rock art research in western and northern mexico, 2000-2004

Rock Art StudiesNews of the World III

Edited by

Paul Bahn, Natalie Franklin and Matthias Strecker

Published byOxbow Books, Oxford, UK

Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2008

ISBN 978-1-84217-316-9

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

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Cover image: Rock art figures from Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia (courtesy of Majeed Khan).Back cover image: Tiki from Punaei Valley, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands

(with kind permission from Eric Olivier, Hiva Oa).

Printed in Great Britain byHobbs the Printers, Southampton

CONtrIBUtOrS v

PrefACe vii

1 NeW DeVeLOPMeNtS IN PLeIStOCeNe Art, 2000–2004 Paul G. Bahn 1

2 rOCK Art StUDIeS IN NOrtHerNMOSt eUrOPe, 2000–2004 Joakim Goldhahn 16

3 tHe POStGLACIAL Art Of tHe IBerIAN PeNINSULA, 2000–2004 Primitiva Bueno ramirez and rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann 37

4 WHAt’S NeW IN tHe SAHArA, 2000–2004? Jean-Loïc Le Quellec 52

5 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN eGYPt, 2000–2004 Jean-Loïc Le Quellec and Dirk Huyge 89

6 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN SOUtHerN AfrICA, 2000–2004 Jean-Loïc Le Quellec 97

7 LeGACY Of rOCK Art StUDIeS IN SAUDI ArABIA Majeed Khan 112

8 rOCK Art StUDIeS IN NOrtHerN rUSSIA AND tHe fAr eASt, 2000–2004 ekaterina Devlet 120

9 ROCK ART RESEARCH IN SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA, 2000–2004 Elena Miklashevich 138

10 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN tHe fAr eASt, 2000–2004 Su Sheng 179

11 rOCK Art IN AUStrALIA, 2000–2004: reSeArCH, MANAGeMeNt AND CONSerVAtION

Natalie franklin 185

12 WHAt IS NeW IN POLYNeSIAN rOCK Art reSeArCH? Sidsel Millerstrom 213

13 NOrtH AMerICAN rOCK Art reSeArCH, 2000–2004 William D. Hyder 226

Contents

14 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN CANADA: A BrIef HIStOrY AND UPDAte Jack Steinbring 235

15 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN WeSt AND NOrtHerN MeXICO, 2000–2004 Carlos Viramontes, María de la Luz Gutiérrez, William Breen Murray and francisco Mendiola 241

16 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN eASterN MeSOAMerICA AND LOWer CeNtrAL AMerICA, 2000–2004

Martin Künne 256

17 rOCK Art INVeStIGAtIONS IN SOUtH eCUADOr Diego González Ojeda 274

18 NeW reSeArCH INtO rOCK Art IN PerU, 2000–2004 Jean Guffroy 280

19 rOCK Art StUDIeS IN BOLIVIA, 2000–2004 Matthias Strecker 289

20 rOCK Art reSeArCH IN BrAZIL, 2000–2004: A CrItICAL eVALUAtION Loredana ribeiro and André Prous 294

21 Art ON tHe rOCKS: ArGeNtINA, 2000–2004 Dánae fiore 309

Contentsvi

Paul G. Bahn428 Anlaby roadHull HU3 6QPengland

Primitiva Bueno ramirez and rodrigo de Balbín BehrmannArea de Prehistoria Universidad de Alcalá de Henaresc/ Colegios 228801 Alcalá de HenaresSpain

ekaterina DevletInstitute of Archaeology rASDm. Ulianova St. 19117036 Moscowrussia

Dánae fioreCONICet – AIA – UBAAsociación de Investigaciones Antropológicasrivadavia 1379 11 fCP (1033) Buenos AiresArgentina

Natalie franklinCultural Heritage BranchQueensland environmental Protection AgencyPO Box 15155City eastQueensland 4002AustraliaandSchool of Social Science University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia

Joakim GoldhahnKalmar UniversityInstitution of the Human SciencesS-391 82 Kalmar Sweden

Diego González OjedaCentro de Arte y DiseñoUniversidad técnica Particular de LojaLojaecuador

Jean GuffroyInstitut de recherche pour le DéveloppementCentre erMeS-Orléans5 rue de Carbone45072 Orléansfrance

María de la Luz GutiérrezCentro regional INAHBaja California SurMexico

Dirk Huygeroyal Museums of Art and HistoryJubelpark 10B-1000 BrusselsBelgium

William D. HyderDirector, Client relationship ManagementInformation technology ServicesUniversity of California – Santa CruzCalifornia 95064USA

Majeed KhanDepartment of Antiquities and MuseumsPO Box 3734riyadh 11481Saudi Arabia

Contributors

Martin KünneParkstrasse 10713086 BerlinGermany

Jean-Loïc Le QuellecBrenessard85540 St Benoist sur Merfrance

francisco MendiolaCentro INAH-ChihuahuaPaseo Bolívar No. 608Col. CentroChihuahuaChih. C.P. 31000Mexico

Elena MiklashevichDept. of ArchaeologyKemerovo State University6 Krasnaja Street650043 KemerovoRussia

Sidsel N. MillerstromUniversity of CaliforniaArchaeological research facility2251 College BldgBerkeley, CA 94720 USA

William Breen MurrayDepto. de Ciencias SocialesUniversidad de MonterreyMonterreyNuevo LeónMexico

Loredana ribeiro and André ProusSetor de Arqueologia, Museu de História NaturalUniversidade federal franco-brésilienne de Minas GeraisCx. P. 127531080–010 Belo Horizonte – MGBrazil

Jack SteinbringDept. of Anthropologyripon College300 Seward StreetPO Box 248riponWI 54971USA

Matthias StreckerCasilla 3091La PazBolivia

Su ShengPeople’s fine Arts Publishing House32 Beizong-bu HutongBeijing 100735China

