Historical Research

The first scientific documentation of cave art on the peninsula was made in 1883 by Herman Ten Kate, a dutch, and Lyman Belding, a north american naturalist.  Leon Diguet, a french chemical engineer, first came to Baja California in 1889, having been contracted by the Boleo mining company in Santa Rosalía to survey for copper deposits.  By the time he left Baja in 1892, he had written a number of scientific papers, including several on the subjects of local anthropology and archeology.  He later returned to Baja California, this time as director of French expeditions in Mexico and led four expeditions beginning in 1894. In his published articles, he described in detail the art and artifacts of at least thirty different sites, and distinguished between two types of rock art present: petroglyphs and cave paintings.

After World War II, interest in the peninsula’s prehistoric past began to increase.  William C. Massey, an archeologist from the US, was one of several to explore the peninsula’s archeological sites. In 1949, the first expedition to be backed and led by Mexican scientists was undertaken by Fernando Jordán, Barbro Dahlgren and Javier Romero.  They traveled to San Borjitas, near Mulegé in the Sierra Guadalupe.  Jordán extensively photographed the paintings, Dahlgren created careful drawings of the figures and Javier Romero excavated the surrounding area, where he discovered a number of stone artifacts (grinding stones or metates).  Their published work brought the cave paintings into the national spotlight.

Erle Stanley Gardner, mystery writer and adventurer, began to explore the Baja Peninsula in 1961, bringing with him on his various trips well-known scientists of the time.  In 1965, he was accompanied by Dr Clement Meighan of UCLA.  Meighan is credited with the first rigorous scientific study of the region’s cave art and with elevating the level of interest
                                                                           and discourse about the artwork and its significance.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, photographers Harry Crosby from San Diego and Enrique Hambleton from La Paz, together traveled about 600 miles on mule and horseback, exploring an area of more than 7,450 sq. miles of rugged country where they photographed, documented and lent interpretation to more than 200 rock art sites, many of them never seen before by outsiders. Their subsequent work, The Cave Paintings of Baja California: Discovering the Great Murals of an Unknown People, first published in 1975 and later updated in 1997, continues to be the definitive work in English on the subject and made accessible to a greater public the beauty and mystery of this art form.

The Art

While there are a number of styles of rock art throughout the peninsula, perhaps the best known and most studied is that of The Great Mural style.  Over 1200 known sites with paintings of this style occur in the central region of the peninsula, including the Sierra San Borja, Sierra San Francisco, and Sierra Guadalupe (see map).

Source:  adapted from Crosby (1997) & Gutiérrez Martínez (2003)

While there are five recognized sub-styles of the Great Mural art demonstrating distinct differences in how figures are depicted—realistic versus abstract images; images filled with one or more colors versus unfilled images; anthropomorphic figures with disproportionate body sizes and square heads for example—the subject matter is fairly homogenous across its range.

Different styles of deer across the Great Mural region (above) and two drawings below Copyright © Harry Crosby

Depictions of wildlife are the most common, representing bighorn sheep, rabbits, jackrabbits (hares), mountain lions, deer (left) and turkey vultures.  Terrestrial animals often were shown with arrows piercing or lying across their bodies. Marine animals such as manta rays, fish, and turtles can also be found.

Ranging anywhere from a few inches to more than ten feet, human figures, referred to as ‘monos’—men, women and what have been interpreted as shamans (human figures wearing odd head dresses— right) are also represented.  Many of the images overlap others.  Little is actually known about the nature of the symbolism of the figures or the use of colors, where ochre, black and red predominate and only a small amount of both white and yellow is used. 

More is understood about the process by which the art was made. Pigments were created from ground minerals from local rocks, bound together with water and cactus juice. It has been proposed that the paintings of the Great Mural style were created using scaffolds constructed from palm trunks that were tied together with ropes and cords made from plant fibers such as palm fronds or agave.  Brushes were most likely fabricated from the fibers of the Maguey plant (Agave species) common to the area.

