NIRVANA NATURAL RESERVE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES
This area, full of natural attributes, is now the setting of new archaeological discoveries made by the National University of Colombia, in Bogotá, and the Institute for Research and Preservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Valle del Cauca (INCIVA). The cultural importance of such findings and studies are found in a book entitled "LA BUITRERA - VALLE DEL CAUCA - UNA REGIÓN DE FRONTERA CULTURAL PREHISPÁNICA EN LA CORDILLERA CENTRAL". This book has undoubtedly positioned La Buitrera in the national limelight, and this new archaeological element adds value to tourism.
(Photo: David Calero)
THE PRE-HISPANIC TOWN OF VILELA
As a result of the studies in La Buitrera, by the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Anthropology and INCIVA, and archaeological discoveries in the area of NIRVANA, a replica of a pre-Hispanic town was created at the place called "the viewpoint of the winds”. The site is unfortunately affected by a fault line discovered in December 2007. Excavations revealed a house or room, two tombs, the Lavapatas (wash basin), an orchard and stable for domesticated animals. The latter was devastated by the earthquake fault. The VILELA town is a partial replica of pre-Hispanic indigenous multifunctional settlement (dwellings, graves, farming, ditches, roads, etc.) and excavated by archaeologists from the organizations mentioned above during the years 2005 and 2006 and on which there is sufficient information in the book cited above (point 2 Buitrera). The book is published by the directors of the archaeological mission Doctors José Vicente Rodríguez Cuenca and Sonia Blanco.
(Photos: David Calero)