjugated by the European settlers, even though the Europeans tried harder, but they never won the cause. Their language is related to the Arawak family of language predominant in the Caribbean, and remains in regular usage today.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Sunday, July 1, 2018
THE ANCIENT ANDEAN MOUNTAIN SETTLERS.
The Andes or Andean Mountains (Cordillera de los Andes) are the longest continental mountain range in the world and the highest mountain range outside Asia. They form a continuous highland along the Western edge of South America. This range is about 7,000km / 4,300mi long, about 200 to 700km /120 to 430mi wide, and of an average height of about 4,000m / 13,000ft.
The bounds of the former Inca realm of the Tahuantinsuyo, centered in the Andean Mountains and the largest in the world in the early 16th century, stretched throughout the Andes from North to South. Its area incorporates now 7 South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Its political and administrative structure was the most sophisticated found among the ancient America, especially for its location and ways of survival. It was predominantly agricultural.
The Andes also are the place in which several high plains (tablelands) raise significantly above the surrounding area with steep slopes -some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogota, Arequipa, Medellin, Sucre, Merida and La Paz. The Peruvian-Bolivian Plateau in West-Central South America is the world's second highest plateau on Earth outside the Tibet. The bulk of it lies now in Bolivia, but its Northern parts lies in Peru.
The Andean model of accessing and distributing resources, particularly in the arid North West Coast of Peru and in the highland plateaus along the Andean Mountains was unique. It is important to mention that only about 2% of the land in the Andes is arable. The Inca agriculture was the culmination of thousands of years of farming and herding in the high mountains, the coastal deserts, and the rain-forest of the Amazon basin. This 3 radically different environments were all part of their land and required different technologies for agriculture. They did not have many features that helped many civilizations to grow in the Old World. They did not use the wheel. They did not have animals to ride on and draft animals that could pull wagons and plows. The did not use iron or steel. And above all they did not use money and did not have a writing system.
The need to access the proper land for specific crops or animals were far more important tasks in direct relation to survival techniques that meant a totally different perspective of settling and develop a type of lifestyle. Potatoes of different kind (400 varieties), corn (jumbo size without the sweet flavor exists in a great variety of flavors), and quinoa were among the unique crops and camelids (llamas and alpacas) and guinea pigs were the unique domesticated animals.
A line-ages miniature colonies were created to overcome the adversities of the terrain and weather. The adaptation and agricultural technologies of ancient settlers allowed them to organize production of a diverse range of crops from the arid coast, the high and cold mountains, and the humid jungle regions, which they redistribute to villages that did not have access to other regions. Despite of all these barriers, the Incas were still able to construct one of the greatest imperial states in human history based on a concept of reciprocity.
The Inca empire functioned largely without marketplaces. Instead, exchange of goods and services governed by the spirit of reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers was the base of their philosophy of life. '
Taxes' consisted of labour obligation of a person to the Empire in building government related projects for the sake of their own community. The reciprocal action from the government was granting access to new lands and goods and provide food and drink in all celebratory feasts, that were quite a lot. This period of employment represented a third of a normal year period. This concept is still applied in the remote areas in which the influence of modern lifestyle is still unable to reach.
The Ayllu, as the word itself means, refers to a network of families in a given area. It is and ancient Andean system of governing councils and it still is the traditional form especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. The supreme leader has the responsibility of overseen the vast network of the ayllus. Ayllus are distinguished by their self-sustainability, commonly held territory and relations of reciprocity. Members engage in shared collective labor (Quechua: Minga) and in reciprocal exchanges of assistance (Quechua: Ayni).
The bounds of the former Inca realm of the Tahuantinsuyo, centered in the Andean Mountains and the largest in the world in the early 16th century, stretched throughout the Andes from North to South. Its area incorporates now 7 South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Its political and administrative structure was the most sophisticated found among the ancient America, especially for its location and ways of survival. It was predominantly agricultural.
The Andes also are the place in which several high plains (tablelands) raise significantly above the surrounding area with steep slopes -some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogota, Arequipa, Medellin, Sucre, Merida and La Paz. The Peruvian-Bolivian Plateau in West-Central South America is the world's second highest plateau on Earth outside the Tibet. The bulk of it lies now in Bolivia, but its Northern parts lies in Peru.
The Andean model of accessing and distributing resources, particularly in the arid North West Coast of Peru and in the highland plateaus along the Andean Mountains was unique. It is important to mention that only about 2% of the land in the Andes is arable. The Inca agriculture was the culmination of thousands of years of farming and herding in the high mountains, the coastal deserts, and the rain-forest of the Amazon basin. This 3 radically different environments were all part of their land and required different technologies for agriculture. They did not have many features that helped many civilizations to grow in the Old World. They did not use the wheel. They did not have animals to ride on and draft animals that could pull wagons and plows. The did not use iron or steel. And above all they did not use money and did not have a writing system.
The need to access the proper land for specific crops or animals were far more important tasks in direct relation to survival techniques that meant a totally different perspective of settling and develop a type of lifestyle. Potatoes of different kind (400 varieties), corn (jumbo size without the sweet flavor exists in a great variety of flavors), and quinoa were among the unique crops and camelids (llamas and alpacas) and guinea pigs were the unique domesticated animals.
A line-ages miniature colonies were created to overcome the adversities of the terrain and weather. The adaptation and agricultural technologies of ancient settlers allowed them to organize production of a diverse range of crops from the arid coast, the high and cold mountains, and the humid jungle regions, which they redistribute to villages that did not have access to other regions. Despite of all these barriers, the Incas were still able to construct one of the greatest imperial states in human history based on a concept of reciprocity.
