The space as a stage of interethnic confrontation. The case of the Cundiboyacense high plateau (New Kingdom of Granada) in the 16th century

Abstract

The article presents some considerations about the social production of a colonial space in the second half of the 16th century in the Cundiboyacense high plateau, a region located in the New Kingdom of Granada, in the center of the current Republic of Colombia. It is highlighted that the spatial analysis and the configuration of the territory are important reflection axes to understand the system of Hispanic domination, colonial power relations and the dynamics of resistance and inter-ethnic confrontation. Throughout the paper a description is given of the geographical conditions of the Colombian Andes, the indigenous and Spanish interpretations of the high plateau space, and how was the Muisca response to the spatial order that tried to implant the colonial system. The argumentation of the text is structured on the basis of archaeological and historiographical information about the Altiplano and the Muisca chiefdoms of the prehispanic and colonial periods.