Latest news with #Muisca
Time of India
30-07-2025
- Time of India
5 lost cities that are still rumoured to exist!
The idea of a lost city has floated as legends and into the minds of people hidden deep in jungles, beneath oceans, or placed in forgotten deserts. These mysterious places fire up our imagination, feeding tales of treasure and nighttime stories, or vanished civilizations. Some lost cities are based on legends and centuries-old beliefs, while others were misunderstood cultural references. Despite centuries of debate and research, certain names keep coming back. While technology like satellite mapping and deep-sea scanning has helped to find out many ancient sites, these five legendary cities continue to linger on despite being undiscovered. The lost city of Atlantis Atlantis is one of the most famous lost cities that was first mentioned by the Greek philosopher Plato around 360 BCE. He described it as an advanced island civilization that sank beneath the sea 'in a single day and night of misfortune.' No archaeological evidence has ever confirmed its existence, and most scholars agree it was meant as an allegory rather than a real place. Despite this, it continues to fascinate and inspire books, movies, and oceanic expeditions to this day. The city of Gold- El Dorado El Dorado was originally a legend about a golden-covered ruler, not a city. It comes from an old story about a Musica tribal chief in what is now Colombia. According to the legend, this chief would cover his body in gold dust during a religious ritual and then wash it off in a sacred lake, offering gold and other valuables to the gods. King of El Dorado being painted with Gold dust Credits: Wikimedia commons Spanish explorers in the 16th century twisted this into the idea of a golden city hidden in South America. Inspired by Indigenous rituals like those of the Muisca people, the myth led to numerous failed expeditions. While ancient settlements have been found in the Amazon, no city of gold has ever appeared, just jungle, ruins, and reminders of colonial greed. Shambhala or the hidden kingdom of peace According to popular belief, this hidden kingdom is situated amid the Himalayas, but according to a Tibetan Buddhist belief, it is described as a mystical realm of harmony, wisdom, and enlightenment. Unlike other lost cities, Shambhala is not considered a physical place but a spiritual one, accessible only through deep personal transformation. It was never meant to be found with a map, though seekers from the West, including the Nazis in the 1930s, tried it. It remains a more spiritual vision than the actual city. Zerzura Zerzura is said to be a lost oasis city in the Sahara, 'white as a dove' and guarded by mysterious beings. First mentioned in medieval Arabic texts, it led to expeditions in the 20th century by explorers like László Almásy. While some remote oases were found, Zerzura itself was not. Historians now believe it may have been a metaphor, or an exaggerated account of real desert settlements long lost to sand and time. Thule (Credits: Wikimedia commons) Thule Thule was first mentioned by the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th century BCE as the northernmost land, 'beyond the known world.' It was thought to be a mysterious, icy place inhabited by unusual people. Over time, Thule came to symbolize the limits of the map. While it may have referred indirectly to Iceland or Norway, it was never a defined city. Today, it lives on more in literature and lore than archaeology.
