Although the Republic of Colombia occupies a large area in northwestern South America arid its geographical position makes it an important link between the basic components of nuclear America, our knowledge of Colombia's prehistoric cultures is still very scanty and sporadic. Practically no serious attempts have been made toward correlating its many different cultural manifestations in terms of temporal development or spatial distribution. This has been due mainly to the lack of organized scientific archaeology and to the romantic orientation most research had taken in Colombia, where archaeologists have concentrated upon the more spectacular ceremonial sites while ignoring almost completely the problems of chronology and cultural interrelations.

The considerable advance made during the last decade in the field of Venezuelan and Antillean archaeology, together with the many unsolved problems posed by Meso-American and South American relationships, has pressed the need for the establishment of an adequate chronological framework for the archaeological cultures of the north Colombian lowlands.