Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user. The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
A river flows through a valley at Tierradentro National Archaeological Park. The area around the river is densely forested. There are several rocks in and on the edges of the river. The Park is located in Inzá, a municipality of Cauca Department, within the Colombian Massif, and takes its name from the Tierradentro culture of ancient Colombia, which is closely related to the neighboring and also ancient San Agustín culture. The park was founded in 1945 by the Colombian government, declared a national monument in 1993 and made a World Heritage Site in 1995 by UNESCO. It is also home to the largest concentration of pre-Columbian hypogea in Latin America, which are decorated with elaborate anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and geometric murals and its own monumental statues, which also date back to a period between the 6th and 9th centuries. They represent a unique testimony to the daily life, ritual, and conception of burial space and afterlife of a developed and stable society and represent the high level of artistic and social culture of a region over its long prehispanic history. Richard Cross took this image during his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia between 1974-1976. He was assigned to work for the now Ministry of Culture and his assignment was to create a photographic record of Colombia’s archaeological remains. Un río corre por un valle dentro del Parque Nacional Arqueológico de Tierradentro. El área alrededor del río está densamente arbolada. Sobre los costados y dentro del río se observan varias piedras. El parque está ubicado en Inzá, un municipio del departamento de Cauca, dentro del masivo colombiano, y toma su nombre de la antigua cultura prehispánica de Tierradentro, la cual está vinculada a la también antigua cultura de San Agustín. El parque fue fundado en 1945 por el gobierno colombiano, declarado monumento nacional en 1993 y hecho Patrimonio de la Humanidad en 1995 por la UNESCO. El parque es sede de la concentración más grande de hipogeos prehispánicos, los cuales están decorados con murales antropomórficos, zoomorfos y geométricos, y sus propias estatuas monumentales, todos de una época entre los siglos VI y IX. Ambos representan un testimonio único de la vida cotidiana, rituales, y el concepto propio del espacio de entierro y de la vida después de la muerte de una sociedad desarrollada y estable. También representan el alto nivel de cultura social y artística de la región durante su largo pasado prehispánico. Richard Cross tomó esta imagen durante su estancia en Colombia como voluntario del programa estadounidense Peace Corps entre los años 1974-1976. Él fue asignado a trabajar para el ahora Ministerio de Cultura y su asignación fue crear un record fotográfico de los restos arqueológicos de Colombia.
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