Muisca Feasts and Chiefs in El Infiernito, Colombia: An Analysis of the Relation between Festivals and Political Organization

Abstract

This paper evaluates the hypothesis that feasting among the Muiscas served for political centralization in a society where chiefly power was based on the control of fertile lands and labor. Based on the archaeological information regarding feastings at the site of El Infiernito, mainly bowls and jars, as well as on the analysis of the distribution of soils and demographic dynamics, it is concluded that, although feasting could have contributed to the prestige of chiefs, their power was not based on the control of fertile lands or labor.