The Inca empire functioned largely without marketplaces. Instead, exchange of goods and services governed by the spirit of reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers was the base of their philosophy of life. '
Taxes' consisted of labour obligation of a person to the Empire in building government related projects for the sake of their own community. The reciprocal action from the government was granting access to new lands and goods and provide food and drink in all celebratory feasts, that were quite a lot. This period of employment represented a third of a normal year period. This concept is still applied in the remote areas in which the influence of modern lifestyle is still unable to reach.
The Ayllu, as the word itself means, refers to a network of families in a given area. It is and ancient Andean system of governing councils and it still is the traditional form especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. The supreme leader has the responsibility of overseen the vast network of the ayllus. Ayllus are distinguished by their self-sustainability, commonly held territory and relations of reciprocity. Members engage in shared collective labor (Quechua: Minga) and in reciprocal exchanges of assistance (Quechua: Ayni).
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
THE ANCIENT ANDEAN CONCEPT OF CALENDAR.
The old cultures of the Andes thrust upward through some of the world's most forbidding terrain: the towering mountains and desert coast of the Andes. The empire of the Inca, which crowned them, ruled from a capital 11,000 feet in the clouds.
The ancient people of the Andes kept track of time with calendars which had ritual and religious meaning. While the Julian calendar came to the Andean territory in the 16th century, and Gregorian calendar in now in general use, only in a few communities now located in the Andean Highlands still use the ancient count of days and nights.
So little is know about the calendar used by the Inca, since no written language was used at the time, but it is widely believed that the "quipus" of the Inca contains calendrical notations based on the observation of both Sun and Moon and their relationship to the stars.
The Inca were sometimes said to be people of the sun, whereas the Aymara were sometimes said to be people of the moon.
The Constellation of the Southern Cross is a strong symbol of the ancient Andean cultures and is considered the most complete, holy and geometric design of the center of the universe, as they believe it was. It is to be seen on the Southern hemisphere and it is easy to find in a clear sky at night. The symbol is often found in old places and holy centers in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.
The Andean people defined their territories and recorded astronomical cycles with long-distance alignments which were measured out between the highest sacred mountains, lakes and lagoons. Localized alignments between cairns of stones were known as "saywas" which translates to "marker."
The Incas created 41 long-distance alignments called "ceque lines" which were oriented to significant solar, lunar and stellar occurrences, integrating astronomy and cosmology with their sociopolitical structure. These 41 energy lines were perceived as being imbued with sacred creation forces of energy that were aligned from the source and being channelled and emanated from the Coricancha, Temple of the Sun religious complex, in Cuzco.
The sun god Inti was worshiped most intensely at the winter solstice and still is today, every June 24, the Festival of the Inti Raymi. The hills surrounding the Inca's capital city Cuzco and the arrangement of massive pillars are a visible link to Inti, the sun god, who was thought to sit of the "saywas" at winter and summer solstices marking the sunrises and the sets.
Ancient Andean reality was and still is very different from western cosmology. The Andean universal outlook is based in the understanding that all forms possess male and female energies which flow along natural roads marked along the landscape of the Andean Mountains. It forms a superimposition of inner space on to the outer landscape. The Incas devised this natural and sacred language of opposite forces to design a great systematical organization, based on an superb and ordered study of astronomy aligned with a very detailed calendar.
The ancient people of the Andes kept track of time with calendars which had ritual and religious meaning. While the Julian calendar came to the Andean territory in the 16th century, and Gregorian calendar in now in general use, only in a few communities now located in the Andean Highlands still use the ancient count of days and nights.
So little is know about the calendar used by the Inca, since no written language was used at the time, but it is widely believed that the "quipus" of the Inca contains calendrical notations based on the observation of both Sun and Moon and their relationship to the stars.
The Inca were sometimes said to be people of the sun, whereas the Aymara were sometimes said to be people of the moon.
The Constellation of the Southern Cross is a strong symbol of the ancient Andean cultures and is considered the most complete, holy and geometric design of the center of the universe, as they believe it was. It is to be seen on the Southern hemisphere and it is easy to find in a clear sky at night. The symbol is often found in old places and holy centers in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.
The Andean people defined their territories and recorded astronomical cycles with long-distance alignments which were measured out between the highest sacred mountains, lakes and lagoons. Localized alignments between cairns of stones were known as "saywas" which translates to "marker."
The Incas created 41 long-distance alignments called "ceque lines" which were oriented to significant solar, lunar and stellar occurrences, integrating astronomy and cosmology with their sociopolitical structure. These 41 energy lines were perceived as being imbued with sacred creation forces of energy that were aligned from the source and being channelled and emanated from the Coricancha, Temple of the Sun religious complex, in Cuzco.
The sun god Inti was worshiped most intensely at the winter solstice and still is today, every June 24, the Festival of the Inti Raymi. The hills surrounding the Inca's capital city Cuzco and the arrangement of massive pillars are a visible link to Inti, the sun god, who was thought to sit of the "saywas" at winter and summer solstices marking the sunrises and the sets.
Ancient Andean reality was and still is very different from western cosmology. The Andean universal outlook is based in the understanding that all forms possess male and female energies which flow along natural roads marked along the landscape of the Andean Mountains. It forms a superimposition of inner space on to the outer landscape. The Incas devised this natural and sacred language of opposite forces to design a great systematical organization, based on an superb and ordered study of astronomy aligned with a very detailed calendar.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
THE ANDEAN CONNECTION WITH THE STARS.
