Anthropomorphous votive figure

These gold figures that the Muiscas placed in pottery offering vessels and then in shrines or special places were not made to be seen: they were wrapped in cotton cloths in the same way that mummified chieftains and priests were, like preserved seeds for maintaining a balanced life in our world. We have called them "tunjos" since the 19th century –based on research by Ezequiel Uricoechea–, using a word that meant "idol" in the Muiscas' language (according to dictionaries produced by 16th century Spanish priests). In the colonial era, however, the word "tunjo" was used equally to refer to wrapped gold objects and mummies, but not to unwrapped figures, which were then called "santillos". EL