Editing History of South America (section)

==== Muisca ====
[[File:Muisca Fine Golden Figures - Museo del Oro.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The fine goldworking of the Muisca formed the basis for the expedition from the Caribbean coast into the heart of the Andes, where they developed an advanced civilisation based on [[Muisca agriculture|agriculture]], [[Women in Muisca society|salt production]] and [[Muisca economy#Trade|trade]]]]
{{main|Muisca people|Muisca Confederation}}
Of these indigenous groups, the Muisca were the most advanced and formed one of the four grand civilisations in the Americas.<ref>Ocampo López, 2007, p.26</ref> With the [[Inca Empire|Inca]] in Peru, they constituted the two developed and specialised societies of South America. The Muisca, meaning "people" or "person" in their version of the Chibcha language; ''Muysccubun'',<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://muysca.cubun.org/muysca ''Muysca''] – Muysccubun Dictionary Online</ref> inhabited the [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]], the high plateau in the [[Cordillera Oriental (Colombia)|Eastern Ranges]] of the Colombian [[Andes]] and surrounding valleys, such as the [[Tenza Valley]].<ref name=websiteTenza>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tenza-boyaca.gov.co/informacion_general.shtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150602152114/http://www.tenza-boyaca.gov.co/informacion_general.shtml|title=Official website Tenza|archive-date=June 2, 2015}}</ref> Commonly set at 800 CE, their history succeeded the [[Herrera Period]].<ref>Kruschek, 2003</ref> The people were organised in a loose confederation of [[Muisca rulers|rulers]], later called the [[Muisca Confederation]].<ref name=Gamboa>Gamboa Mendoza, 2016</ref> At the time of the [[Spanish conquest of the Muisca|Spanish conquest]], their reign spread across the modern departments [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]] and [[Boyacá Department|Boyacá]] with small parts of southern [[Santander Department|Santander]] with a surface area of approximately {{convert|25000|km2|sqmi}} and a total population of between 300,000 and two million individuals.<ref name=pop>Although sources state "47,000", this cannot be correct as that would be whole Boyacá and Cundinamarca and include Panche, Lache and Muzo</ref><ref>{{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20160616184156/https://taller5-histdiseno3b.wikispaces.com/file/view/INFORMACION+DISE%C3%91O+PRECOLOMBINO+MUISCA.pdf Muisca Confederation area almost 47,000 km<sup>2</sup>, page 12]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ETh7T9ax6ekC&q=muiscas+2+millones&pg=PA43|title=Colombia: país fragmentado, sociedad dividida: su historia|first1=Marco|last1=Palacios|first2=Frank|last2=Safford|date=March 22, 2002|publisher=Grupo Editorial Norma|isbn=9789580465096|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The Muisca were known as "The Salt People", thanks to their extraction of and trade in [[halite]] from brines in various salt mines of which those in [[Zipaquirá]] and [[Nemocón]] are still the most important. This extraction process was the work of the [[Women in Muisca society|Muisca women]] exclusively and formed the backbone of their highly regarded [[Muisca economy#Trade|trading]] with other Chibcha-, Arawak- and Cariban-speaking neighboring indigenous groups.<ref>Groot, 2014</ref><ref name=Daza_p23>Daza, 2013, p. 23</ref> Trading was performed using salt, small cotton cloths and larger mantles and ceramics as [[barter trade]].<ref name=Francis_p44>Francis, 1993, p. 44</ref> Their economy was agricultural in nature, profiting from the fertile soils of the [[Pleistocene]] [[Lake Humboldt]] that existed on the Bogotá savanna until around 30,000 years BP. Their crops were cultivated using irrigation and drainage on elevated terraces and mounds.<ref name=Daza_p23/><ref>Ocampo López, 2007, p. 207</ref><ref>García, 2012, p. 43</ref> To the Spanish conquistadors they were best known for their advanced [[Muisca economy|gold-working]], as represented in the ''[[tunjo]]s'' (votive offer pieces), spread in [[List of Muisca museum collections|museum collections]] all around the world. The famous [[Muisca raft]], centerpiece in the collection of the [[Gold Museum, Bogotá|Museo del Oro]] in the Colombian capital [[Bogotá]], shows the skilled goldworking of the inhabitants of the Altiplano. The Muisca were the only pre-Columbian civilization known in South America to have used coins (''tejuelos'').<ref>Daza, 2013, p. 26</ref>

The gold and ''[[tumbaga]]'' (a gold-silver-copper alloy elaborated by the Muisca) created the legend of ''[[El Dorado]]''; the "land, city or man of gold". The Spanish conquistadors who landed in the Caribbean city of [[Santa Marta]] were informed of the rich gold culture and led by [[Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada]] and his brother [[Hernán Pérez de Quesada|Hernán Pérez]], organised the most strenuous of the Spanish conquests into the heart of the Andes in April 1536. After an expedition of a year, where 80% of the soldiers died due to the harsh climate, carnivores such as caimans and [[jaguar]]s and the frequent attacks of the indigenous peoples found along the route, [[Tisquesusa]], the ''[[zipa]]'' of Bacatá, on the [[Bogotá savanna]], was beaten by the Spanish on April 20, 1537, and died "bathing in his own blood", as prophesied by the [[mohan (legendary)|mohan]] Popón.<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://pueblosoriginarios.com/biografias/tisquesusa.html Biography Tisquesusa] – Pueblos Originarios</ref>