Miami Herald
08-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
‘Striking' new species with ‘sapphire blue' wings discovered in Colombian Andes
In the high elevations of the Colombian Andes, scientists on a research expedition discovered 'an unusually blue-coloured and undeniably striking species' flying low, just above some bamboo thickets. The new species, Lymanopoda chysquyco, is one of just five butterflies in the Lymanopoda genus, comprised of 70 species, to have blue wings, according to a study published July 7 in the journal Zootaxa. The research team captured adults of the new species in September in the Páramo de Guerrero's high-altitude grasslands at an elevation of about 11,500 feet above sea level, the study said. One of the most remarkable findings associated with the discovery is that the new species bears a 'strong similarity' to Lymanopoda hazelana — a species found 800 miles away in southern Ecuador and northern Peru. According to the study, the 'intermediate Páramo regions of the Eastern and Central Colombian Cordillera and central Ecuador have been extensively surveyed,' but no populations of the new species or closely related species have ever been reported. Lymanopoda chysquyco has a wingspan of about 2 inches. Its wings are sapphire blue on top with a thick black border and small white spots. The underside of its wings are honey yellow and with rusty red with black patches, according to the study. Its blue wings may help it attract mates, be recognized by members of its own species, and reflect sunlight in the vast open Páramo habitat, according to the study. Researchers also named the species for this blue coloring, with 'chysquyco' meaning 'blue' in the local indigenous Muisca language. Researchers said it is unclear how Lymanopoda chysquyco ended up in such an extremely northern habitat, but two hypotheses have been presented. The first and favored theory is a process called vicariance, which suggests ancestors of Lymanopoda chysquyco were once widely and continuously distributed, perhaps from northern Colombia to southern Ecuador. But habitat and climate changes, as well as competition with other species, caused the extinction of populations in between, leaving Lymanopoda chysquyco as an 'isolated, relic population in its northern extremity.' The second hypothesis is long-distance dispersal, which would suggest the species moved from the south to the north, similar to what monarch butterflies do in North America, according to researchers. This theory is not as well-founded because this group of butterfly species are considered to be 'some of the weakest dispersers among butterflies,' according to the study. The research team included Tomasz W. Pyrcz, Pierre Boyer, Rafał Garlacz, Christer Fåhraeus, Miguel Gonzalo Andrade-C., Zsolt Bálint and Oscar Mahecha-J.
Metro
08-06-2025
- Science
- Metro
6,000-year-old mystery skeletons could rewrite human history
A collection of 6,000-year-old skeletons have been discovered in Colombia that do not match any indigenous human population in the region. Archaeologists believe the remains of hunter gatherers, discovered at theChecua site near the country's capital of Bogotá, could shine a fresh light on human history. Analysis of DNA of the 21 skeletons which date from 500 to 6,000 years ago has helped piece together how the unique genetic structure of the earliest beings to live in South America disappeared from later populations. Seven of the specimans were from the Checua period, while nine were from the later Herrera period around 2,000 years ago. A further three remains dated from the Muisca period, around 1,200 to 500 years and the last two were around 530 years old and from the Guane populations north of Bogotá. The study has found that the Checuan individuals did not share genetic with any other ancient groups, either in surrounding countries such as Brazil or Chile, or in North America. Lead author and PhD student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution in Germany, Kim-Louise Krettek, said that the findings show that there was a complete exchange in population in the Bogotá Altiplano highlands around 2,000 years ago. The Checua population was entirely replaced by those with DNA resembling ancient Panamanians and modern Chibchan-speaking groups from Costa Rica and Panama. Scholars still debate when the first humans arrived in South America, with evidence of life in Monte Verde II, iChile, as far back as 14,550 years ago. The new arrivals in the Bogotá Altiplano marked the beginning of the Herrera period around 2,800 years ago, with the tradition known for farming and pottery. Andrea Casas-Vargas, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and co-author of the study, said the complete erasure of a unique genetic lineage is rare in South America, where DNA continuity has been observed over long periods of time. She added that branches of the languages spoken by the immigrant Central American population who replaced the Checuans remain in use. But researchers believe the population change came about gradually by migration and cultural exchange rather than a military invasion, MailOnline reported. Further unknown populations may remain undiscovered and unexcavated, scientists believe, with the latest breakthrough possibly just the tip of the iceberg. Surrounding areas such as western Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have yet to be genetically analysed. More Trending 'Questions about history and origins touch upon a sensitive area of the self-perception and identity of the Indigenous population', said Professor Cosimo Prosth. As technology and research advances, more information is being uncovered about human history. In Indonesia, fragments of a human ancestor's skull dating back to 140,000 years were discovered among the sea floor. The skull fossil belonging to the Homo erectrus revealed that the human predecessor might have co-existed along its modern human relatives longer than has been thought. