Muisca lost-wax casting (Muisca raft)
Fundición a la cera perdida muisca (balsa muisca)
- Date
- c. 1300 · confidence medium
- Place
- Pasca, Cundinamarca, Colombia
- Credited to
- Muiscas
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Tumbaga figures cast in a single pour using clay moulds over wax models, such as the votive raft evoking the El Dorado ceremony. Colombian goldwork achieved great mastery of casting.
The Pasca raft was found in 1969 and is held at the Gold Museum in Bogotá.
What it led to
- the legend of El Dorado and Spanish expeditions
- votive goldwork (tunjos)