The Economy of the Taironas Was characterized by being self-sufficient and functioning independently of commerce. The geographical location of the Taironas in the mountains allowed them to work the land and obtain products from it on different thermal floors.
The Taironas Were a pre-Columbian tribe located in the mountains northeast of Colombia. Its history can be traced back more than 2000 years and much of its territory is known today as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Burgos, 2016).
The geographical location of the Taironas in the mountains, allowed the realization of agricultural activities, mainly the sowing of the corn. Being located at different levels from the coast to the top of the mountains, they could take resources from both the sea and the mountains. In this way, some Taironas could dedicate themselves to the sowing and others to the fishing.
The economy of the Taironas reached high levels of development. This allowed them to evolve as one of America's most technologically advanced pre-Columbian civilizations. Guided by a vertical model of construction of settlements at different heights of the mountains with paved roads and hanging bridges to move from one place to another.
The descendants of the Taironas today are known as the Wiwa, the Arhuacos, the Kankuamo and the Kogui. These tribes still retain some vestiges of the economic system of their ancestors, although extensive changes were introduced with the arrival of the Spaniards to America in the fifteenth century (Davis & Ferry, 2004).
Economic model
The economic model of the Taironas was vertical, following the principles of pre-Inca civilizations south of the Andes Mountains.
This model is characterized by having a central population located in the highest part of the mountains and several smaller settlements dispersed in different productive zones. Each settlement specialized in a specific productive area.
The elite Tairona had control of resources. In this sense, the elite would manage the resources dispersed in the different populations bordering the main city, mainly in the coastal zones.
The administration of the different resources, resulting from the productive specialization of the settlements, allowed the development of a more complex sociopolitical structure, with the presence of a supreme Chief in each community.
In the case of the Taironas, there are two possible scenarios or stages of economic organization that explain how they could achieve a high level of productive specialization in fields such as agriculture, pottery and metallurgy (Dever, 2007).
Step 1: Upward Economy
The productive specialization and the economic model of the Taironas initially depended on a decentralized social power structure.
Tasks such as sowing and harvesting crops, pottery, metallurgy, weaving, among others, were carried out thanks to the presence of a collective feeling in the communities. These communities were usually made up of members of the same family and had a horizontal power structure.
The orientation towards a common objective, allowed the development of productive activities and the similarity ethnic and affinity in the necessities, it took to that there was a distribution of the produced thing between the members of the community and bordering settlements. This pattern of economic development gradually led to the growth of settlements and villas.
Each village was responsible for meeting the needs of members of its community and neighboring communities. In this way, each village specialized in the production of specific goods that later would be exchanged with members of other communities through an economic model alien to hierarchical structures (Langebaek, 2005).
This model of upward economy was born of the domestic economy, where an administrator or boss was not necessary to make an efficient allocation of resources.
However, this economic model where each village specialized in the production of specific goods, would lead to the dependency between villas, and to the centralization of power in the head of a chief administrator.
Step 2: Downward Economy
Once the relations of dependence between villas were created, it became indispensable to choose leaders of each village in charge of managing commercial relations.
These leaders became the elite that later evolved to centralize the control of the resources in head of a supreme Head. In this case, the economy would lose its ascendant dye and take a downward model.
The appearance of the supreme chiefs was due in large part to the economic inequality existing between different tribes Taironas. In this way, each boss would be in charge of dominating a territory and having control over several communities at the same time, gaining control over a vast sector of the economy and resources.
The logic of the downward economy suggests that the boss will have the capacity to manage the production of the communities in his charge, and benefit the members of the same with the produced.
The essence of this model would lead to the later development of more complex economic relations, resulting from the interaction between centralized powers and the hierarchy of societies.
Commercial activities and subsistence
With the arrival of the Spaniards, the Taironas communities would construct cultivable terraces and rock walls to protect crops. Some of these constructions can be observed today in the territory of the Koguis.
For the Taironas, the cultivation of basic foods such as maize was fundamental to their economy, however, the hardness of this food led the Taironas to develop cooking techniques that allowed them to soften, knead and eat it in a softer state.
Over the centuries and the emergence of Creole peasants after the arrival of the Spanish, food crops such as banana, auyama and fruit trees were introduced. In this way the Tairona economy was modified and its crops were moved to higher parts of the mountains (Quilter & Hoopes, 2003).
Objects of daily use
The material culture of the Taironas was quite simple. For this reason, objects of daily use such as clothing, kitchen utensils, amphorae and containers, and even hammocks, were quite simple and were given little importance. Therefore, these objects did not occupy a representative place within the Tairona economy (Minahan, 2013).
Commercial exchange
Trade relations existed for centuries within the Taironas tribes. The exchange of primitive sugar and bricks with peasants from other lands and even Creole peasants after the arrival of the Spanish allowed the Taironas to spread the use of various specialized products such as iron tools, salts and sun-dried foods.
Division of Labour
Within the Tairona economy, both men and women worked the land, helping with the construction and manufacturing of garments and utensils.
However, there was a marked difference in gender, where men were the only ones who could engage in pottery, coca planting, and maintenance of infrastructure, and women had to carry water, cook, and wash their clothes. (City, 2016)
References
- Burgos, A.B. (May 12, 2016). Colombia a small country COLOSSAL HISTORY . Obtained from The Taironas: colombiashistory.blogspot.com.co.
- City, T.L. (2016). The Lost City . Retrieved from"The Tayrona People: laciudadperdida.com".
- Davis, W., & Ferry, S. (2004). National Geographic . Obtained from Keepers Of The World: ngm.nationalgeographic.com.
- Dever, A. (2007). The Tairona Economy. In A. Dever, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF A SPECIALIZED COMMUNITY IN CHENGUE (Pages 16-18). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.
- Langebaek, C.H. (2005). Background: The archaeological sequence. In C. H. Langebaek, The Pre-Hispanic Population of the Santa Marta Bays (Page 8). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.
- Minahan, J.B. (2013). Arahuacos. In J. B. Minahan, Ethnic Groups of the Americas: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia (Pp. 36-38). Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.
- Quilter, J., & Hoopes, J.W. (2003). The Political Economy of Pre-Columbian Gold Work: Four Examples from Northern South America. In Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia (Pages 259-262). Washington D.C: Dumbarton Oaks.