The economy of the muisca chiefdoms was marked by markets and autonomy of communities, as well as a system of exploitation of multiple North Andean eco-zones.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 116-120 Politically, the muisca chiefs or caciques had the function of redistributing an accumulated surplus of goods in a system of exchange called tamsa, erroneously translated as "tribute".Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 47-51 Additionally, economic activity was also linked to political and religious activities associated with Chibchacum, god of merchants.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 117
The Muisca economy was self-sufficient regarding the basic supplies, thanks to the advanced technologies of the agriculture on raised terraces by the people. Various pathways of goods existed throughout muisca territory,Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987 and markets were held in the cercados of chiefs,Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 116 except in the territory of the Bogotá chiefdom.Ana María Boada Rivas, The Evolution of Social Hierarchy in a Muisca Chiefdom of the Northern Andes of Columbia, 2007, p. 9 Chiefs participated in markets to show their prestige.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Regional Archaeology in the Muisca Territory: A Study of the Fúquene and Susa Valleys, 1995, p. 29 Trade relations with other chibcha language-groups, like the Guane, were conducted without a muisca advantage.Camilo Barrios, Los Guanes: Una comunidad periférica?, p. 41 Exchange with other groups, not of the chibcha language family, was done to acquire luxury goods for chiefs, and wasn't conducted in cercados.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 117-120 Due to the absence of currency, the naming of places of trueque as "markets" has been criticized, however.
Apart from agriculture, the Muisca were well developed in the production of different crafts, using the raw materials traded with surrounding indigenous peoples. Famous are the golden and tumbaga objects made by the Muisca. Contrary to the writings of the colonial-era chroniclers, there was no uniform "currency" (neither so-called "tejuelos", "santillos" nor pearl necklaces), though blankets sometimes had an almost general value.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 127-129
Mining was important for the Muisca, who were called "The Salt People" because of their salt mines in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa. Like their western neighbours, the Muzo -who were called "The Emerald People"- they mined emeralds in their territories, mainly in Somondoco. Carbon was found throughout the region of the Muisca in Eocene sediments and used for the fires for cooking and the production of salt and golden ornaments.
As the clear objective of the Spanish colonisers was to gain access to the rich mineral resources and the golden figures made by the Muisca, many primary accounts of the Muisca economy have been considered biased, misinterpreted or even outright false by later scholars. Pedro de Aguado, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Juan de los Barrios, first conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and many others have written about the economy of the Muisca. Later research, in many cases nuancing or even refuting the scriptures of the early Spanish writers, has been conducted by Carl Henrik Langebaek, Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff, Sylvia Broadbent, Jorge Gamboa Mendoza, Javier Ocampo López and others.
Background In the times before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, the central part of present-day Colombia; the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes was inhabited by the Muisca who were organised in loose confederations of rulers. The central authorities of Bacatá in the south and Hunza in the north were the zipa and zaque respectively, the iraca priest in sacred City of the Sun Sugamuxi, the Tundama of Tundama and various other independent caciques (chiefs). The Muisca spoke muysccubun; "language of the people".
The Muisca were polytheistic and their religion and mythology was closely connected with the natural area they were inhabiting. They had a thorough understanding of astronomical parameters and developed a complex luni-solar calendar; the Muisca calendar. According to the calendar they had specific times for sowing, harvest and the organisation of festivals where they sang, danced and played music and drank their national drink chicha in great quantities.
The Muisca mummified the most respected members of their community and the mummies were not buried, yet displayed in their enclosures and carried on their backs during warfare to impress their enemies.Eduardo londoño, Guerras y fronteras: Los límites territoriales del dominio prehispánico de Tunja, Museo del Oro-Banco de la República, 1993, p. 15Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 108
Their art is the most famous remnant of their culture, as living spaces, temples and other existing structures have been destroyed by the Spanish who colonised the Muisca territories. A primary example of their fine goldworking is the Muisca raft, together with more objects made of gold, tumbaga, ceramics and cotton displayed in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, the ancient capital of the southern Muisca.