The Inca civilization controlled the largest territory in the history of the New World. The Inca Empire spanned the Andes, from Chile to Ecuador. They placed a great importance on astronomy and their religion was closely linked to it. Astronomy was important because it was used for agricultural purposes. Cuzco for example lies on a radial plan mimicking the sky and pointing to specific astronomical events on the horizon. They built pillars carefully placed on mountains and hills overlooking Cuzco, so when the sun rose or set between these pillars, they knew they had to plant at a very specific altitude. Machu Picchu was considered a sacred ceremonial site, an agricultural experimentation center and an astronomical observatory.
The Incas were the only culture in the world that not only studied individual stars, but also grouped stars into constellations of both light and darkness, and assigned each of them a purpose, under the belief that everything in and around the world was connected. The universe according to their beliefs was not composed of discrete phenomena and events, but rather it was believed to be made of a powerful principle underlying the perception and ordering of objects and events in the physical environment. The snake in the sky for example has the same cycle as snakes on earth, and both live in harmony, alongside other celestial animals.
To the Inca civilization, the Milky Way (Mayu) was, and still is, referred to as a river flowing through the sky. Its counterpart is said to be terrestrial, the run off of the Vilcanota River, which runs SouthEast
/ NorthWest through the heart of Peru. The Vilcanota and the Milky Way are said to be mirror images of one another and for this reason the primary orientation of the Milky Way is said to be running SouthEast / NorthWest. During the twilight periods of the solstices the Milky Way forms a cross in the sky. This cross touches the 4 points on the horizon in which the sun rises and sets during the equinoxes.
Further, it divides the stars into 4 separate directional quarters.
In general, the sky was very important to the Incas in in relation to the agricultural cycle. It gave them the tools for survival in the highlands of the Andean mountains. Both the moon and the sun were seen as powerful forces acting together and because of this interaction the building of pillars and temples were made with great precision along their empire so that these heavenly bodies would pass over the structures or through the windows on specific days, like the summer solstice. The most crucial events for the Inca involved the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars.
The Milky Way was believed to be the path to the otherworld, connecting heaven and earth, traveled by spirits, deities and shamans in trance. In the Inca creation myth, Vira'Cocha, the Creator, follows the primary axis of the Milky Way (SouthEast to NorthEast) on His journey from earth to the Upper-world after the time of creation had been completed. The "huacas," considered places containing sacred energies, whom the Inca prayed for a prosperous life, abided in the Upper-World. The Milky Way was the channel through which they communicated and the shrines were the portals.
Just after the June solstice the Inca himself presided over the most sacred ceremony of the year. It was called the Inti Raymi, "the solemn Feast of the Sun." Absolutely every noble from all over the Inca Empire was required to come to Cuzco for this ceremony and all people, nobles and commoners alike, were encouraged to participate. The ceremony was a "centering of the universe' around the Inca in the temple of the Sun at Cuzco. The timing of the Inti Raymi in the ritual calendar coordinated with the time in which the Milky Way aligned with the Vilcanota River. It was this time, when heaven and earth came together, and the sun rose and set in the Milky Way, and the people came together with their king to pay homage to the sun.
The king was the center of the Inca world and Cuzco was the center of the kingdom. As the Milky Way did to the night sky, the Inca partitioned the realm into 4 sections. As the Milky Way lends order to the universe, so did the Inca king to the empire. The cross created by the Milky Way at zenith was an Inca symbol of office. In the palace at Cuzco, an inner shrine was located, in which only those of royal blood could enter. The purest divine blood on earth coursing in a symbolic way through the veins of the Inca made him most able to perform these tasks, and he did just like that.
The Incas were the only culture in the world that not only studied individual stars, but also grouped stars into constellations of both light and darkness, and assigned each of them a purpose, under the belief that everything in and around the world was connected. The universe according to their beliefs was not composed of discrete phenomena and events, but rather it was believed to be made of a powerful principle underlying the perception and ordering of objects and events in the physical environment. The snake in the sky for example has the same cycle as snakes on earth, and both live in harmony, alongside other celestial animals.
To the Inca civilization, the Milky Way (Mayu) was, and still is, referred to as a river flowing through the sky. Its counterpart is said to be terrestrial, the run off of the Vilcanota River, which runs SouthEast
/ NorthWest through the heart of Peru. The Vilcanota and the Milky Way are said to be mirror images of one another and for this reason the primary orientation of the Milky Way is said to be running SouthEast / NorthWest. During the twilight periods of the solstices the Milky Way forms a cross in the sky. This cross touches the 4 points on the horizon in which the sun rises and sets during the equinoxes.
Further, it divides the stars into 4 separate directional quarters.
In general, the sky was very important to the Incas in in relation to the agricultural cycle. It gave them the tools for survival in the highlands of the Andean mountains. Both the moon and the sun were seen as powerful forces acting together and because of this interaction the building of pillars and temples were made with great precision along their empire so that these heavenly bodies would pass over the structures or through the windows on specific days, like the summer solstice. The most crucial events for the Inca involved the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars.
The Milky Way was believed to be the path to the otherworld, connecting heaven and earth, traveled by spirits, deities and shamans in trance. In the Inca creation myth, Vira'Cocha, the Creator, follows the primary axis of the Milky Way (SouthEast to NorthEast) on His journey from earth to the Upper-world after the time of creation had been completed. The "huacas," considered places containing sacred energies, whom the Inca prayed for a prosperous life, abided in the Upper-World. The Milky Way was the channel through which they communicated and the shrines were the portals.
