Muisca gold objects, including the famous muisca raft (a tunjo depicting a ceremony that is now interpreted as the origin of the El Dorado legend) are among the most celebrated artifacts from pre-Columbian South America.

The Muisca controlled access to emeralds from the Muzo mines in western Boyacá and to salt from the enormous salt deposits at Zipaquirá and Nemocón — the same Nemocón where the Checua site is located.

This point deserves emphasis: the Checua archaeological site, where the ancient hunter-gatherers with the previously unknown genetic lineage were found, lies in the same municipality as one of the Muisca’s most important salt mining centers.

The geographic continuity between the early Preceramic occupation and the later Muisca presence masks a complete genetic discontinuity.