Carlos ViramontesCentro regional INAHAndrés Balvanera 2QuerétaroQrO 76000Mexico

While rock art studies have been underway for a very long time, it is only fairly recently that rock paintings and engravings have come to be considered a form of world cultural heritage, and part of ongoing archaeological and anthropological research worldwide. Nowadays archaeological meetings normally include rock art sessions which help to integrate these studies into the academic mainstream, quite apart from the numerous regular conferences organized by specialized rock art associations. The first symposium on worldwide rock art studies, called “News of the World”, was organized by Paul Bahn and Angelo fossati at the NeWS 95 international rock art congress in turin. It was followed by a similar meeting at the AUrA congress in Australia in the year 2000. these meetings and the resulting publications – with contributions by invited specialists – have proved useful by providing surveys of new discoveries and advances made in rock art studies worldwide. This book, the third volume in this five-yearly series, has the same strengths and faults as its two predecessors. For the first time, its content has not been linked to a symposium at an international conference; instead, it stands

Preface

Paul G. Bahn, Natalie franklin and Matthias Strecker

alone. As always we have had to grapple with the constant problem of obtaining suitable material – some contributors produce their papers early, and conform precisely to what the volume requires. Others are incredibly slow, and do not always produce something that is as focused or general as requested. And unfortunately, we have been particularly let down this time by some previous contributors, and hence there are more gaps in the coverage than usual – we hope that these gaps will be filled in the next volume. As ever, the content of the articles collected here gives some idea of the very varied approaches to rock art studies in different parts of the world. the volume presents examples from europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Mexico and Central America, as well as South America. Some areas focus on discovery, others more on dating or interpretation, while management and conservation are of increasing importance in many regions. We are extremely grateful to all the contributors – and especially to rodrigo de Balbín and Primitiva Bueno who stepped into the breach at very short notice – and hope that this collection will prove as useful as the first two.

15. ROCK ART RESEARCH IN WESTAND NORTHERN MEXICO, 2000–2004

Carlos Viramontes, María de la Luz Gutiérrez,William Breen Murray and Francisco Mendiola

Rock art research in Mexico: a new initiative (CVA)Until quite recently, rock art studies occupied a very secondary place within research on ancient prehispanic societies in Mexico. This situation was fostered mainly by the Mexican government’s efforts to project the glories of the ancient Mesoamerican sedentary cultures. In spite of this, in recent years, considerable interest has been generated in the study of rock art of various prehispanic societies, especially among young Mexican archaeologists in search of less explored topics within the national picture. At present, rock art has an increasingly relevant place in Mexican archaeological research. In the last five years, the numbers of projects undertaken, publications, academic events, and theses written by students receiving professional degrees have all increased significantly. At the same time, the number of officially registered rock art sites has also increased greatly. This surge in rock art studies is due to a change in attitude within Mexican archaeology toward the prehispanic societies which inhabited the extensive northern half of the country, and a better appreciation of their importance in the development of ancient cultures. Growing interest in rock art studies has promoted the use of new methodologies and theoretical focuses, covering everything from the preparation of site catalogues to studies which incorporate complex theoretical positions, such as chaos theory, landscape archaeology, and symbolic archaeology. Others are comparative studies drawing on various anthropological sub-disciplines, such as ethnography, ethnohistory, comparative anthropology or cultural geography. Still others aim to differentiate among pictorial styles and traditions, and several make use of models from linguistics, neuropsychology, archaeoastronomy, etc. In this sense, any attempt to summarize and explain each of these studies in detail becomes exceedingly complex, and in this summary, we focus only on the main contributions of

rock art studies to Mexican archaeology in recent years. There have been significant advances, and recent studies have thrown new light on the complex mosaic of societies, nearly all without writing, that used rock art as both a sacred and a profane medium of expression. While some specific questions have been answered, other broader issues remain unresolved, whose solution depends on how we approach the study of these societies. A clear example of the heightened interest in rock art in Mexico is the significant increase in registered sites. As of November 2005, 37,274 archaeological sites are registered in the official catalogue, of which 2839 are sites with rock art (Table 15.1). In 1991, only 644 rock art sites had been registered, which means that in fifteen years, the total number of recorded sites has increased by 441% (that is, 2195 sites). Even so, the intensity of recording activity varies in the different regions of the country, and the states of North and West Mexico stand out in this sense. Thus, Nuevo León is the state with the largest recent increase, followed by Coahuila and Nayarit. By way of contrast, the states of southern Mexico show only minimal increases in the number of recorded sites. This may be due to various factors, including the fact that, for decades, the North has been considered the home of hunter-gatherers who are more inclined to produce rock art than their sedentary agricultural neighbours to the south. However, this picture is false; in fact, rock art was common to both sedentary and nomadic societies. Also, the strong bias of Mexican archaeology for studying the sedentary agricultural societies of Mesoamerica was an influence which marginalized studies of rock art in the southern Mexican states, because rock art was erroneously thought to be exclusive to nomadic societies. Another significant indicator of increasing interest is the number of research projects and thesis projects at all

Carlos Viramontes, María de la Luz Gutiérrez, William Breen Murray and Francisco Mendiola242

levels (undergraduate, Masters, and Doctoral), principally by young archaeologists who find in rock art studies a new field left unexplored by official Mexican archaeology (Table 15.2, information from the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, INAH). To illustrate this, if we take the period from 1995–1999 as an example, only four theses were produced whose central topic was rock art (Murray et al. 2003). In contrast, for the period 2000–2005, there were fourteen theses written about rock art topics in places as varied as Veracruz, Querétaro and Sonora. In a recent student colloquium at the National School of Anthropology (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, ENAH), the leading institution producing archaeologists in Mexico, more than twenty research projects were presented, many of which will develop into professional theses. The lack of a specialists’ forum forced Mexican researchers on rock art to present their findings within more diffuse professional gatherings where they usually went unnoticed; however, this situation has also changed notably. Although they are not held in Mexico, the rock