Just after the June solstice the Inca himself presided over the most sacred ceremony of the year. It was called the Inti Raymi, "the solemn Feast of the Sun." Absolutely every noble from all over the Inca Empire was required to come to Cuzco for this ceremony and all people, nobles and commoners alike, were encouraged to participate. The ceremony was a "centering of the universe' around the Inca in the temple of the Sun at Cuzco. The timing of the Inti Raymi in the ritual calendar coordinated with the time in which the Milky Way aligned with the Vilcanota River. It was this time, when heaven and earth came together, and the sun rose and set in the Milky Way, and the people came together with their king to pay homage to the sun.
The king was the center of the Inca world and Cuzco was the center of the kingdom. As the Milky Way did to the night sky, the Inca partitioned the realm into 4 sections. As the Milky Way lends order to the universe, so did the Inca king to the empire. The cross created by the Milky Way at zenith was an Inca symbol of office. In the palace at Cuzco, an inner shrine was located, in which only those of royal blood could enter. The purest divine blood on earth coursing in a symbolic way through the veins of the Inca made him most able to perform these tasks, and he did just like that.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
THE ANDEAN HUAYNAPUTINA.
Huayna'Putina volcano is a small volcano, with a maximum elevation of 4,800m, and a edifice height of no more than 500m, in a volcanic upland located in Southern Peru, Moquegua region, 80 km (50 mi) South East of Arequipa (capital and largest city of the Arequipa region and the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru).
This volcano has been variously known as Omate, Quinistaquillas, Chuiquimote, and Ceque'Puquina.
Hayna'Putina's name came from "Misti" a volcano in Arequipa, which was called "Putina" at the time. In Quechua language "Pu"is the root word of "Blow" and "i" indicate the first person, so its name refers to its prolific fumaroles. The other part relates to Huayna Capac, the mighty one. He was the emperor under whom the Inca empire reached its peak, just time before the European explorers arrived in the area. He died because of the invasion he had not yet seen, in the smallpox epidemic which preceded the arrival of many europeans with the sole purpose of taking over the land. A century later, when the eruption occurred, the whole area was deeply Spanish.
The mountain resides within a horseshoe shaped crater (2.5 km /2 mi in width) older explosive caldera that was deepened by glacial erosion, 26 km South of Ubinas volcano. The volcano is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, the segment of the Andes through Peru and Chile, that is unusually thick and the volcanoes that occur inside differ from the rest of the Andean edifices.
Hayna'Putina is remarkably situated on the Western rim of the canyon on the Tambo River, which is more than 2 km deep immediately below the volcano. To the West, a roughly rectangular plateau of ash has buried the local pre-eruption topography over an area of about 50 km2.
The volcano's Eastern edge's caldera has been excavated along centuries by the Tambo on the Andean slopes and tapers off into a gorge, flowing through Moquegua and the High Plateau) of Puno, crashing through the deep canyon in South Arequipa. The Tambo enters the vertical canyon with a right wall formed by the Huayna'Putina (4,806 m) and a left wall formed by Aromayo mountain (4,000m) forming a 6-meter falls. The river is able to increase its volume by 50 times or more when heavy rains falls in the region. The name refers to a relatively short section, about 159 km/ 99 mi long in which three separated fluvial ecosystems runs in its valley: fresh water in the upper course, saline water in the middle and the area of mixed saline and fresh water.
The knowledge of the variable thickness of the basins is fundamental to deciphering their implications in the structural architecture of the evolution of the Sub-Andean zone deformation. Subduction of the Eastern edge of the Nazca Plate under the Western edge of the South American Plate takes place about 160 km (99mi) West of Peru and Chile, at a rate of 9 to 11 cm (4 in) per year. The process produced the formation of Peru-Chile Trench, an oceanic trench in the Pacific Ocean (the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic division). It also produced the Andean Volcanic Belt along Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, and the rest of the Andes. The mountains Ticsani, Ubinas and Huayna'Putina in Moquegua, sit on a volcanic lineament slightly oblique to the main volcanic front.
Huayna'Putina does have an identifiable mountain profile (does not form a prominent topographic elevation) despite its listed elevation of 4,800 meters (15,750 ft).
Hayna'Putina was the site of a single catastrophic eruption in 1600, which was remarkable not only for its size and as the only major explosive eruption in historic times in the Central Andes, but also for its impact on global climate. The eruption lasted from February 19 to March 6, and consisted of a plinian eruption, dome building, and collapse. The eruption destroyed the pre-1600 edifice which then was described as "a low ridge in the centre of the sierra." The powerful eruption was fed by fissures and produced pyroclastic flows and surges that traveled 13 km to the East and South East. Hot mud flows (lahars) reached the Pacific Ocean, 120 km away. It erupted an estimated 30 cubic km of dacitic tephra (12 km3 of magma), including ash fall and pyroclastic flow deposits.
The eruption was preceded by 4 days of intense seismic activity, then it started on February with a none violent phase and lasted until March 6. The main and most violent phase was on February 19 and announced itself by 2 large earthquakes. This phase was sustained at least 13 hours, but likely lasted until February 20. The sky became dark and white and the noise was compared to artillery fire. The plume decreased and ash-fall continued until February 22 when the sun was briefly visible. The area was in darkness for about 40 hours. Intermittent ash-fall continued until March 6, but dust in the air made the sun appear hazy until April 2. Ash was widespread much of the surrounding countryside as far as Arequipa, 80 km away.
After the eruption four vents have been identified near the crater and on the flanks of the edifice and also three overlapping ash cones with craters up to 100 meters deep were constructed during the explosion on the floor of the ancestral crater, whose outer flanks are heavily mantled by ash deposits covering an area of 360,000 km2.
The eruption caused a large number of fatalities and substantial damage to the villages and the nearby cities of Arequipa and Moquegua. Regional economies took 150 years to fully recover.
