All that glitters definitely is gold at the British Museum this winter. Enter the dimly lit room of the exhibition gallery and your eyes are drawn to the glimpses and gleams of golden light that illuminate your way through the story of Ancient Colombia.
The exhibition means to go beyond the myths of the golden city of El Dorado, which have entranced treasure seekers and Indiana Jones wannabes for years. However, the real story behind the legend is not one of wealth but of symbolism because the ancient Colombians did not use gold as currency, but instead they used it to make great works of art and jewelry that were then used in rituals. ‘El Dorado’ literally means ‘Golden One’ and refers to a ceremony where the new leader of the Muisca people dived into Lake Guatavita covered in powdered gold… a look I think I may try out at the work Christmas party this year.
Source: © The Trustees of the British Museum and © Museo del Oro – Banco de la República, Colombia
The exhibition rooms are packed full with over 2,000 objects, some are delicate wafer thin sheets of gold hammered into shapes that flutter in air, and some are solid statues of gold created into the shaped of crocodiles and bats. The craftsmanship of this early pre-European civilization is evident and beautiful. The only thing lacking was a little more archaeological context. The exhibition does its best to draw you on a journey of the four ancient kingdoms of Colombia with examples from each along with timelines and rough dates, but there was no insight into the massive draining of Lake Guatavita, from which most of the objects were found. There were very few maps and pictures of the area, which meant the objects were left to speak for themselves… and what they most said to me was ‘Bliiing’.
BEST BIT: Trying to work out how the ancient Columbians actually wore nose rings and piercings twice the size of their face. It looked like it might have been painful!
Find out more and book tickets here
Historical Honey 2013 ©