Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco

Site information

• Official name: Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco
• Location: Baja California, Mexico
• Type: Cultural
• Year of inscription: 1993

Covering an area of 183, 956 hectares and decorating the surfaces of at least 250 separate sites, the Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco are indicative of the ancient Cochimi or Guachimi people who lived in the volcanic mountains of northern Baja California and Sur in prehistoric times. Many of the paintings were outlined in white before being painted in red, black, and yellow. Some artists painted in either horizontal or vertical stripes. Paintings found on the roofs and walls of caves and rock shelters tell the story of the religion and daily lives of these people who are believed to have lived in the area between 110 BCE and 1300 CE. Scientists have a record of their history in the paintings, which show that they survived by hunting and gathering.

Over time, the people themselves disappeared from the land, but the area that they called home is now part of the El Vizcaino Reserve in the Mexican state of Baja California. Because of the isolation of the area, twenty-first-century residents retain a distinctive culture. Tourists are drawn to the site because of the popularity of the Great Murals, but access is strictly limited. That limitation has helped to preserve both the rock paintings and local culture.

History

The Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco are located in caves and on rock shelters that were carved into the mountains by wind and rain over a period of time. In the same area, archaeologists have uncovered relics of pottery and wooden drums. The first of the Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco were discovered in the eighteenth century by Francisco Javier, a Jesuit priest who had come to Mexico to do mission work. The first exploration of the area was done by Leon Diguet, a French industrial chemist who arrived in 1894. However, it was not until 1975 that the area began receiving global attention after Harry Crosby, a historian and photographer, discovered the Great Murals and published The Cave Paintings of Baja California: The Great Murals of an Unknown People. In the 1990s, tourists began arriving.

In some places, the paintings overlap one another. In others, it is clear that artists added to the work of others. Some figures, particularly those of animals, have been pierced with arrows or spears. Although done by many artists over time, they are considered to be realistic for the most part, except for the fact that they are much larger than life. Some experts believe that those that are less real may have depicted dreams or been produced while under the influence of hallucinogens. Human figures may cover an area of up to two meters, while animal figures, including deer and bighorn sheep, may reach three meters. Eagles, pelicans, rabbits, sea turtles, tuna, octopi, and rays are also depicted. It is rare to see mountain lions, coyotes, or snakes.

Explanations of how the people managed to paint such large figures on ceilings as well as walls usually focus on the use of scaffolding or stacked logs. It is believed that brushes made of agave leaves placed on long poles were used. Local legend insists that the painters were giants who simply stretched out their arms to paint. The majority of figures are static, but some artists depicted figures in motion by painting in sequence. Facial features and clothing are rare. Some figures are clearly female, and a few are small, suggesting that they are children. Scientists have learned that the paint was derived from local minerals. Iron oxide provided red and yellow paint, while black and white were derived from manganese oxide gypsum, respectively.

Experts on rock paintings have identified several distinct substyles, including San Francisco, Red-on-Granite, San Borjtas, La Trinidad, Southern Semiabstract, and a number of styles distinct to particular regions. The Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco, which are considered to be more homogeneous than others, have been classified according to four groups: Guadalupe, Santa Teresa, San Gorgonio, and Cerritos.

Since 1972, Mexico has worked to preserve the Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco through the Federal Law on Historic, Archaeological, and Artistic Monuments and Zones Act. Management is provided by the National Institute of Anthropology and History in cooperation with the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.

Significance

The Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1993 because they are considered to meet Criteria i and iii. The site meets the standards for Criterion i because it serves as an example of prehistoric art that traces the early history of humans in the Americas and shows how humans evolved over time. The site meets Criterion iii because it stands as a testament to the survival of a particular group of people that survived for thousands of years before being wiped out by European settlement and diseases. It is generally believed that the paintings at Cueva Pintada were the most important in the decision to have the site recognized as a World Heritage Site.

Experts have offered various reasons for the presence of the rock paintings, and many believe that they are indicative of rites of passage for young males. Other experts suggest that they may have been predictions made by shamans. Some experts maintain that the paintings would have had to be a collective effort because of the inaccessibility of certain locations.

The most significant paintings are those found in Cueva del Batequl, Cueva de la Navidad, Cerro de Santa Marta, Cueva de la Soledad, Cueva de las Flechas, and Grutes del Brinco. At the popular sites of San Francisco and Guadalupe, almost 1,150 examples of paintings, engravings, mixed works, and geoglyphs are available. One of the few depictions of a snake found among the Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco is the Cueva de la Serpentine, which depicts a deer-headed serpent surrounding by fifty human-like figures on a twenty-six-foot panel.

Studying paintings at the different sites has helped scholars to understand the history and techniques of the rock paintings. At La Natividad, there is evidence that collapsed walls that exposed blank surfaces were viewed as new canvases. El Batequi paintings offer proof that painting was often done in overlapping layers. At Cañada del Cerro, which is essentially inaccessible, a painting of a man and a deer shows evidence of major erosion because the rock was soft.

The best preserved sites are those painted on durable rock. Near the man and the deer, another painting depicts a figure that has been designated "ladder man" because he is painted in horizontal stripes. The largest true cave in the group is Cueva Obscura in which three walls are covered with human and animal figures. The highest paintings are located at Cueva del Ratón where figures forty feet high have been painted in black and red vertical stripes. Preservation of many of the rock paintings has been ensured by the inaccessibility of the sites. That inaccessibility is often due to the fact that a number of paintings are located on the sides of steep ravines.

Bibliography

"The Cave Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco." Baja California Rock Art Archive. Bradshaw Foundation, www.bradshawfoundation.com/baja/sierra‗de‗san‗francisco.php. Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.

Crosby, Harry. The Cave Paintings of Baja California: The Great Murals of an Unknown People. Copley Books, 1975.

Martinez, Maria de la Luz Gutiérrez. "The Great Murals of the Sierra de San Francisco: Stone Memory of a Missing People." Rock Arts Scandinavia, www.rockartscandinavia.com/images/articles/mexicoa10.pdf. Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.

Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco. World Heritage List. World Heritage Cultural Centre, UNESCO, 2016. whc.unesco.org/en/list/714.

Sánchez, Guadalupe. Los Primeros Mexicanos. U of Arizona P, 2016.

Webster, Donovan. "Drawn from Prehistory." Smithsonian, vol. 33, no. 2, 2002, pp. 100–108.