Much of the work is superimposed over previous layers indicating that the paintings were likely laid down over several hundred to thousands of years and therefore across many generations. This means that the Painters would have repeatedly returned to the same remote areas to engage in the act of painting—why, we will never really know.  The paintings of the Great Mural style do show clear evidence of being repainted and retouched, especially on some of the human figures. It is thought that this may have been done because these images were particularly venerated, representing either mythic figures or their own ancestors.  Earlier attempts at carbon dating of  the images were skewed, giving an age of less than two thousand years, because while it was correctly surmised that the underlying images would be the first and therefore oldest, it was not initially known that many of these had been retouched hundreds or even thousands of years later.

Conservation

Baja’s cave paintings are impermanent although they have so far persisted for hundreds or thousands of years.  The paintings are exposed to the elements—rain, hurricanes, extreme heat and cold, and will eventually erode.  Additionally, salts dissolved in the water undermine the underlying rock and painted layers, gradually loosening the pigments and layers of rock from the cave’s surface.  They have managed to escape significant vandalism in recent times primarily because they are located in such remote areas that are not easily accessible.

Visitors to all cave painting sites are required to purchase permits from the local INAH office and contract registered guides in order to make trips to the individual sites.  Throughout the peninsula, local people, such as ranchers, on whose land the paintings are to be found, are now charged with protecting these world treasures. 

Access to the sites is controlled locally and most guides are usually from the area of the site, although outside groups registered with the government office can also lead trips in conjunction with local custodians. This locally based stewardship program has improved the economic condition of surrounding communities and provides revenue for the ongoing protection of the artwork.

Bilingual interpretive signs at la Cueva del Ratón

Visiting the Cave Paintings

To truly enjoy the beauty of both the cave art and the surrounding desert areas, visitors should take the time to go on a mule trip adventure.  Multiple-day trips down into the canyons of the Sierra San Francisco allow the visitor to visit numerous sites, such as the spectacular Cueva Pintada and Cueva de las Flechas in Santa Teresa Canyon. 

Cañon de Santa Teresa, Sierra San Francisco

La Cueva Pintada, Cañon de Santa Teresa, Sierra San Francisco

Santa Martha, between Mulegé and San Ignacio also offers the chance of multi-day trips or a day-trip on foot or mule. For the traveler with limited time or some physical limitations, there are a number of sites that can be visited on a day hike or after a 1-2 hour car trip and a short (15 minutes) to medium (1-2 hour) walk.  La Trinidad and Cueva San Borjitas outside of Mulegé are good examples, as is Cueva del Ratón in the Sierra San Francisco. 

To arrange to visit the Sierra San Francisco or Santa Martha sites without a tour company, contact:

INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) in San Ignacio, BCS

• From the US dial, 011-52-615-154-0222

Daily Rates in pesos for 2008-09:

• guide - $60 to $200 per group
• pack animal - $150 each
• permit - $35 per person
• camera - $35 per camera

Vista of Sierra San Francisco from Cueva del Ratón

Cave painting trips are also a great opportunity to get to experience a slice of ranchero life.  Some families date back to the first Californios, settlers who arrived with the missionaries in the 18th Century but who stayed on after their departure and moved into the mountains to start isolated ranches.  Traditional crafts such as leather working, embroidery, cheese making and animal husbandry are still actively pursued. Experience a slice of ranchero in this article written by Trudi Angell especially for this class topic (also available in a Spanish version).

References

• Antigüedad del arte rupestre de Baja California ( Dec 2002) INAH.  Comunicado de prensa.
• Corazon Vaquero/The Heart of the Cowboy: A Journey into California’s Final Frontier
• Crosby, Harry (1997). The Cave Paintings of Baja California: Discovering the Great Murals of an Unknown People. Sunbelt Publications.
• Gutiérrez Martínez, M. (2003).  El estilo Gran Mural en la Sierra Guadalupe, BCS. Arqueología Mexicana. Vol XI, Núm 62, pp. 44-5
• Hambleton, E. (2003). Lienzos de Piedra. Arqueología Mexicana. Vol XI, Núm 62, pp. 46-51
• Pinturas rupestres más antiguas de America.  (May 2008).  INAH
• Reygadas Dahl, F. (2003). Historia de la arqueología de Baja California. Arqueología Mexicana. Vol XI, Núm 62, pp. 32-9