State 1991 1995 2000 2005 New Sites

(2000–2005) Increase Aguascalientes 4 9 8 12 4 50% Baja California 50 173 181 196 15 8% Baja California Sur 180 554 599 619 20 3% Campeche 0 1 1 3 2 200% Coahuila 39 126 226 304 78 35% Colima 0 20 20 26 6 30% Chiapas 26 33 38 47 9 24% Chihuahua 20 65 126 154 28 22% Df/Edomex 19 47 69 88 19 28% Durango 27 27 75 83 8 11% Guanajuato 4 55 54 61 7 13% Guerrero 16 24 28 56 30 107% Hidalgo 19 19 84 115 31 37% Jalisco 43 43 79 102 23 29% Michoacan 6 33 43 79 36 84% Morelos 7 29 31 38 7 23% Nayarit 10 10 31 81 50 161% Nuevo Leon 29 123 210 348 138 66% Oaxaca 19 19 22 32 10 45% Puebla 12 12 15 24 9 60% Queretaro 2 72 71 83 12 17% Quintana Roo 2 2 0 0 0 0% San Luis Potosi 19 19 17 19 2 12% Sinaloa 31 37 81 94 13 16% Sonora 12 29 42 75 33 79% Tabasco 2 6 6 7 1 17% Tamaulipas 6 9 10 10 0 0% Tlaxcala 2 10 18 20 2 11% Veracruz 12 12 0 10 10 0% Yucatan 21 21 20 26 6 30% Zacatecas 5 18 23 27 4 17% Total 644 1657 2228 2839 613 28%

Table 15.1. Rock Art Sites In Mexico.

Author Place Year Academic Degree Mendoza, L. Baja California 2004 Licenciatura Rodríguez, M. Sonora 2003 Licenciatura Reyes, V. Sonora 2000 Licenciatura González, R. Chihuahua 2000 Maestría Corona, C. Nuevo León 2004 Maestría Castañeda, R. Nuevo León 2005 Licenciatura Rettig, D. Nuevo León 2005 Licenciatura Faba, P. Nayarit 2000 Licenciatura Samaniega, Nayarit 2000 Licenciatura Viramontes, C. Querétaro 2002 Doctorado Nicolau, A. Michoacán 2002 Licenciatura Tinoco, P Michoacán 2004 Licenciatura Martínez, R. Edomex 2000 Licenciatura Romero, E. Veracruz 2002 Licenciatura

Table 15.2. Theses (2000–2005).

15. Rock Art Research in West and Northern Mexico 2000–2004 243

art colloquia held since 2000 in Guatemala have been an academic event at which Mexican archaeologists have presented their research. In these meetings, papers have been given on Guerrero, Chihuahua, Sonora and Querétaro (among others). In late 2004, the First Symposium on North Mexican Rock Art was held in Sinaloa, bringing together a group of researchers whose papers were subsequently published in electronic format (Santos and Viñas 2005). But the most important rock art event was the First National Symposium on Rock Art Representations, organized by Guillermo Acosta (National University) and Cristina Corona (ENAH), held in Mexico City in late 2005. This unique event brought together nearly fifty researchers from all parts of Mexico, who talked about their experiences in states like Chiapas, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Nuevo León or Baja California. The papers presented were varied, from basically descriptive to highly elaborate proposals based on broad professional experience. The Symposium was very successful in measuring the state of rock art studies in Mexico, and helped to define new strategies for future research and protection of the cultural patrimony. The final indicator of recent interest in the topic is the publication of research results. Although most advances are reported in the form of articles, in recent years, books have appeared which deal more extensively with the rock art of specific regions, such as Chihuahua (Mendiola 2002), Baja California Sur (Gutiérrez and Hyland 2002), Zacatecas (Torreblanca 2000), Nayarit (Zepeda 2005) and Querétaro (Viramontes 2005a; 2005d). At the same time, a new Anthology of Mexican Rock Art (1990–2004) which incorporates both original and re-published articles on various parts of the country, including Quintana Roo, Guerrero, Querétaro, and the Valley of Mexico (Mirambell and Casado 2005).

Regional research As previously mentioned, although there is renewed interest in rock art research, this effort is still very diffuse, and the northern states continue to be the main focus of activity. We will now comment on the states and regions where work has been most intensive.

Peninsula of Baja California (MLG)The abundance and exceptional nature of the peninsular rock art are due, in large measure, to the peculiarities of its archaeology, its geography and its relative isolation. Here occurred the necessary conditions for the development of hunter-gatherer peoples that subsisted in an ample range of ecological circumstances and social configurations. Its almost insular condition maintained these cultures’ relative isolation from continental influences, allowing the development of exceptional cultural complexes. In some regions, these peoples promoted the massive production of rock art since very remote times.