Muisca economy Accounts of the Spanish conquistadores show the Muisca had a highly advanced and specialised economy based on a variety of sources of income. The main foundation of their economy was the agricultural development using raised terraces on the fertile plains and valleys of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The caciques did not control the production directly although surpluses were distributed among them.Kruschek, 2003, p.12 Excavations at the archaeological site El Infiernito did not provide evidence of a power structure based on economical differences.Langebaek, 2005, p.291 Social complexity and advanced status of economies are often measured based on the specialisation in craft production. The specialised crafts form an economical advantage and sign of social prestige over competing communities. This has been theorised in the case of the Muisca economy, yet certain research restricted to the Bogotá area has found little evidence to support that thesis. Explanations for the lack of archaeological evidence on wealth differences and relations between higher social classes and wealth have been given in the form of methodological issues, ethnohistorical exaggerations by the Spanish looking for gold and sampling issues.Kruschek, 2003, pp.231–239
The biased views of the Spanish on the Muisca economy and other characteristics of the Muisca society have been noted by various scholars and in recent years a re-examination of those primary accounts has been conducted, among others by Jorge Gamboa Mendoza.Gamboa Mendoza, 2016
The Muisca had no particular trading advantage in interactions with other chibcha peoples. However, some colonial writers claimed they did, including Juan de los Barrios, who wrote that the Muisca men were traders (hipa in the Muisca language) and extremely able in such matters; "The Muisca were so sharp in their dealings that no other Indian could equal them in matters of such dazzling ingenuity".Francis, 1993, p.48 The early Spanish writers have reported that the Muisca paid tribute to other caciques. It has been suggested, for instance by Carl Henrik Langebaek, that those "tributes" were a misinterpretation of the Spanish. The Muisca verb "to give, to present" was zebquisca and the word for "to give" was zequasca, zemnisca or zequitusuca.Francis, 1993, p.55
Redistributive system The Muisca chiefs accumulated, through various means, an accumulated surplus that was not, contrary to colonial chronicler's claims, used for personal enrichment, but distributed during feasts on special occasions. This process, falsely translated as "tribute" by the Spanish authorities (in search of pre-hispanic equivalents to colonial-era tribute),Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 47-50 was called tamsa, a word implying circulation of products from below to above and from above to below.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 47 This distributing role serves to maintain the chief's prestige and legitimacy,Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 51 while establishing new relations.Hope Henderson, Nicholas Ostler, Muisca settlement organization and chiefly authority at Suta, Valle de Leyva, Colombia: A critical appraisal of native concepts of house for studies of complex societies, 2005, p. 151 Similarly, the goodsstocked in the chief's houses were mainly used for religious purposes.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 50 This situation caused conflict between chiefs for prestige and legitimacy.
Feasts are organized for the re-construction of each individual's house, according to their means, but the main event of feasts, linked to the muisca agricultural calendar, was the construction of the chief's "enclosure", which can surround the entire settlement. Other occasions for tamsa were other religious ceremonies (besides ritual construction) or war.Carl Henrik Langebaek Rueda, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 50–51 This distributing function, however, was not institutionalized, and chiefs still profited from their role as temporary administrators of goods.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 127 Additionally, this system wasn't reciprocal, as reciprocity was only practiced between members of the elite.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 47–48
Micro-verticality Similarly to other regions of pre-hispanic South America, muisca households exploit various eco-zones, a system named "micro-verticality" by Carl Henrik Langebaek, the same name used for Ecuador's pre-hispanic economy.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 42–44 This system, present at the level of domestic units and chiefdoms alike, makes muisca communities autonomous in terms of access to ressources.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 118-119 Many muisca households possess a secondary house to have autonomous access to various economic resources, by traveling relatively short distances.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Los Muiscas: Historia Milenaria de un Pueblo Chibcha, 2019, p. 120 However, Langebaek considers his claims only as a "working hypothesis".Jorge Gamboa Mendoza, El Cacicazgo muisca en los años posteriores a la Conquista, p. 54
Colonial documents suggest various chiefdoms, among which that of Bogotá, had enclaves in the valley of Tena (where frosts are absent) to exploit its natural ressources.Carl Henrik Langebaek, Mercados, poblamiento e integración étnica entre los Muiscas SIGLO XVI, 1987, p. 43–44 However, archaeological studies conducted in the valley suggest it was largely autonomous of foreign powers.Pedro María Argüello García, Arqueología regional en el valle de Tena: un estudio sobre la microverticalidad muisca, p. 162–163
Agriculture