Construction of the Lost City town

History of the construction of the town  

Until a few years ago it was estimated that the construction of the town that lived in what is known as Ciudad Perdida dated from around 1000 AD. However, the most recent archaeological research conducted in the park found that the oldest housing areas are approximately 650 AD, and that they were occupied until at least 1100 or 1200 AD, therefore belong to the period known as Neguanje. Located in the northern sector of the settlement, they correspond to the first group of terraces and rings that is located at the end of the staircase that rises from the Buritaca river.

These old structures are buried under the terraces and rings that are in sight, which gives indications about the construction sequence of this sector and the central axis.

The terraces of this set of residences were apparently built in an ascending manner, like the sequence of terraces of the central axis, with the large terrace being the last to be built. This suggests that the terraces and walls in stone, cleaned and consolidated between 1976 and 1986 and in view were built between 1200 and 1600 AD, after modifying and burying previous buildings.

It was in this period that the design was reached that can be observed today when visiting the Park. Some archaeologists estimate that in the sixteenth century Teyuna could have had between one thousand five hundred and two thousand inhabitants, and that if you take into account the other settlements located in the basin, the population of the area should have been about ten thousand people. These are preliminary estimates since it is difficult to make accurate demographic calculations for pre-Columbian populations.

Taken from the guide for visitors to the Archaeological Park Teyuna - Lost City of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH).