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====What was El Dorado?====
[[File: El Dorado 2.jpg|300px|thumb|left|A Muisca gold representation of a coronation ritual]]
The kernel of the story of El Dorado is as follows. It was a lost city of gold, people by an Amerindian population, in the midst of a remote jungle. The city was part of a sophisticated culture, that was fabulously wealthy in precious metals and gems. Soon after Columbus's arrival in the Americas in AD 1492, the Spanish Conquistadors were able to conquer two great Empires, the Aztecs, and Inca and many smaller kingdoms. They seized huge quantities of gold and other precious metals. The Spanish, despite their wealth, had an endless thirst for gold. Not even the conquest of the wealthy Inca and Aztec Empires satisfied the Europeans. For many decades the Conquistadors continued to look for Amerindian communities to subdue, enslave and to take their gold.
In the late 16th century, stories emerged about a city in the heart of the jungle, and it became popularly known as El Dorado. The tale inspired many men to risk their lives in the search for the fabled city. There were many attempts to find El Dorado, all unsuccessful.<ref>Nicholl, Charles. The creature in the map: a journey to El Dorado. University of Chicago Press, 1997), p. 13</ref> The first known expedition to find the lost city was led by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada in the late 1530s. He explored the areas dominated by the Musica people and seized vast qualities of gold. Some say that these Conquistadors did much to spread the story of El Dorado.
====The gold man of the Musica====
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[[File: El Dorado 3.jpg|300px|thumb|left|A 16th century map showing El Dorado]]
The Musica tribe are regarded as one of the greatest pre-Columbian cultures on a par with the Maya and Incan. They inhabited an area in what is now modern Columbia from at least 1200 B.C and they developed a very sophisticated series of states and a confederation of states. They became very rich through trade and they especially valued gold which they believed had magical powers.
It is believed that the story of El Dorado was inspired by the tales and the rituals of the Musica. When a new king was crowned he had to undergo, a series of rituals. In one ceremony the newly appointed king was taken to Lake Guatavita, which was sacred to the Musica.<ref>Bahn, Paul. Archaeology, Theories, Methods, and Practice. 2nd edition. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, 1991), p 123</ref> He would be covered in gold dust and placed on a raft with a treasure trove of gems and other valuables. In the center of the lake, the king would wash the gold dust from his naked body and throw valuables into the Lake, as a sacrifice to a deity.
During this time, the new King was known as the ‘Golden One’ or ‘Gilded Man’. This was apparently mistranslated by the Spanish and as a result, the phrase El Dorado gained common currency. Lake Guatavita, because of the many sacrifices, was believed by the Conquistadors to hold a great deal of treasure and possibly inspired the story of a fabled city. In the 1540s, some Spanish adventurers tried to drain the lake in order to seize all its gold and other valuables. However, they only recovered a small amount of precious metal. Later attempts also failed. However, modern archaeologists have managed to recover some amazing golden artifacts from the lake, including one that seems to portray the ritual with the king on the raft that may have inspired the stories of El Dorado.<ref>Bahn, p 137</ref>
====Civilizations in the Amazon====
El Dorado has become a by-word for wealth and fabulous riches. It is now widely agreed that there never existed a city of that name. It is, in short, a fable or a myth. However, like many other myths, it has a basis in historical fact. The famous fable of the Lost City in the jungle was based on real-life societies and places. It is almost certain that the great Musica confederation and their coronation rituals for their kings encouraged the idea of a wealthy city in the jungle.
It is entirely possible that memories of the settlements that once flourished in the jungles of what is now Brazil also contributed to the development of the fable. Then the gold that was found in Amazonia also contributed to the development of the story. In short, while El Dorado never existed, it was based on actual historical societies and events. {{MediaWiki:AmNative}}
====Further Reading====
Naipaul, Vidiadhar Surajprasad. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400030765/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400030765&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8a4fdd8286a415a754fb97f8a15a10dd The loss of El Dorado: a colonial history ] (London, Pan Macmillan, 2001).
Bandelier, Adolph Francis Alphonse. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1330160665/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1330160665&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=9fb5847b237ce2bd4ed2e17b208f53cb The Gilded Man:(El Dorado) and Other Pictures of the Spanish Occupancy of America ] (London, D. Appleton, 1893).
====References====
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