Dwarf and giants in indigenous mythologies and the archeology of Colombia Enano y gigantes en mitologías indígenas y la arqueología de Colombia

Abstract

The mythologies of seven Colombian indigenous peoples, Ika, Bari, Yukpa, Desana, Páez, Embera and Sicuani, are presented, and are related to the small ceramic statuettes representing different types of dwarfism left by the so-called Tumaco-La Tolita culture, which it flourished between 400 BC and 400 AD It is concluded that these figurines were offerings left to protective spirits of animals in particular and nature in general, similar to the various offerings that are made to the small beings that have these functions in the mythologies of the peoples referred to above. The giants, the opposite of the dwarves, are conceived in indigenous mythologies as beings that can create risks in the balance relationship with mother earth. Because they are dangerous, negative beings, their representation in pre-Columbian art is almost non-existent.