I walk along the path and study these large statues. I keep looking at them and wondering, why were they made? Why were they buried? Who made them? I wasn’t at the statues on Easter Island. I was in southern Colombia exploring hills and valleys where the statues of San Agustín Archaeological Park.
San Agustín was my second stop on my Colombian adventure. I took a bus from Neiva through Pitalito. I had some confusion in Pitalito. I thought my bus was direct from Neiva to San Agustín. It wasn’t, I had to switch buses in Pitalito. The driver of the first bus walked us through the process on switching buses. Mostly, he loaded my backpack into new local van. About an hour later, I was in San Agustín. I caught a taxi to my hostel and settled in for the night.
The next morning, I got up early and headed in the direction of San Agustín Archaeological Park. It was about a mile walk from my hostel along several dirt and gravel road. I enjoyed seeing the house of San Agustín on the way.
San Agustín Archaeological Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The park is home to the world’s largest necropolis. It is also the home of the largest collection of pre-Colombian statues in the Americas. Little is known about these statues. The were constructed between 1-900 AD. Many of the statues were found buried in the ground. They were part of large burial mounds and with sarcophagi. The statues depict supernatural beings and animal formations.
I paid my entrance fee and got my San Agustín Archaeological Park passport book. The fee provides entrance to all three parks in the Archaeological parks near San Agustín. Today, I was going to visit the largest of the parks. The park is divided into several sections; Mesita A, Mesita B, Mesita C, Alto de Lavapatas, and Fuente de Lavapatas. I walked through the forest and into the first section of the park.
I started with Mesita A and B. Both these sections contain large burial mounds with many large statues. All the statues are found buried in the nearby mounds. I was impressed by the sheer size and grandeur of the statues. This section had several sarcophagi. Little is known about the people buried in the sarcophagi. The name of this tribe has been lost.
I hiked up to one of the hills to visit the three statues that made Alto de Lavapatas. The statues at the top of the hill sit in perfect backdrop of the Magdalena River valley. The walls of the valley are lined with coffee plantations.
From Alto de Lavapatas, I hiked down to visit Mesita C. This area had one of the more interesting statues. It depicted the delivery of a baby. It showed a medicine man pulling the baby from the mother’s womb. This was just a weird statue to carve and then bury in the ground.
I left Mesita C and headed towards the highlight of the park, Fuente de Lavapatas. As I descended the valley and neared the Fuente de Lavapatas, I passed this interesting frog carving. It overlooks the trail and seems to be protecting the Fuente de Lavapatas.
The forest opens up into the small river valley. Fuente de Lavapatas is carved into the rocks. The water runs over the carvings. It creates a curtain over the rocks and enhances the features.
As I left the park, I noticed a small trail off to the side of the park. It is home to about 30 statues that were found sticking out of the local jungle. These are all small statues that bear some Asian influence. These cute little statues were like hidden gems in the jungle. They appear to stand guard to some secret.
If you would like to learn my theories of these mysterious statues check out 10 Epic Statues in San Agustin Parque Arqueologico. I make no claims to the historical accuracy.
Super interesting statues, the variety! I almost feel like its a zoo, seeing the all of them in their sections.
It is kind of like a zoo since most of the statues are part animal.
I can’t believe how well preserved the statues are considering they were buried in the ground. They look fascinating and certainly leave a lot for wondering. Interesting to think how, even without knowing the name of the tribe, the people have left behind something for others to learn and wonder about them.
The ground protected them. When they were discovered many still had some of the original paint but being exposed the paint was ruined.
Wow, how fascinating! I would love to visit here. You’re right – San Agustín Archaeological Park really does remind me a lot of Easter Island. We visited and I was fascinated by the back story behind the Moai statues there. These looks quite similar in design in many ways – I’ll click through to read about some of your theories 🙂
I really want to see the statues of Easter Island. They look amazing. San Agustin is similar yet different. It is an amzing places to visit.
Those look interesting, and I absolutely wouldn’t mind visiting this place. It’s very curious how they came up with it. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am the same. Why build all those statues the then bury them in the ground. Its weird to me.
It’s so interesting to see culture, history, and art mixed together. Did they explain how some statues had some Asian influences mixed in?
They have no idea who buried them or why. They have no idea on the Asian influence personally I think it was because of contact between Asia and Americans pre-Colombus.
Those statues are really quite interesting! They also seemed to be well preserved. Did you explore the whole Archaelogical Park by foot?
They are and they are not. The lost a lot of the paint that survived being buried in the ground. The main park yes. The other parks are reached via jeep or horse back.
What an unusual statues, a very typical style!
I know. I still don’t get why they look so similar and about half those animals are not from that region.
The statues looks so interesting. I would definitely want to check it out for myself! I’m always so intrigued by archeology!
It is well worth the trip down there. There are a lot of statues to see.
Thank you. I see both sides on tearing it down. The symbolism of the destruction helped rebuild a nation. A lot of large sections survived and are on display else where.
That is an interesting frog carving indeed. I like visiting archeological parks. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.
The frog is on of my favorite statues. My favorite is the penguin, but they all are really cool.
This is awesome! I love old ruins like these. I like to imagine how life was back then, how society and their culture was.
I agree. I just want to know why.
These statues remind me of some of the statues found at the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala. It’s all so fascinating to me, especially when there is so little known about them. There are so many possible ideas and theories.
I loved listing to all the crazy theories. The statues are similar to statues around the world, its kind of weird.
That just came in time, I am on my way to Colombia and will stop there too! Great post, thanks for sharing! Have fun travelling 🙂
It is a fun place, but after about 2 days one does get sick of statues.
Very interesting. The San Agustín Archaeological Park looks like a cool spot! I love all the statues–places like this always make me wonder about the history and what it must have been like when they were being built!
It is very cool and I am so glad I made the effort to visit.
How intriguing! The photos are lovely and San Agustin Archaeological Park sounds like a lovely place to visit and unwind.
They are amazing. It is a great place to relax while traveling.
I love things like this when you get to have fun guessing what something is and why it was built. Thanks for sharing 🙂
It was really fun to look at each statue and trying and understand it.
I would love to see this, especially the water running over the carvings. It sounds mysterious.
Those statues are definitely very unique. I’d like to see them for myself one day.
They are totally worth the bus trip.
Intriguing statues! Thank you for the beautiful pictures.
The lack of history is the really intriguing part.