In general terms, the rock art sites are located throughout the mountain chain that extends over the entire peninsula. They can be found in gorges, edges and portezuelos, tinajas and malpaisales; one of the main values of this region is its own landscape understood as the extensive social space in which these ancient societies worked. It has been pointed out that this abundance of archaeological sites and rock art is a result of the great mobility, the intense activity of subsistence and the considerable temporal depth of the human occupation, that goes back to the end of the Pleistocene for the North and Central area (Aschmann 1952; Gutiérrez and Hyland 2002); and now we know that for the Southern portion, this antiquity could extend back to more than 10,000 BP, or even as early as 21,000 BP according to recent investigations in the region of El Cabo (Fujita 2004, Fujita et al. 2004). It is becoming increasingly clear that peninsular archaeology cannot be absolutely inclusive if the study of its rock art is omitted; this is true for the central mountain ranges, the region where one of the most spectacular developments – the Great Mural – took place, and consequently, where it has been investigated intensively. Nevertheless, little can be said about other practically unknown regions, and, although some notable efforts have focused on identifying stylistic groups and distribution areas, the great majority have been defined on the basis of the observation of a few sites and, given the dimension of the phenomenon, it is difficult to reach appropriate conclusions, except in certain cases (Grant 1974; Hedges 1973; Ritter 1991). The increase in the registration of sites has been unequal: between 1991 and 1995 it was remarkable (246% for Baja California and 208% for Southern Baja California); between 1996 and 2000 this increase was minimal (Baja California 5%, Southern Baja California 8%) (Murray and Valencia 1996; Murray et al. 2003) and in the period that concerns us in this article, another considerable increase has occurred in the peninsular inventory. This increase is not reflected in Table 15.1 because the sites have not yet been officially catalogued by the INAH, as the project that obtained this information only ended recently, and the registration documents for these new sites are still in the process of being completed (Gutiérrez 2003b). The periodic discrepancies in the increase and decrease in new registrations are a result of the processes and periods that are inherent in the investigations that have taken place in the peninsula, mainly in Southern Baja California, where large-scale regional investigations have been carried out. It is necessary to indicate that in this state some rock art areas are open to the public, which has made it necessary constantly to update the inventories through the registration of new sites reported by communities in the mountain range. It is interesting to note that in the regions where these projects have taken place, a deep sensitization on the part of the communities has been achieved, so that they are more interested in protecting this patrimony and reporting the discovery of new sites.


Baja California In the Northern half of the peninsula, a substantial increase in rock art investigations has not occurred. Between 2000 and 2001 only a few rock art sites were registered. Porcayo (pers. comm.) registered some in the Northern portion of the state, such as in the Valley of Mexicali, the Laguna Salada, the Cucapa and Juárez mountain ranges – the Rumorosa, and on the Pacific coast. In 2001, Oviedo began an investigative project in the archaeological zone of the Vallecito, a series of rock art sites located in the Rumorosa mountain range. The project’s objectives consist of increasing archaeological knowledge of this zone, which was inhabited by the ancestors of the present indigenous group, the Kumiai. In one of the enclosures – the Diablito – some evidence of human cremation was found. This site is considered to be a marker of the winter solstice; at this date, the first solar rays illuminate a red coloured anthropomorph that gives the site its name. In this zone, a project was undertaken to determine the composition of the cave paintings (Valdez 2004). Preliminary results show that the paint does not contain any binder except for water, and the white, red and orange pigments are of mineral origin, unlike the black which is plant charcoal, making it possible to determine the antiquity of the paintings (Oviedo 2003, 2005, in press). These findings mark two important differences with the composition of paint in central Baja California. In the latter region, the origin of the black pigment is manganese oxide, whereas the red and the yellow are iron oxides. Also a binder has been identified in the “recipe” which is presumed to be of vegetal origin, enabling us to date paintings in this region (Gutiérrez and Hyland 2002).

Southern Baja California Investigation of the rock art of Southern Baja California has generated a great quantity of finds during the period in question, resulting from two extensive regional archaeological projects. One of them has been carried out in the Sierra de la Giganta (Mandujano 2004), located to the south of the Great Murals area and one of the less studied regions of the peninsula (Massey and Tuohy 1960; Tuohy 1978). Up to the present, this project has reported few rock art sites, but it is hoped that in the next few years the considerable inventory of the state will increase. In 2004, an exhaustive analysis of the rock art of the famous Cueva Pintada of the Sierra de San Francisco was presented by Viñas (2004). The study is a complete registration of the images that form the panels of this important site from an archaeological perspective: 1494 painted figures and 22 groups of engravings are described in detail. The author analyzes the “chromatic stratigraphy”, and identifies eight levels and six phases, four for the Great Mural Tradition and two for the Comondá-Cochimí Tradition. Also he proposes the concept of “Culture of the Great Murals” which had its origin in the early Archaic and is tied to the Late Prehistoric and the Historical period. In 2000, Gutiérrez (2002) began the investigation of the archaeology and rock art of the Sierra de Guadalupe. This project arose from the necessity of continuing investigations around the rock art of the central region, initiated in the 1980s in the Sierra de San Francisco. Almost unknown aspects of the archaeology of this mountain range were tackled, and special emphasis was placed on the precise documentation of the rock art, with particular attention to the identification of the variables presented by the stylistic groups, their distribution areas, and the transition between these variables (Gutiérrez 2000, 2003; Murray et al. 2003: 183–186). Although the archaeological patterns

Fig. 15.1. Campo Monte, Sierra de San Borja. Fig. 15.2. El Dipugón, Sierra de Guadalupe.


totally surpassed all expectations, due to the considerable antiquity they represent. Nevertheless the obtaining and interpretation of all the dates are still underway, so that consistent conclusions have not yet been reached. However, at the moment we can affirm a tenacious continuity in the practice of this tradition in many sites, extending over a considerable period of time, presumably explaining the great number of superimpositions observed. The organic analysis of the binders has determined whether they are of vegetal or animal origin, with a possible candidate being some kind of cactus, due to its availability and abundance near the painted sites (Watchman et al. 2002).

North East México (WBM)During the last five years, on-going research projects have greatly expanded the archaeological coverage of northeast Mexico. In Nuevo León, these projects are directed by Valadez and Rivera, and carried out with the assistance of students from the ENAH. In Coahuila, Aveleyra (2002) and González Arratia continue their long-term projects in the Laguna region, while several salvage archaeological projects in eastern Coahuila have been undertaken in connection with new highway and gas pipeline construction.

Fig. 15.3. El Pilo, Sierra de Guadalupe.

Fig. 15.4. San Antonio, Sierra de Guadalupe.

and distribution of rock art observed in the neighbouring Sierra de San Francisco made it possible to predict the discovery of numerous sites, the results achieved so far have exceeded all expectations. Almost 700 sites have been registered which have rock art (paintings, engravings and geoglyphs), in addition to numerous archaeological sites of various kinds such as funerary caves, outdoor camps, quarries, ambush sites, stations for milling, mezcaleras and diverse historical sites from the latest colonial period and the 19th century (Gutiérrez 2003 a and b). One aspect that deserves emphasis concerns the abundance of stone engraving sites that form a significant element of the cultural landscape of these mountains. In addition, the treatment given to anthropomorphic figures is noteworthy; the tendency to represent genitalia in feminine and masculine human figures is well-known. This situation establishes a noticeable difference with the Great Murals of the Sierra de San Francisco, where the great majority of the anthropomorphic figures do not present this characteristic (Gutiérrez 2003). One of the main objectives of the project lies in establishing a reliable chronology for the Great Murals, because until recently one had to rely on only a few dates for a phenomenon that extends over thousands of square kilometres (Fullola et al. 1994; Gutiérrez and Hyland 2002). The project included not only the possibility of obtaining direct dates, but also that of characterizing the components of the painting, placing special emphasis on the identification of the binders used in the recipe (Gutiérrez 2003; Watchman et al. 2002). Nearly 300 paint samples were obtained from some of the most representative Great Mural sites in San Borja, San Juan, San Francisco and Guadalupe. So far, a large number of dates have been obtained, such as in the San Borjitas Cave, at 7500 years BP, which establishes the panel at this site as one of the oldest of the Great Murals area. These results


While none of these projects is specifically aimed at documenting rock art, they have detected many new sites in both states. The 348 sites presently registered in Nuevo León are the second largest total for any state in Mexico. For Nuevo León, rock art site detection is probably approaching 100% coverage, with only a few smaller sites still awaiting discovery. If the 304 registered sites in Coahuila are added (many of them located in eastern Coahuila, near the state border), it becomes apparent that Northeast Mexico, with over 650 registered sites, contains one of the major concentrations of rock art on the North American continent. Only the Gulf coastal plain in the state of Tamaulipas seems to be omitted from this picture. As part of these archaeological projects, new excavations have been carried out at several Nuevo León sites, including Cueva Ahumada, the Icamole canyon area, Boca de Potrerillos and Villaldama, leading to discoveries which open up new interpretive perspectives on the associated rock art. The identification of burials at several locations, especially at Boca de Potrerillos, N. L. (Valadez 2005a), confirms a previously unsuspected mortuary use which may be associated with the production of rock art. In the Cueva Ahumada excavations, incised portable stone plaques like those first identified at Boca de Potrerillos (Turpin et al. 1996) and later confirmed at El Pelillal, Coahuil (Turpin and Eling 2003) were found within a datable stratified sequence. This mobiliary art shares some motifs with the petroglyphs and the expanding sample indirectly confirms their Archaic date. Likewise, the recovery of a stratified sequence of projectile points at Cueva Ahumada provides an initial chronological framework for the many petroglyphic representations of these same point types at this and other regional sites. So far, no direct dating of northeast Mexican rock art has been attempted but, from these indirect clues, a more secure relative chronology is emerging. Additional chronological orientation should come from new radiocarbon dating

results from a wider sample of archaeological sites. Earlier radiocarbon dates from Boca de Potrerillos (N.L.) confirmed human occupation there for nearly 8000 years, indicating the potential antiquity of at least some of the associated petroglyphs. Since then, excavations at Cueva Ahumada (Corona 2001) have confirmed a previously undetected initial occupation of that site in the Early Middle Archaic period (ca. 7000 BP), and a more extensive occupation between 5000–3500 BP associated with strata adjoining the painted rock wall which contained pigment nodules. In recent seasons, two other stratified sites with rock art have also been excavated – one a painted shelter near Villaldama, N. L. by Valadez (2005c) and the other near General Terán, N. L., further to the south on the Gulf coastal plain, by Rivera (2005a, 2005b). Full reports of these excavations and radiocarbon dating results are still in progress. Heightened archaeological activity has in turn stimulated more detailed individual studies of the rock art at specific sites. Some of these projects are reported in theses by ENAH students who have worked on the field projects, while others appear in the recent publications of resident researchers. Some of these studies use previously unexplored theoretical models, while others elaborate on earlier hypotheses, using new data to fill in some of the missing links. The linkage between these studies is the emerging picture of the hunter-gatherer way of life as practised during distinct phases of prehistory. So far, no evidence of sedentism or cultivation has appeared anywhere in the region, and all of its rock art can be securely attributed to mobile hunter-gatherer band societies whose stout resistance to Spanish incursions led to their cultural extermination by the end of the 18th century. Rock art motifs frequently illustrate both the weapons and prey of the prehistoric hunters, and many appear to mark places where real hunting took place, as field experiments with replicated atlatls showed (Murray and Lazcano 2001). Indeed, petroglyphs of desert bighorn sheep horns at three locations in Nuevo León and eastern Coahuila are now being used as indicators of places where the species may be re-introduced within a large-scale project to enhance regional biodiversity (Murray and Espinosa 2005). This kind of application of rock art studies may be practical with other species in other places as well. In recognition of its singular size and concentration of petroglyphs, the site of Boca de Potrerillos, near Mina, Nuevo León, became the first officially designated “archaeological zone” in northeast Mexico by Presidential decree in 2001 (Valadez 2001). It is now under consideration for designation as a World Heritage site and continues to attract special archaeological attention, especially in relation to its potential use by prehistoric sky watchers. Additional field observations, particularly by Valadez (2005b) as part of his doctoral thesis project, have confirmed various alignments using petroglyphs to mark the solstices and the equinox on both the rising and setting horizons (see also Murray 2004a). This observational calendar

