Lake Herrera

Lake Herrera
Lake Herrera is located in Colombia
Lake Herrera
Lake Herrera
LocationMosquera, Cundinamarca
Coordinates4°41′26″N 74°16′29″W / 4.69056°N 74.27472°W / 4.69056; -74.27472
TypeWetland
Artificial lake (since 1973)
Part ofBogotá savanna
Primary inflowsBojacá River
Bogotá River (San José channel)
Primary outflowsnone
Basin countriesColombia
Max. length3 kilometres (1.9 mi)
Max. width1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi)
Surface area280 hectares (690 acres)
Average depth1.3 metres (4.3 ft)
Max. depth2 metres (6.6 ft)
Surface elevation2,550 m (8,370 ft)
References[1][2]

Lake Herrera is a small lake located at 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the urban centre of Mosquera and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of the capital Bogotá in Cundinamarca, Colombia. The Andean lake has made its name in the Herrera Period, the period in the history of central Colombia before the Muisca Period, after archaeologist Sylvia Broadbent excavated ceramics around Lake Herrera in 1971.[1]

Description

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Lake Herrera and other preceramic sites on the Bogotá savanna

Lake Herrera is situated on the Bogotá savanna; the southwestern part of the Andean high plateau in the Eastern Ranges; the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The lake is one of many remainders of the Pleistocene Lake Humboldt.[1] It is the largest remaining natural water reserve on the Bogotá savanna and the reserve belongs to the municipalities Mosquera, Madrid and Bojacá.[3]

History

Drymaeus nigrofasciatus, land snail from around Lake Herrera
El Burro, similar wetland to Lake Herrera

Investigations by archaeologist Gonzalo Correal Urrego in 1984 have revealed the existence of a preceramic site with two layers. The oldest layer has been dated at 3410 years BP and the younger layer at 3135 BP.[4]

Correal Urrego has discovered preceramic tools and wooden beams in horizontal position, possibly used to against the lake overflowing. Different stone tools found are scrapers and chips with sharp edges. Other tools were handles, and white-tailed deer bone tools for perforation, scraping and cutting. Evidence of fireplaces and burial grounds has been uncovered. One of the burial sites contained a full skeleton surrounded by five skulls. Remains of fauna collected by the hunter-gatherers were mammals, birds and snails. The presence of basalt, not formed on the Altiplano, indicated movement from the Magdalena Valley.[4]

When the climatic conditions became drier and layers of volcanic ash were deposited around the lake in the first millennium BCE, the inhabitants of the region started to develop agriculture around the lake.[5]

Later excavations have provided ceramic with a typical red colour, rich in SiO2.[6]

The lake is a residual part of Lake Humboldt, but since 1973 functions as an artificial lake after the construction of drainage channels. The lake is fed from the Bojacá River from the northeast and from the San José channel, fed by the Bogotá River in the southwest. Between 1969 and 2013 the surface area of the lake has been reduced with 175 hectares (430 acres).[2]

Recent mining activities close to the lake endanger the environment of Lake Herrera, formalised a water reserve on July 23, 2006.[3][7]

Biodiversity

Flora and fauna around the lake is endangered and migrating birds use Lake Herrera.[1] Several species have been found and described in and around the lake:

Tourism

The lake can be visited and walked around, although some parts are privately owned and access permits have to be arranged.[2]

Trivia

  • Another name for Lake Herrera and its surroundings is Sabrisky Desert[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d (in Spanish) Description Lake Herrera
  2. ^ a b c (in Spanish) Lake Herrera on the official website Mosquera
  3. ^ a b (in Spanish) Lake Herrera largest water reserve of the Bogotá savanna
  4. ^ a b (in Spanish) Excavations Correal Urrego around Lake Herrera Archived 2016-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Rodríguez, 2005, p.105
  6. ^ De Paepe & Cardale, 1990, p.100
  7. ^ (in Spanish) Mining activities endanger Lake Herrera - RCN
  8. ^ Atractus crassicaudatus[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Cheilanthes myriophylla
  10. ^ Borrero, F.J. - Colombian non-marine mollusks
  11. ^ Stenocerus trachycephalus
  12. ^ (in Spanish) Sabrisky Desert around Lake Herrera

Bibliography

  • Paepe, Paul de; Cardale de Schrimpff, Marianne (1990), "Resultados de un estudio petrológico de cerámicas del Periodo Herrera provenientes de la Sabana de Bogotá y sus implicaciones arqueológicas - Results of a petrological study of ceramics form the Herrera Period coming from the Bogotá savanna and its archaeological implications", Boletín Museo del Oro (in Spanish), Museo del Oro: 99–119, retrieved 2016-07-08
  • Rodríguez, José Vicente (2005), "De la sabana a la selva - Un yacimiento formativo ritual en el entorno de la antigua laguna de La Herrera, Madrid, Cundinamarca - From the savanna to the jungle - a ritual formative site in the surroundings of the ancient Lake Herrera, Madrid", Maguaré (in Spanish), 19, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: 103–131

Further reading

  • Broadbent, Sylvia M. (1971), "Reconocimientos arqueológicos de la Laguna Herrera", Revista Colombiana de Arqueología, XV (in Spanish), 1: 171–214