the story

In 1998, Colombian Professor Juan David Morales published a paper titled “Archaeoastronomy in the Muisca Territory“. In a myth known as “Bochica’s Road,” which tells the story of the sun god Bochica, Morales identified a long-distance alignment connecting the temple’s of the sun in Bogotá and Sogamoso, which were both dedicated to Bochica.

Morales revealed “Muisca oral myths encode long-distance alignments which defined territories and served as pilgrimage routes, often linking distant temples with natural places mentioned in creation mythology”.

A central Muisca creation myth called “Bochica’s Staff” tells the story of Chia, the goddess of the moon, causing a flood in the savanna. Her husband, the sun god Bochica, used “a golden staff” to create the Tequendama Falls which ended the flood and founded the Musica civilization.

Applying Morales’ methodology to the myth of Bochica’s Staff, a team of explorers identify a long-distance alignment connecting the places mentioned in the myth, from the Tequendama Falls, the largest waterfall in Colombia, to the temple of the moon in Chia.

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MAP OF BOCHICA’S STAFF

 
 
 

Archaeoastronomy

Ancient Andean cultures observed and interpreted phenomena in the sky and developed complex agricultural, civic and ritual calendars based on highly-accurate astronomical observations.

In Muisca Colombia “Xeques” (shamanic-astronomers) made astronomical platforms for taking observations against fixed horizons. They sanctified the “huacas” (natural shrines) like mountains, hilltops, waterfalls, caves, ravines and largest rocks, located on these alignments.

Applying a suite of non-intrusive archaeological techniques including aerial mapping, metal detecting, and 3D reconstructions the investigation team plots the huacas and indigenous sites of power along the course of the Bochica’s Staff alignment.

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