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Colombian presidential candidate 'fighting for life' after being shot in the head MORE: Network of Victorian tunnels discovered under massive Surrey sinkhole MORE: Scientists reveal truth behind 'UFO' spotted in major city with 'cryptic message'
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ancient DNA reveals mysterious Indigenous group from Colombia that disappeared 2,000 years ago
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A new analysis of ancient DNA from hunter-gatherers who lived millennia to centuries ago has revealed a previously unknown genetic lineage of humans who lived in what is now Colombia. People of this lineage lived near present-day Bogotá around 6,000 years ago but disappeared around 4,000 years later, according to a study published May 28 in the journal Science Advances. The findings could shed light on major cultural changes that occurred during that time. It's thought that the first Americans journeyed along the Bering Land Bridge from Asia during the last ice age and arrived in North America at least 23,000 years ago, according to trackways found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. It's still debated when the first people arrived in South America, but there's evidence of people at the site of Monte Verde II, in Chile, from 14,550 years ago. Some of the early Indigenous people who reached South America settled in the Altiplano, a plateau near what is now Bogotá. This region underwent several cultural shifts during the Early and Middle Holocene (11,700 to 4,000 years ago), and researchers already knew about the development of a type of ceramic pottery that emerged during the Herrera period beginning about 2,800 years ago. But how this technology came to the area is still a matter of debate. To investigate ancient population movements in the region, researchers sequenced genomes using samples from the bones and teeth of 21 skeletons from five archaeological sites in the Altiplano spanning a period of 5,500 years. These included seven genomes from a site known as Checua dating back 6,000 years, nine from the Herrera period around 2,000 years ago, three from the Muisca period, whose remains date to 1,200 to 500 years ago, and two from Guane populations north of Bogotá about 530 years ago. "These are the first ancient human genomes from Colombia ever to be published," study co-author Cosimo Posth, a paleogeneticist at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said in a statement. The genomes from the Checua site belonged to a relatively small group of hunter-gatherers, the team found. Their DNA isn't particularly similar to that of Indigenous North American groups, nor to any ancient or modern populations in Central or South America. "Our results show that the Checua individuals derive from the earliest population that spread and differentiated across South America very rapidly," study co-author Kim-Louise Krettek, a doctoral student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, said in the statement. But some 4,000 years later, that population had completely vanished. Evidence of their DNA wasn't present in later groups who inhabited the region, either. "We couldn't find descendants of these early hunter-gatherers of the Colombian high plains — the genes were not passed on," Krettek said. "That means in the area around Bogotá there was a complete exchange of the population." The findings suggest that cultural changes that occurred at the start of the Herrera period, such as the more widespread use of ceramics, were brought into the region by migrating groups from Central America into South America sometime between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. "In addition to technological developments such as ceramics, the people of this second migration probably also brought the Chibchan languages into what is present-day Colombia," study co-author Andrea Casas-Vargas, a geneticist at the National University of Colombia, said in the statement. "Branches of this language family are still spoken in Central America today." Chibchan speakers were widespread in the Altiplano at the time of European contact, and genetic markers linked to people who spoke Chibchan languages first appeared there 2,000 years ago. RELATED STORIES —Newly discovered 'ghost' lineage linked to ancient mystery population in Tibet, DNA study finds —'Mystery population' of human ancestors gave us 20% of our genes and may have boosted our brain function —Unknown human lineage lived in 'Green Sahara' 7,000 years ago, ancient DNA reveals The Chibchan-related ancestry may have spread and mixed with other groups on multiple occasions. The genetic composition of later Altiplano individuals is more similar to that of pre-Hispanic individuals from Panama than to Indigenous Colombians, suggesting some mixing in Colombia. Ancient remains from Venezuela also carry some Chibchan-related ancestry, though they aren't as closely linked to ancient Colombians. This suggests the possibility of multiple Chibchan language expansions into South America. Future studies could involve sequencing more ancient genomes in the Altiplano and nearby regions, the researchers wrote in the study. Such research might help narrow down when Central American populations arrived in the region and how widespread they became.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A New Way of Thinking About the Climate
In Bogotá, Colombia, where I am researching a unique Andean ecosystem, I've encountered the phrase 'Agua es vida' everywhere. From a city employee explaining why water rationing is necessary; from our nanny, who tells me that she would rather have days without electricity than without running water; from a man speaking about the pollution that mining precious metals for cellphone chips is causing on the Vaupés River. Water is life. The phrase has also been used as a rallying cry. Those organizing in opposition to pipelines in South Dakota, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island carry the dictum on their lips. I am tempted to dismiss it as cliché, an environmental platitude, yet there is something enchanting about these words, a kind of spell they cast, which gently tugs me toward some blunt, yet hard to grasp, truth. When Angela Auambari, a Muisca woman I was recently interviewing, said the phrase again, I asked her what she meant by it. 'You can put water in tubes to send it into our homes, and yet that water will always have a life of its own,' she told me. I explained that in grade school I was taught that a tree is alive, a bird is alive, but a lake is not. 'You and I are women; we give life,' Angela countered. She gestured to the open window above us, through which the laughter of my 1-year-old daughter traveled. 'The lakes up in the hills, the rivers that connect them to us, they, too, give life, and for this reason, they are alive. Agua es vida.' I understood what she meant. I even agreed with her. Still, what separates living, breathing beings from inanimate matter remains frustratingly set in my mind. Stones, no; seagulls, yes. The entire scientific tradition, from Descartes down to Linnaeus and Darwin, is built upon this division. Nevertheless, as climate change superheats the planet, things we have long been taught to think of as inert are springing into action: ice sheets splintering, flood-prone rivers devouring mountain towns, wildfires consuming Paradise. Those who live on the front lines of these eruptions don't have the luxury of encountering the Earth as anything other than animate. In his new book, Is a River Alive?, Robert Macfarlane, one of the most significant nature writers of his generation, attempts to unlearn this persistent and damaging distinction. By exploring four extraordinary bodies of water and the people and laws aiming to protect them, Macfarlane examines a question whose time has come, whether we like it or not. The current environmental catastrophe is a problem not only of missed emissions targets but also of the human imagination, as the writer Amitav Ghosh has argued. 'Our plight is a consequence of the ways in which certain classes of humans––a small minority, in fact––have actively muted others by representing them as brutes, as creatures whose presence on earth is solely material,' Ghosh argues in his 2022 book, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis. Human stories have historically refused to recognize that these others—both human others, and also things like gold, glaciers, bacteria, the jet stream; the list goes on and on—shape us just as much as we shape them. Ours is the language that makes extraction possible. People need new narratives, Ghosh insists, that foreground nonhuman actors in order to slow this planetary cataclysm. (The time for averting it has long since passed.) [Read: As the climate changes, so does fiction] Some view the solution through a legal lens. If we can recognize these 'brutes' as beings to whom basic rights are granted––think: the river's right to flow unimpeded and unpolluted––our relationship to nature will evolve. This kind of thinking has led to the rise of a growing global phenomenon known as the Rights of Nature movement. Ecuador, Panama, New Zealand, Bolivia, India, and even some cities in the United States have––thanks, in most cases, to pressure from local Indigenous groups––enshrined the rights of nature in their governing documents. These rights can serve as potent legal tools in the battle to stop practices such as fracking, mining, deforestation, and the damming of rivers. Early on in his book, Macfarlane recalls telling his son the title of his project. The son's response is plain: 'Well, duh, that's going to be a short book then, Dad, because the answer is yes!' Of course a river is alive. The pair have recently visited springs near their home. 