On a global scale, the following summers were some of the coldest in the last 500 years. Sulfur aerosols erupted from the volcano entered the Earth's atmosphere and reflected sunlight, resulting in this global temperature drop.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
ANDEAN MAPUCHE PEOPLE AND ITS SPIRITUAL WORLD.
The Mapuche are the inhabitants of South Central Andean mountains of today Chilean territory and South Western mountains of today Argentina, including parts of present-day Patagonia. Their influence once extended from the natural boundary that the Aconcagua River makes between the Andean Mountains of Peru and the Chile and Argentina ones, to the Chiloe Archipelago (group of islands off the coast of Chile) and spread later to the East towards the Argentine pampa.
Central to Mapuche cosmology is the idea of a Creator (N'gene'chen) embodied in 4 components: an older man (fu'cha/ fu'tra/ chau'chau), an older woman (kude/ kuse), a young man and a young woman.
Also, Mapuche cosmology is informed by complex notions of spirits that coexist with humans and animals in the natural world, and daily circumstances can dictate spiritual practices.
The most well-known major communal event of extreme spiritual and social importance is the ritual ceremony known as "general prayer (N'gill'atun)." Many other ceremonies are practiced, and not all are for public or communal participation but are sometimes limited to family.
The main group of deities/ spirits are the ancestral spirits (Pillan and Wangulen), nature's spirits (N'gen) and the evil spirits (We'kufe).
The Pillan is a powerful and respected male spirit. It can cause disasters since the good spirit punishes (allowing evil spirits to punish) with drought or flood, earthquake, or diseases. The principal Pillan is the Antu who governs the other Pillans. Antu represents the Sun, as well as light, wisdom and spirit, and is opposite to darkness and the physical world and is married to the spirit who represent the Moon. When she was picked as wife, as she was the most luminous, great unrest started between the stars. the red spirit of fire Peri'Pillan was behind this, as he felt envious at Antu. Antu himself resented Peri'Pillan as the fire was brighter than the gold. peace ceased and darkness came into perspective. The two Pillan fought in battle, and the spirits took sides in battle. Many Pillan and all the stars (Wangulen) supported Peri'Pillan. The battle was long and very violent, the land moved, as well as the Underworld (Minche Mapu) and the Upper World (Anka'Wenu). As the fight extended, the sons of the elder spirits had grown and in desire to take their parents' place, fought against them. Both Antu and Peri'Pillan, angered by this, grabbed their giant sons by their long hair and threw them down, they fell on the rocky ground. As they fell their hard bodies marked the land, forming the tall mountains as they were broken into pieces and sunk into the depth of the land.
Finally Antu topped Peri'Pillan and came out as the victor. Antu's blindness because of his rage made him threw the defeated Pillan that fought against him to the land and sunk them to its depths, then he put rocks, hills and mountains over them, forming more mountain ranges and to the most powerful one who was Peri'Pillan, he buried him and put the tallest mountains covering him up. This action proved to be not enough to put off his Fire's light, and as Peri'Pillan and his allies try to free themselves the land itself shakes and tremors happen. Sometimes their fire is able to briefly escape their mountain prisons, as the smoke and fire columns come out from volcanoes.
Meanwhile the stars (Wangulen) fearing retribution cried as they pleaded for mercy, and their tears fell between and on top of the newly risen mountains, forming lakes or freezing into snow in the mountain
tops. Seeing this, Antu decided to be merciful and only weakened their light so it was slight and pale so none of them could rival Kueyen (his wife, the moon).
Between the body of the fallen were the sons of Antu and Peri'Pillan, and their respective wives cried in sorrow at their lose, so Antu felt for them and decided to bring them back to life, but in new forms, as giant snakes. Peri'Pillan's son was to be known as Coi Coi-Vilu, while Antu's own son was to be known as Ten Ten-Vilu, as these were to be rivals as their fathers, and to do as the elder spirits willed. As a result of the fight, the Earth moved so strongly, that the imprisoned malignant spirits (We'kufe) were freed from it and began roaming the land. All the universe was left with no harmony.
The word "We'kufe" can be attribute to any spirit that came from Minchen'Mapu, which is located to the West beyond the land (Mapu). These beings originated from the forces or energies that disturb and/or destroy the world's natural order, or the perfect harmony of the world of goodness (Wenu'Mapu). Unlike other living beings or spirits that possess their own soul, We'kufes are soulless.
We'kufes have the ability to to change into solid material form and can governs a body, a person or an agent. Also they can have evanescent ghost-like bodies or be extra-corporeal spirit-like entities. They project from or originate in the We'kufe's energy frequency, which is characterized by its propensity to disturb and/or destroy the balance of the world's natural order. In this way cause illness, destruction, death, and other calamities. Many of the We'kufes allow themselves to be manipulated by sorcerers who work with black magic and use them as mystic mediums for obtaining power. The sorcerers must voluntarily become the servant of the We'kufes and then cause illness or death of certain chosen people.
In order to use a malignant spirit to make someone ill, the sorcerer must introduce the evil spirit into the body of the victim. This is generally achieved by using a small fragment of anything connected to the symbolic representation of the frequencies of wood's world (pleasurable feelings of any kind), or to the frequencies of the world of the drinkers symbolized by 'the straw,' or to the frequencies in which part of the lizard's body works, or directly to an attack by ghost-like forms or disembodied spirits that direct the disruptive We'kufe energy towards the victim.
