CHIBCHAS, a small group of tribes of South American In dians, occupying at the time of the Spanish conquest the high val leys in the vicinity of Bogota and Tunja in Colombia. In their cul ture the Chibchas and other related tribes in the vicinity ranked next to that developed by the Inca and their predecessors in Peru and Bolivia. They were, however, on a distinctly lower level, for although a sedentary, agricultural folk, skilful weavers and arti ficers in gold, they had little copper and no bronze. They were also much inferior in pottery making, had no knowledge of stone or sun-dried brick construction, and had no means of record, such as the Peruvian quipu. Just prior to the advent of the Span ish, the Zipa or chief of the Chibchas at Bogota had been success ful in extending his political control over several of the tribes further north, and seems to have initiated a movement which, but for the Spanish conquest, might have paralleled the military expansion of the Aztecs in Mexico. Like the latter, the Chibchas employed human sacrifice in their religious ceremonials. In one of these, the chief or "king" was smeared with a sticky substance and then powdered with gold dust, which was subsequently washed off by bathing in a sacred lake. It was this practice which, at least in part, gave rise to the legend of "El Dorado." The dead were buried in well-graves which sometimes attained a depth of 3o or 4o ft.