Like what happened to the Chinese peasants who in 1974 dug a water well and suddenly came across a life-size terracotta soldier, or like it happened to Yorgos Kendrotas, the Greek farmer who found the famous statue of Venus de Milo, this month a group of Colombian workers and foremen were lucky enough to come across an unexpected authentic archaeological treasure.
During the construction of a series of highways, the Colombian National Infrastructure Agency (ANI)
has obtained almost two and a half million finds, 2,487,469 of them, located in some 420 archaeological sites.
During the road works, vessels, axes, ceramic fragments, complete pieces, lithics, goldsmiths, human and fauna bone elements, among others, have been recovered.
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"Thanks to this work that is carried out in the ANI projects,
we have the unique opportunity to gather all that archaeological knowledge,
one of the most extensive that is built in Colombia, and share it with all citizens," said Diego Morales, vice president of the agency, in a statement.
The road project where the largest number of finds was recorded was the Perimetral de Oriente de Cundinamarca,
with approximately 1,025,003 pieces
located in areas that were inhabited by different human groups and that are in a good state of conservation.
"Without a doubt, the contributions to the country's science are great, provided by the preventive archeology program carried out by the National Government in compliance with current legislation on 4G roads and which provide us with valuable information on pre-Hispanic culture," said Ángela María Orozco, Minister of Transportation of Colombia.
The most numerous discoveries are ceramic fragments, with more than 1 million elements. National Infrastructure Agency
The archaeological heritage found in the infrastructure works is protected by Colombian law and, according to the ANI, "road concession contracts incorporate rules and mechanisms to recover and preserve this type of heritage."
Another project in which multiple ancient objects and artifacts were discovered was
the Pacific Connection Highway 3, which has some 490,806 cultural evidences
discovered and a total of 35.7 tons of fragmented archaeological material recovered.
Officials point out that in that area a large stone was found with the engraving of two geometric figures of four circles, whose importance for archaeological studies is being determined.
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In addition, the authorities point out that more than 17,000 ceramic pieces were found at that site, "of which about 5,000 are complete."
Among all the findings,
the most numerous are the ceramic fragments, with more than a million elements
,
followed by the bone remains of fauna, with 641,625
,
and the lithics, with about 400,000 pieces.
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According to the authorities, the found objects will be distributed in different museums, houses of culture, universities and city halls for their protection and conservation, and will also be studied by the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.
The officials affirm that the different areas that are being intervened for the construction of the highways have not yet been fully explored, so new archaeological sites and objects can still be found.
With information from the
National Infrastructure Agency
and
National Geographic
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