We'kufes also have the power to capture and slave the spirit of the recently deceased (Pillu) that is reluctant to leave its body before it transforms into a more mature spirit (alwe). A sorcerer can also take advantage of this power by using a malignant spirit (Wa'kufe) as a means for trapping a Pillu. Once it is trapped a Pillu can also be used to hurt other people.
We'kufes can also be controlled by the Pillan and N'gen spirits of goodness, or at least these light spirits will allow the malignant spirits to harm the individual or community if they have broken one of the spirit's rules by: behaving badly, not carrying out the prayer thanking the spirits (Guill'Atun ritual) for their beneficence, asking for well being etc., mocking or disbelieving a healer, eating food that was caught or harvested without previously asking for permission from the N'gen of the animal, vegetable, or mineral that was consumed, or most importantly by not respecting the Laws of symbols, customs, and beliefs of the community (Ad'Mapu).
As long as the people of the community obey the laws and perform the sacred prayer ceremony, then the N'gen and Pillan spirits will continue to keep the We'kufes under control.
Central to Mapuche cosmology is the idea of a Creator (N'gene'chen) embodied in 4 components: an older man (fu'cha/ fu'tra/ chau'chau), an older woman (kude/ kuse), a young man and a young woman.
Also, Mapuche cosmology is informed by complex notions of spirits that coexist with humans and animals in the natural world, and daily circumstances can dictate spiritual practices.
The most well-known major communal event of extreme spiritual and social importance is the ritual ceremony known as "general prayer (N'gill'atun)." Many other ceremonies are practiced, and not all are for public or communal participation but are sometimes limited to family.
The main group of deities/ spirits are the ancestral spirits (Pillan and Wangulen), nature's spirits (N'gen) and the evil spirits (We'kufe).
The Pillan is a powerful and respected male spirit. It can cause disasters since the good spirit punishes (allowing evil spirits to punish) with drought or flood, earthquake, or diseases. The principal Pillan is the Antu who governs the other Pillans. Antu represents the Sun, as well as light, wisdom and spirit, and is opposite to darkness and the physical world and is married to the spirit who represent the Moon. When she was picked as wife, as she was the most luminous, great unrest started between the stars. the red spirit of fire Peri'Pillan was behind this, as he felt envious at Antu. Antu himself resented Peri'Pillan as the fire was brighter than the gold. peace ceased and darkness came into perspective. The two Pillan fought in battle, and the spirits took sides in battle. Many Pillan and all the stars (Wangulen) supported Peri'Pillan. The battle was long and very violent, the land moved, as well as the Underworld (Minche Mapu) and the Upper World (Anka'Wenu). As the fight extended, the sons of the elder spirits had grown and in desire to take their parents' place, fought against them. Both Antu and Peri'Pillan, angered by this, grabbed their giant sons by their long hair and threw them down, they fell on the rocky ground. As they fell their hard bodies marked the land, forming the tall mountains as they were broken into pieces and sunk into the depth of the land.
Finally Antu topped Peri'Pillan and came out as the victor. Antu's blindness because of his rage made him threw the defeated Pillan that fought against him to the land and sunk them to its depths, then he put rocks, hills and mountains over them, forming more mountain ranges and to the most powerful one who was Peri'Pillan, he buried him and put the tallest mountains covering him up. This action proved to be not enough to put off his Fire's light, and as Peri'Pillan and his allies try to free themselves the land itself shakes and tremors happen. Sometimes their fire is able to briefly escape their mountain prisons, as the smoke and fire columns come out from volcanoes.
Meanwhile the stars (Wangulen) fearing retribution cried as they pleaded for mercy, and their tears fell between and on top of the newly risen mountains, forming lakes or freezing into snow in the mountain
tops. Seeing this, Antu decided to be merciful and only weakened their light so it was slight and pale so none of them could rival Kueyen (his wife, the moon).
Between the body of the fallen were the sons of Antu and Peri'Pillan, and their respective wives cried in sorrow at their lose, so Antu felt for them and decided to bring them back to life, but in new forms, as giant snakes. Peri'Pillan's son was to be known as Coi Coi-Vilu, while Antu's own son was to be known as Ten Ten-Vilu, as these were to be rivals as their fathers, and to do as the elder spirits willed. As a result of the fight, the Earth moved so strongly, that the imprisoned malignant spirits (We'kufe) were freed from it and began roaming the land. All the universe was left with no harmony.
The word "We'kufe" can be attribute to any spirit that came from Minchen'Mapu, which is located to the West beyond the land (Mapu). These beings originated from the forces or energies that disturb and/or destroy the world's natural order, or the perfect harmony of the world of goodness (Wenu'Mapu). Unlike other living beings or spirits that possess their own soul, We'kufes are soulless.
We'kufes have the ability to to change into solid material form and can governs a body, a person or an agent. Also they can have evanescent ghost-like bodies or be extra-corporeal spirit-like entities. They project from or originate in the We'kufe's energy frequency, which is characterized by its propensity to disturb and/or destroy the balance of the world's natural order. In this way cause illness, destruction, death, and other calamities. Many of the We'kufes allow themselves to be manipulated by sorcerers who work with black magic and use them as mystic mediums for obtaining power. The sorcerers must voluntarily become the servant of the We'kufes and then cause illness or death of certain chosen people.
In order to use a malignant spirit to make someone ill, the sorcerer must introduce the evil spirit into the body of the victim. This is generally achieved by using a small fragment of anything connected to the symbolic representation of the frequencies of wood's world (pleasurable feelings of any kind), or to the frequencies of the world of the drinkers symbolized by 'the straw,' or to the frequencies in which part of the lizard's body works, or directly to an attack by ghost-like forms or disembodied spirits that direct the disruptive We'kufe energy towards the victim.
