Notational production rules in the Muisca culture iconography, Colombia

This paper explores the non-aesthetic components of Muisca indigenous artistic expressions, with a focus on numerical information encoded within the iconography. The paper presents various examples of artifacts that exhibit evidence of numerical quantities, such as rock art panels, textiles, and lithic industry objects, however, spindle whorls, a category of artifacts characterized by their monochromatic and simplified nature, are primarily considered in this preliminary analysis. The presence of sequences of elements and compositions in these artifacts, including triangles, strokes, spirals, and bird heads, suggests the potential existence of an underlying grammar governing the production of these expressions. The paper suggests adopting an epigraphic perspective to better understand the formal aspects of these representations before exploring their semantics. Ultimately, this approach could provide a better understanding of how meanings are embedded into the system.