Which archaeological park in Colombia contains hundreds of pre-Columbian stone statues?

San Agustín Archaeological Park in Colombia contains hundreds of pre-Columbian stone statues.

Located near San Agustín in the department of Huila, the park preserves one of Latin America’s largest concentrations of religious monuments and megalithic sculpture. More than 600 statues have been associated with the wider archaeological area, while the principal park contains a particularly dense collection of tombs, funerary monuments, carved figures, and ceremonial sites.

The sculptures were created by the San Agustín culture, whose society flourished in the upper Magdalena River basin. Many figures combine human and animal features, including masks, birds, reptiles, and feline forms. Their exact meanings remain uncertain, but their placement around burial mounds strongly suggests connections with funerary beliefs and protection of the dead.

The statues are pre-Columbian, not products of the Inca or Spanish periods. Their dates are debated, but many are commonly placed between about AD 1 and 900. Spanish friar Juan de Santa Gertrudis described several statues in 1756, centuries before the site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.