An approach to religious sociology of pre-hispanic Guane: death and funerary practices

Abstract

Traditionally the scientific treatment used to understand the different modes ofthought and human life has taken into account the economic, political, cultural andreligious spheres. In scientific practice, social phenomena present throughout humanhistory have been studied focusing in the culture, and in this specific context, the deathassociated with the religious phenomenon has gained relevance. As a consequence,the death in the religious context can be posed as a point of reference to the otherfields since it is marked by a symbolic character which is linked to the human projectand leads to consider each individual as a concrete, social and cultural human being.

This framework has precisely inspired this article about the funerary practices of pre-Hispanic Guane society, settled in the Santander region in eastern Colombia, nearthe border with Venezuela, between the 10th and the 16th centuries. From the data collected from archaeological excavations, we will make some observations aboutpossible cultural practices embodied in myths and rites which material and spiritualexpression elucidate several aspects about human activity, including symbolicdialogues about the life and death represented in the funerary architecture, themanagement of funerary spaces, burials, funerary offerings and the position of thecorpse which cultural manage as a whole set the limits between the sacred and theprofane realms in the context of their cosmovision or religious life.

Keywords: Religion, Guane, pre-Hispanic society, death.