THE PREHISTORY OF THE COLOMBIAN TERRITORY: THE RESULTS OF THE ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE CHECUA SITE (MUNICIPALITY OF NEMOCON, CUNDINAMARCA DEPARTMENT)

This paper shows the results of the archaeological investigation, carried out in November-December 2010 on the archaeological site of Checua, located in the Bogotà Savanna, Municipality of Nemocón, Cundinamarca Department, within the scientific research program of the Italian Ministry of the Foreign Affairs. The interest of the scientific research program is to give a contribution, through the application of innovative methodologies, to the acquisition and the data processing in an innovative way and that contribute to bring useful information to the interpretation of the archaeological contexts, mainly prehistoric sites, connected with the most ancient human presence on the Colombian territory. The study of the Colombian prehistory had the contribution of Correal and Van der Hammen that have been documented archaeological evidences dated back from 12.500 years BP: the El Abra site, a series of rocky shelters located in the Municipality of Tocancipà, the Tibitò site, with a dating between 11.000 and 10.000 years BP, the rocky shelters of Tequendama, in the Municipality of Soacha, dated between 10.000 and 8.500 years BP, the Aquazuque area, in the Municipality of Soacha, dated between 5.000 and 3.000 years BP and finally the Vistahermosa site, in the Municipality of Mosquera, dated back to 3.000 years BP. In the High Valley of the River Checua, from the decade of 1960, several archaeological studies have been realized, documenting evidences of the human presence dated to more than 9.000 years BP. The most representative sites of the Nemocòn region, dated back to 9.000-3.000 years BP are: Nemocón IV; Checua I y II; Rasgatá; Alto Checua I, II y III; Piedra Pintada. The Checua site instead allows to reconstruct a cultural sequence, attributable to hunter-gatherers open-air sites, that approximately are dated from 8.500 to 3.000 years BP. The area extends for about 300 m2; a systematic excavation, with the preliminary application of an ERT survey, has been carried out by the Italian team in the 2010, recording the evidences of four living floors, very rich in palethnological and paleonthological remains, burials dated back from 7.800 years BP to 3.000 BP; the archaeological materials numerically increases from the older archaeosurface (8.200 BP) to the younger one (3.000 BP). The information obtained have permitted to deep the study of the paleoenvironmental, anthropological, genetical, archaeological context of the Savanna Bogotà within the most ancient prehistoric evidences of the Colombian territory.