Fig. 15.5. Sheephorn petroglyphs, Fraustro, Coahuila.


uses a satellite petroglyphic cluster about 500 m behind the canyon mouth as its vantage point and, at its centre, a heavily carved and artificially placed monolithic stone functions as both a horizon marker and a solar gnomon. A similar gnomon stone has been identified at Cueva Ahumada by Corona (2005), indicating that the annual changes of light and shadow were consciously noted as part of this sky-watching tradition. A cross-like orientation to the cardinal directions is one of the inherent characteristics of the site landscape as viewed from this satellite zone. Two petroglyphic cross-in-circle motifs found at the base of the gnomon monolith may also have a more specific meaning as symbolic markers of the cardinal directions (Murray 2004c). Field observations from similar cross-in-circle motifs on the south crest showed that they marked a place where the north pole of the sky – today associated with the bright star Polaris – could be observed on any cloudless night of the year. This navigational reference would certainly be handy information for any seasonally mobile group, and could have been part of the site’s initial appeal for its earliest human occupants. Be that as it may, the challenge is to explain why and how relatively small-scale nomadic band societies could have produced so much rock art, an estimated 3000 carved stones spread along over 2 km of rocky crest. Based in part on the high degree of motif redundancy at the site, Turpin (2002) proposes seasonal cyclical rituals over a long time period as the most likely explanation. This certainly agrees with the abundant fire pits found at the site (a ritual feature confirmed in ethnohistoric sources for the region) as well as its apparent function as a solar horizon calendar which could have been used to time the rituals. Light and shadow effects cast by the multiple horizons at sunrise and sunset also make this a dramatic setting for ritual activities. Del Razo (2005) advances a similar explanation for the dense concentration of petroglyphs in nearby Icamole canyon. Even so, the growing evidence for calendrically-timed ritual has not excluded other possible explanations of Boca’s rock art. Two recent theses explore contrasting approaches to Boca’s rock art iconography. Castañeda (2005) treats the petroglyphs as a “semasiographic” system whose semantic content does not duplicate spoken language (since the groups that gathered there probably did not share one), but which is constructed and operates within linguistic rules. Rettig (2005), on the other hand, uses a world-wide ethnographic sample assembled by art historian Carl Schuster to identify at least some of the petroglyphs at Boca as symbols of kinship and descent. In this sense, the site might be a “gathering place of the clans” in which broader social links were reinforced in a non-threatening ritualistic setting. The petroglyphs would thereby be comparable to other kinds of personal decoration, such as tattooing, body painting and items of dress, which can serve to identify kin ties. Ethnohistoric sources confirm the use of such body-painted designs among many Amerindian groups in this region of Mexico.

Although the ethnohistoric record is limited, some recent studies make use of it to explore the context of more recent rock art. Ramírez (2005) examines early colonial records for evidence of totemistic traditions among the local Amerindian groups which may be reflected in rock art. Alvarez (2002) uses the same sources to focus on Native use of cacti of different species, some of which may be represented in rock art, as both a food source and a raw material for artifacts and construction. Murray (2003) notes iconographic similarities between a colonial mosaic on the facade of the mission church at Lampazos, Nuevo León, and rock art motifs at nearby sites as evidence that some of the late painted rock art could be attributed to the Coahuiltecan-speaking Alazapas. In another paper, Murray (2004b) even fills in the gaps between prehistoric rock art, historic inscriptions and the modern graffiti which increasingly adorn the same landscape. The relation of rock art iconography to peyotist shamanic practices known to have been practised in this region also continues to attract many researchers and enjoys wide appeal. González Arratia (2004a, 2004b), in particular, has interpreted the painted rock art of the Cuatro Cienagas area and the petroglyphs in the Laguna region at San Rafael de Los Milagros (González Arratia 2005) in terms of Lewis-Williams’ entoptic model and relates nearly all North Mexican rock art to shamanic practices. On the other hand, Murray (2002) questions the applicability of the entoptic model and considers instead the possible relation between petroglyphic hunting motifs, such as deer antlers and hoof prints, and the peyote ritualism still practised even today by the Huichol who visit the region.

North West México (FMG)In the last five years, many important contributions have been made to the rock art investigation of these Mexican States. In these studies it is possible to identify diverse approaches (including the descriptive, the analytical, the associative and the interpretative); in some cases it is possible to observe institutional and social influences through the diffusion of the knowledge that directly and indirectly has sought to fortify regional identity as well as the conservation of this patrimony.

SinaloaThe territory of Sinaloa has a great abundance and diversity of rock art sites, and displays important local developments, sometimes with influences from Mesoamerica and the southwestern United States. In the last few years, there have been remarkable efforts to spread information about rock art through works like the Diccionario de Cultura Sinaloense (Gobierno del Estado 2002: 189–2001), where a synthesis of the most important sites is presented, based on previous works (Ortiz de Zárate 1976; Mendiola 1994). Archaeological studies have focused on sites like Las Labradas and Los Naranjos; at Las Labradas, general categories for


classifying the rock art were established: geometric and anthropomorphous, as well as interpretations of a symbolic nature about ways of viewing the cosmos (Santos 2005: 11–27). For Los Naranjos, a basically descriptive approach to the geometric and naturalistic forms has been used. It is interesting to note the connections of this site with the taracahita language (yutoazteca) of the tahue culture (Vicente 2005). Recently a historical-analytical view of the rock art of Sinaloa was published by Mendiola (2005a).

