The Evolution of Social Hierarchy in a Muisca Chiefdom of the Northern Andes of Colombia

An archaeological study of the evolution of social complexity in the Valle de Samacá, Colombia, between AD 800 and AD 1600. This research documents the development of social hierarchy in one Muisca community and assesses the roles of resource control, wealth accumulation, prestige, and authority, as well as the interplay between these things as registered in the archaeological evidence recovered from the site of El Venado. The archaeological and ethnohistorical data analyzed indicate that emerging elites at El Venado did not rely on a single economic or ideological strategy for building social hierarchy, but instead on several intertwined strategies for gaining and maintaining social prestige and wealth.Complete text in English and Spanish.