'I cannot quite understand why we are going,' Macfarlane writes, 'but I hold hands with Will and together we cross the threshold between the hot light of the fields and the wood's cool.' There they discover that the water has all but disappeared after months of record-breaking heat. Through the book, father and son will return regularly to these springs, bearing witness to their changes. This punctuated in-placeness is what makes the three longer journeys Macfarlane undertakes––to an Andean cloud forest; a wounded river basin in Chennai, India; and an undamned river in uppermost Canada––land effectively. To learn to recognize the aliveness of what we have been taught to think of as inert matter demands, above all else, time and attention. To see a glacier retreat, we need to watch its movements for years; to know how a river wanders, we must walk its banks during both flood and drought. Most of the children in my life stare awestruck at the natural world. Trees speak, mountains ponder, hummingbirds have secret missions all their own. With time, this enchantment usually passes. Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi botanist and author, argues that this is, in part, a linguistic problem. In English, we use the impersonal pronoun it to speak of animals, plants, bodies of water, geographical features. We say 'a river that flows' as opposed to 'a river who flows.' As I read Is a River Alive?, I found myself underlining sentence after sentence as verbs animated the world. 'Leaves nod in the rain.' 'Mist hangs in scarves.' 'The light of the rising sun sets the world ringing like a singing bowl.' Macfarlane's prose offers a glorious invitation to return to one's child-mind and its inherent wonder. Agua es vida. And yet this deep sense of enchantment and play is tempered throughout by grief—not only grief at the ways in which humans have fundamentally perverted so many of Earth's most magnificent rivers, but also grief of a more personal nature. The researcher seeking rare fungi at the Los Cedros cloud forest, in Ecuador, has just lost her father; the young man fighting to restore India's Adyar River was beaten by his own; Wayne, Macfarlane's traveling companion down the Mutehekau Shipu, in Quebec, dreams of encountering a dear friend who recently died. In the face of these losses, each person travels to a water body, dwelling in and alongside them for weeks or years. Each is, in turn, overtaken by powers much larger than the self. And I won't say they are healed exactly, but their time spent on the rivers seems to lighten their individual burdens. 'Perhaps the body knows what the mind cannot,' Macfarlane writes. 'Days on the water have produced in me the intensifying feeling of somehow growing together with the river: not thinking with it, but being thought by it.' Then Wayne cautions, 'This kind of merging doesn't happen as an epiphany; it's a chronic rather than acute process.' [Read: What it would take to see the world completely differently] The Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie has critiqued Macfarlane's earlier work as falling into an environmental tradition that she shorthands as the 'Lone Enraptured Male.' In these stories, as she frames it, white men sally forth into the wilderness, where they have some kind of conversion experience, then return to normal society enlightened and changed. Some of that is certainly at work here, especially in the book's final journey, a two-week whitewater-kayaking trip. But for the most part, Macfarlane doesn't dwell too long on his own experience, opting instead to listen to those who live alongside the water bodies that he is, admittedly, just visiting. For instance, Macfarlane is accompanied at Los Cedros by a wide-ranging cast of characters: the mycologist in mourning, who discovers a new species of fungus that provides further protection to the forest; an expatriate who has camped there for years to keep the place from falling prey to illegal attempts at mining; a legal scholar 'trying to generate and accelerate the ripples of Rights of Nature thinking worldwide.' A few years prior to Macfarlane's sojourn, foreign companies purchased the right to potentially mine at Los Cedros. But when they began circling with chain saws, de-limbers, and log loaders, locals testified to the impact such actions would have on the river that runs deep into the forest. The judges who ruled that mining copper and gold would violate the river's rights—they also join Macfarlane at Los Cedros. Extending out from this water body is a rich web of human allies, each of whom plays a key role in its protection. Macfarlane makes this web visible. Unlearning our obsession with Cartesian thinking demands humility, a willingness to let the lines blur between us and that great plane of existence that we have learned to label as 'it.' Is a River Alive? illustrates what resistance to extraction can look like on the ground, and also what might be awakened in us when we begin to live with rivers, recognizing them as co-creators of our past, our present, and—more and more—our future. Article originally published at The Atlantic