DurangoBetween 2000 and 2005, the study of rock art in Durango saw an important number of publications that build on the pioneering works of Mason (1961) and Lazalde (1987: 128–204). In 2000, a site was reported in the mountain range known as Potrero de Cháidez, with cave paintings of basically abstract and geometric character: curvilinear, rectilinear, compounds and dots, associated with nomadic, hunter-gatherer groups. The iconography of this site is unique, when compared to others of the mountain range and valleys of Durango; unfortunately, its state of preservation is poor (Forcano 2000). For the northwest of Durango, the representative archaeological evidence includes the rock art of several sites with engravings and paintings – such as El Cañón de San Quintín with a figure that is associated with the

Mesoamerican symbol of the wind (Ehécatl), and Peñón Blanco, with cave paintings that display abundant abstract elements (Guevara 2001: 29–44). For the central part of Durango, there are sites with rock art that have been grouped in three great series: 1) sanctuaries, 2) places for prayer and 3) places for messages. To this last group belongs the site of “La Cueva de los Monos” that contains a mural interpreted as a battle between natives and a group of riders with hats. From the style of the attire, it can probably be attributed to the XVIIth century (Guevara 2002).

SonoraThe different regions of Sonora that contain rock art sites display a great technical-morphological diversity that also corresponds to each of its natural surroundings (hydrological river basins, topography, ecological zones, etc.). Twelve regions have been identified, some of them with a high concentration of rock art sites (Contreras and Quijada 1999; Quijada 2004: 1–32). In the last few years, investigations have incorporated a careful revision of primary historical sources of the 17th and 18th centuries, and an in-depth review has been carried out of regions like El Pinacate and Trincheras, where the important sites of La Proveedora (Caborca) and La Calera are found. Both sites are likely to be declared Patrimony of Humanity (Quijada, 2005). A new approach to the rock art is the

Fig. 15.6. Cueva de las Monas, Chihuahua, Mexico (photo: F. Mendiola, INAH, Mexico).


19th centuries) (Mendiola 2000a: 9–11). Also, sites with cave paintings were registered, like Cueva del Cañón del Rancho de Sierra Alta and Rancho la Escondida, in the centre and northwest of the state respectively, which for their specific morphologies are associated with the Apache group (Mendiola 2000b). In 2002, it was reported that the pioneer of northern archaeology, Luis Aveleyra, between 1978 and 1983, had discovered two important sites with cave paintings in the South of Chihuahua, specifically in the municipality of Jiménez: La Cañada de los Chuzos and la Cueva de los Remedios (Aveleyra 2002). A review of rock art in Chihuahua produced important results: the physiographic differences of the state (Sierra Madre, valleys and desert) coincide in their general aspects with the differences in the rock iconography of each of those natural spaces, and with the archaeological and ethnohistorical cultures that occupied them: nomads of the desert, sedentary and semi-sedentary people of the valleys and of the Sierra Madre Occidental (Mendiola 2002). Ultimately a morphological and cultural relationship has been postulated between the graphic rock elements of Chihuahua and others existing in Sinaloa and the southwestern United States (Mendiola 2005b).

West and Central México (CVA)

NayaritWestern Mexico is a region where a large number of petroglyph sites were known to exist, principally in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit. In the latter state, since 1993, Zepeda (2001, 2005) has worked on a project aimed at locating and recording rock art sites. Its main

Fig. 15.7. Cueva de las Monas, Chihuahua, Mexico (photo: F. Mendiola, INAH, Mexico).

Fig. 15.8. Cañada El Café, Chihuahua, Mexico (drawing: F. Mendiola, INAH, Mexico).

relationship established between the living group of o’oba natives (pimas) of Sonora and the sites that contain cave paintings, and where sensitizing spaces for this ethnic group are located (Mendiola in press). Aguilar and Beaumont (2004) establish a link between the rock art and the o’oba, which has integrated it with their original language, in a context of relationship and identity dynamics. In the last two years, they have adopted a novel approach to the study of the rock art of the hills of La Proveedora and San José, in northwestern Sonora. Here it is considered that the rock art constitutes a structured cultural construction (Amador, in press: 8) in which there are discontinuities, variants, exceptions and contradictions in terms of the complexity of the cultural productions (ibid.); in addition, the author considers the multiplicity of representational possibilities in the engravings at both sites. This example is adopted by Villalobos (2003: 44–45), who observes anthropomorphs represented frontally, and zoomorphs in plan (reptiles) and in profile (mammals). For Amador, this multiplicity corresponds to diverse factors: historical-cultural, symbolic, aesthetic and technical among others. Finally, the interpretation of the engravings at both sites in northwestern Sonora is related to function: mnemotechnical, territorial (marking), ritual, documentary and cognitive (Amador, in press: 1–37).

ChihuahuaThe most important site in central Chihuahua, known as La Cueva de las Monas, has had one of its sets of images reinterpreted as a scene of scraping peyote (Mendiola 2000a: 10); this scene had been interpreted by Guevara (1989: 57) as a catholic act between kneeling personages. As a part of the reinterpretation, three different pictorial stages were identified for this same site: Late Archaic (1100 to 100 BC); Colonial (16th–18th centuries); and Apache (18th–


objective is to evaluate conservation possibilities at locations now affected by modern urbanism. This work increased the number of registered sites from 10 in 1995 to 81 in 2005. At the same time, it focused attention on a particular group of sites of singular importance: La Pila de los Monos, Sayulapa, Soytán, and Altavista. All of these sites have a diversity of petroglyphs, principally spirals, circles, and crosses, although they also include anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, and phytomorphs, as well as a great variety of geometric designs, solar representations and lunar counts, among others. Zepeda suggests that at Pila de los Monos, astronomical observations and rituals were carried out to propitiate the celestial order and insure favourable agricultural conditions, while at Sayalupa, the petroglyphs are related to ritual hunting of deer and peyote use. In Soyatan, she found a complex narrative sequence in which the protagonists are deities of rain, wind and fertility. Finally, she considers the site of Altavista to be both a prehispanic and modern sanctuary where Huichol shamans enter into contact with the spirits of their ancestors.