We'kufes also have the power to capture and slave the spirit of the recently deceased (Pillu) that is reluctant to leave its body before it transforms into a more mature spirit (alwe). A sorcerer can also take advantage of this power by using a malignant spirit (Wa'kufe) as a means for trapping a Pillu. Once it is trapped a Pillu can also be used to hurt other people.
We'kufes can also be controlled by the Pillan and N'gen spirits of goodness, or at least these light spirits will allow the malignant spirits to harm the individual or community if they have broken one of the spirit's rules by: behaving badly, not carrying out the prayer thanking the spirits (Guill'Atun ritual) for their beneficence, asking for well being etc., mocking or disbelieving a healer, eating food that was caught or harvested without previously asking for permission from the N'gen of the animal, vegetable, or mineral that was consumed, or most importantly by not respecting the Laws of symbols, customs, and beliefs of the community (Ad'Mapu).
As long as the people of the community obey the laws and perform the sacred prayer ceremony, then the N'gen and Pillan spirits will continue to keep the We'kufes under control.
Friday, June 1, 2018
EUROPEAN BLACK PLAGUE BEFORE DISCOVERING AMERICA.
The Black Plague (1347-1352) is one of the worst pandemic catastrophes in human history -a deadly plague that ravaged Europe, resulting in the death of an estimated 75 to 200 million people (about one-third of Europe 's population on average), changing forever their social and economic fabric. In the early 14th century, the world population was only about 500 million as a whole before the Black Plague struck. About two-thirds of the victims died within three to four days of developing symptoms. Most of the rest lingered about two weeks and then died. The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century.
A small number of people were naturally resistant to the plague due to unusual protein structures. The bacteria's enzymes couldn't interact with these proteins easily. This protein structure seemed to be tied to a specific gene. The 0.2% of people who were immune back in the 1300s survived the genetic bottleneck and then passed on this immunity to a significant number of their modern descendants.
The pandemic Black Plague lasted until 1352, but smaller outbreaks continued off-and-on for decades.
For instance, Paris and Rouen had epidemics in 1421, 1432, 1433, and an especially bad outbreak in 1437-39. Between 1453-1504, outbreaks died down dramatically across Europe when food from the New World (Andean Highland products) came into their hands. The last major outbreaks were in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, such as the London outbreaks in 1665 and 1722. After that, cholera, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis were much more significant causes of death, but small outbreaks in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Greece have been reported as late as 1845; in Russia as late as 1879; and in Indonesia in 1959.
Some places (like certain islands off the Western coast of Scotland) were completely unaffected. The cities of Genoa and Dublin are more typical cases in which 35% of the population died. In Paris (which was already suffering from an earlier famine), the population fell by 42%. The mortality was even higher in other regions, such as 66% in Caux, Normandy, and 90% in Florence, Italy. In the worst cases, mortality was absolute (100%). For example, over 3,000 villages in France were completely emptied, with the entire population dead or fled. Similar numbers of "ghost towns" were left as shells in other parts of Europe and Britain. In these places, every single person died,and forest grew over the streets. De-populated Europe forgot they ever existed. Many of them not re-discovered until the rise of aerial photographic surveys in the years after World War I (1918).
Most scholars think the Black Plague was a bacterial strain however a minority group of them think that it was actually a mutation of cattle murrain. It is also possible the Black Plague might not have been a single disease but rather a combination of several at once or a series of different ones over many decades.
Today, the Plague is best known as the Bubonic Plague. The name "bubonic"comes from the Latin word "bubo" meaning "a pustule, growth, or swelling." The "bubonic bacteria," carried by a separate species of fleas, can survive indefinitely in its normal host, the European black rat. However, a desperate flea would mistakenly bite a human. Once the human is infected, the plague bacterium can spread for a few weeks by human fleas hopping from person to person and biting them. Once the bacteria have built up in the human body, it evolves into an airborne version "the pneumatic strain" that infiltrates the blood vessels in the lungs, and can be transmitted by airborne water particles from coughs and sneezes. this strain is the one that is truly lethal. In Florence, archaeologists exhuming 15th-century mass graves found a mutant version of the plague. Examining the molecular structure of the strain it shows that the plague strains extant in the 1400s had twice as many protein receptor sites as any known modern strain. It must have been wickedly contagious. In South West of Edin'Burg, exhumed bodies from another mass grave for plague, spores for anthrax were found in the victims' bodies, so a mixture of anthrax and plague might have been running concurrently. That is even worse because anthrax can be transmitted by bodily fluids (saliva, sweat, tears) and by skin contact generally.
Fever, trembling, weakness, and profuse sweating are the initial symptoms of the "Bubonic" version. In the "Pneumatic" version, coughing and parched throats are additional symptoms. In advanced cases, the most distinctive sign is the agonizing rise of dark "buboes"-sensitive black-blue swellings under the armpit and near the groin-spots where dead blood and pus builds up in the lymph nodes. Untreated, the person will died from the buildup of dead blood in these buboes.
The first historical record of the Black Plague is in the dry plains of Central Asia (from Caspian Sea in the West to China in the East and from Afghanistan in the South to Russia in the North) in 1338/39. It reached China and India in 1346, and then it travelled along the Silk Road (network of trade routes that connected the East and West). It infected the Black Sea port of Kaffa by 1347. One legend says that the Mongols infected the city of Kaffa by shooting infected corpses over the walls with catapults. Fleeing ships then carried infected rats to Constantinople, Italy, and Marseilles during the year 1347. In 1348, the disease appeared in England. In 1349, it spread to Scotland. In 1350, it stalked Scandinavia. In 1351, it arrived in Kiev, Ukraine.
