Gold Museum

Why go

The displays offer a way to understand gold as a sacred material and a tool of social meaning. Comparing work from different societies avoids reducing pre-Hispanic Colombia to one culture. The Muisca raft connects a small, detailed object with the offering ceremony associated with El Dorado.

What to look for

• The Muisca raft represents a ceremony associated with El Dorado.
• The Poporo Quimbaya helped begin the museum’s collection.
• Goldwork appears alongside archaeological objects in materials such as pottery, shell and wood.

The full story

The collection began in 1939 as Banco de la República worked to protect Colombia’s archaeological heritage. The Poporo Quimbaya was an early foundation of that collection. Gold here is evidence of how people lived and understood the world, rather than simply a measure of wealth. Objects from different societies show why regional distinctions matter: materials, forms and ceremonial uses vary across the territory now called Colombia. The Muisca raft, found at Pasca in 1969, gives a particularly direct example of that relationship between object and belief. It depicts a central figure and attendants taking part in an offering ceremony associated with the succession of a chief. Looking at the figures and their arrangement makes the El Dorado story more concrete, while the broader displays place that famous object within many other traditions.

Useful to know

• Follow the interpretation of societies and beliefs before concentrating on individual gold objects.
• Check the museum’s current room notices before building a visit around a particular display.

Your next visit

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