The disease hit rural farm workers so labor became scarce, accelerating the demise of the feudal system of government. This ultimately encouraged the rise of the middle class. Trade was affected considerably far worse than the Great Depression in America. Paradoxically, the psychologically effects on the mind of the survivors led them to the desire of social stability in general, even as it gnawed away at the feudal network and at the stability of the church the Plague caused long-term damage to the religious institutions of the time. The Pope declared a worldwide indulgence, allowing the laity to perform funerals. Good priests, who would stick around to administer last rites were likely to contract the disease and thus die themselves. Bad priests would simply run off and hide. A serious shortage of quality priests came along and the religious instruction lowered its standards of theological training and literacy.
Europe did not regain a sense of optimism and hope until the Renaissance of the late 1500s.
A small number of people were naturally resistant to the plague due to unusual protein structures. The bacteria's enzymes couldn't interact with these proteins easily. This protein structure seemed to be tied to a specific gene. The 0.2% of people who were immune back in the 1300s survived the genetic bottleneck and then passed on this immunity to a significant number of their modern descendants.
The pandemic Black Plague lasted until 1352, but smaller outbreaks continued off-and-on for decades.
For instance, Paris and Rouen had epidemics in 1421, 1432, 1433, and an especially bad outbreak in 1437-39. Between 1453-1504, outbreaks died down dramatically across Europe when food from the New World (Andean Highland products) came into their hands. The last major outbreaks were in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, such as the London outbreaks in 1665 and 1722. After that, cholera, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis were much more significant causes of death, but small outbreaks in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Greece have been reported as late as 1845; in Russia as late as 1879; and in Indonesia in 1959.
Some places (like certain islands off the Western coast of Scotland) were completely unaffected. The cities of Genoa and Dublin are more typical cases in which 35% of the population died. In Paris (which was already suffering from an earlier famine), the population fell by 42%. The mortality was even higher in other regions, such as 66% in Caux, Normandy, and 90% in Florence, Italy. In the worst cases, mortality was absolute (100%). For example, over 3,000 villages in France were completely emptied, with the entire population dead or fled. Similar numbers of "ghost towns" were left as shells in other parts of Europe and Britain. In these places, every single person died,and forest grew over the streets. De-populated Europe forgot they ever existed. Many of them not re-discovered until the rise of aerial photographic surveys in the years after World War I (1918).
Most scholars think the Black Plague was a bacterial strain however a minority group of them think that it was actually a mutation of cattle murrain. It is also possible the Black Plague might not have been a single disease but rather a combination of several at once or a series of different ones over many decades.
Today, the Plague is best known as the Bubonic Plague. The name "bubonic"comes from the Latin word "bubo" meaning "a pustule, growth, or swelling." The "bubonic bacteria," carried by a separate species of fleas, can survive indefinitely in its normal host, the European black rat. However, a desperate flea would mistakenly bite a human. Once the human is infected, the plague bacterium can spread for a few weeks by human fleas hopping from person to person and biting them. Once the bacteria have built up in the human body, it evolves into an airborne version "the pneumatic strain" that infiltrates the blood vessels in the lungs, and can be transmitted by airborne water particles from coughs and sneezes. this strain is the one that is truly lethal. In Florence, archaeologists exhuming 15th-century mass graves found a mutant version of the plague. Examining the molecular structure of the strain it shows that the plague strains extant in the 1400s had twice as many protein receptor sites as any known modern strain. It must have been wickedly contagious. In South West of Edin'Burg, exhumed bodies from another mass grave for plague, spores for anthrax were found in the victims' bodies, so a mixture of anthrax and plague might have been running concurrently. That is even worse because anthrax can be transmitted by bodily fluids (saliva, sweat, tears) and by skin contact generally.
Fever, trembling, weakness, and profuse sweating are the initial symptoms of the "Bubonic" version. In the "Pneumatic" version, coughing and parched throats are additional symptoms. In advanced cases, the most distinctive sign is the agonizing rise of dark "buboes"-sensitive black-blue swellings under the armpit and near the groin-spots where dead blood and pus builds up in the lymph nodes. Untreated, the person will died from the buildup of dead blood in these buboes.
The first historical record of the Black Plague is in the dry plains of Central Asia (from Caspian Sea in the West to China in the East and from Afghanistan in the South to Russia in the North) in 1338/39. It reached China and India in 1346, and then it travelled along the Silk Road (network of trade routes that connected the East and West). It infected the Black Sea port of Kaffa by 1347. One legend says that the Mongols infected the city of Kaffa by shooting infected corpses over the walls with catapults. Fleeing ships then carried infected rats to Constantinople, Italy, and Marseilles during the year 1347. In 1348, the disease appeared in England. In 1349, it spread to Scotland. In 1350, it stalked Scandinavia. In 1351, it arrived in Kiev, Ukraine.
The disease hit rural farm workers so labor became scarce, accelerating the demise of the feudal system of government. This ultimately encouraged the rise of the middle class. Trade was affected considerably far worse than the Great Depression in America. Paradoxically, the psychologically effects on the mind of the survivors led them to the desire of social stability in general, even as it gnawed away at the feudal network and at the stability of the church the Plague caused long-term damage to the religious institutions of the time. The Pope declared a worldwide indulgence, allowing the laity to perform funerals. Good priests, who would stick around to administer last rites were likely to contract the disease and thus die themselves. Bad priests would simply run off and hide. A serious shortage of quality priests came along and the religious instruction lowered its standards of theological training and literacy.
Europe did not regain a sense of optimism and hope until the Renaissance of the late 1500s.
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