JaliscoOne of the pioneers in the study of Mexican rock art is J. Mountjoy, who has worked intensively in the state of Jalisco for more than 30 years. During that time, he has recorded

more than 700 petroglyphs in various parts of the state and has concluded that there are three principal themes: solar deities, water, and fertility, all concepts intimately inter-related in ancient prehispanic societies. Mountjoy (2001) calculates that approximately 98% of the petroglyphs refer in some way to these themes. However, he has also recorded petroglyphs with quite different meanings, among which the most unusual are representations of patollis, a traditional game in Mesoamerican societies which diffused to some of the Chichimec societies as well. Here, the petroglyphs functioned as gameboards, with the usual 52 positions laid out in the form of a cross. The game is very complex, leading Mountjoy (2005) to suggest that many of the petroglyph figures represent it in simplified form.

GuerreroDuring the last decade, R. Manzanilla has worked on locating and recording rock art sites on the coast of Guerrero. In his reports, he identifies and describes several archaeological sites with petroglyphs, such as Palma Sola, La Bruja, Puerto Marqués, Cerro Tambuco (Acapulco), and El Coacoyul and La Escondida (Zihuatanejo) (Manzanilla 2000). He considers the principal subject to be the ritualization of spaces dedicated to fishing, given the abundant representations of fish, reptiles and marine mammals, as well as boats and shamans. In general, the petroglyphs are oriented toward the sea and are given a probable date between AD 200–700 (Manzanilla 2002, 2005). Other interpretive possibilities are related to myths, calculation of real and ritual time, and other features found in Mesoamerican cultures (Manzanilla 2003).

ZacatecasIn an effort to relate the petroglyphs found around the archaeological site of La Quemada to the Valle del Malpaso culture, Torreblanca (2000) began with a complete registration of all the petroglyphs, which he described and grouped according to their formal characteristics (abstract, geometric and zoomorphic). According to Torreblanca, the petroglyphs have an astronomical and religious meaning, related to the cycles of Venus, the Sun, and Mesoamerican calendrics. They are concentrated in the southern part of the site, corresponding to the cardinal point referring to the underworld, for which representations of serpents are especially relevant. The petroglyphs also represent the supernatural power accorded to this important archaeological site.

GuanajuatoBeginning in 2004, the Río Victoria Drainage Rock Art project has been focused on the protection of archaeological sites in the eastern part of Guanajuato state, where Arroyo Seco, the most important rock art site in the region, is located. So far, in two seasons of fieldwork, the results are promising. During 2004, activities focused on systematic recording of 23 rock art complexes with more than 500

Fig. 15.9. Arroyo de los Monos, Chihuahua, Mexico (drawing: F. Mendiola, INAH, Mexico).


QuerétaroFrom 1997–2002, C. Viramontes carried out a rock art site detection and recording project in the semi-arid region of Querétaro state, where human occupation goes back at least to 8000 BC. A total of 108 sites were located, 57 of which were fully recorded with maps, tracings, photographic recording, etc. In a later analysis, Viramontes (2005d) uses a landscape archaeology focus. With support from other anthropological disciplines such as ethnography, ethnohistory, and cultural geography, he concludes that the

Fig. 15.10. Cueva del Cuervo, Victoria, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Fig. 15.11. El Derrumbadero 1, Victoria, Guanajuato, Mexico.

images, and taking steps for the conservation and protection of these sites (Viramontes and Flores 2005; Flores and Viramontes 2005). In 2005, another 23 archaeological sites were located and recorded, with approximately 2000 figures. Arroyo Seco is located at a crossroads where different groups came together, including both hunter-gatherers and settled cultivators whom the Spaniards would later identify by the generic label “chichimecs”. The rock art of this area is still under study.

Fig. 15.12. El Derrumbadero 2, Victoria, Guanajuato, Mexico.


hunter-gatherer societies of the semi-desert conceptually transformed the natural landscape into a sacred one, ritually marked by rock art. He identifies various ritual landscapes, manifested by certain features which make them ideal places for graphic representations of the basic concepts of their view of the cosmos, one of them being the high mountain known as Pinal de Zamorano, where rituals related to water were carried out. Here, the rock art found at more than 40 sites on the slopes and base of the mountain show water motifs (Viramontes 2006). This is a sacred mountain for the indigenous groups who live in the immediate area of the Pinal de Zamorano (Viramontes 2001). In the rock art of the semi-desert, it is possible to distinguish between the traditions coming from Mesoamerican societies (spiral and curvilinear petroglyphs principally) and those of hunter-gatherers, more inclined towards naturalistic painted rock art (anthropomorphs, zoomorphs and phytomorphs) and abstract geometrical designs (Viramontes 2005d). Among hunter-gatherers, the importance of the human figure is notable, and could be linked to the collective ritual healing sessions still common among Mexican indigenous groups (Viramontes 2005c); in these, the ritual specialist plays an important role (Viramontes 2005b).

Valley of MexicoRivas (2005) undertakes a broad general review of petroglyphs in the Valley of Mexico. He notes that many archaeological sites which he attributes to various time

periods are now threatened by the urban expansion of Mexico City. He suggests that the petroglyphs contain calendric information, celebrations of the anniversaries of rulers, myths and religion, and relates them to other sites in the region. The religious importance of petroglyphs in the Mesoamerican view of the cosmos is a notable long-term feature.

Final considerationsUntil 1990, rock art in Mexico was rarely discussed and, with a few notable exceptions, the studies carried out were generally either descriptive or highly speculative. This situation changed dramatically after 1990, and intensified even more after 2000. Greater interest in the cultures of the North has triggered a growing amount of research on the northern societies, and along with it their rock art. The contributions of site recording and conservation, theoretical and methodological approaches, and the scientific rigour with which research problems are taken up have all enriched and improved our understanding of these archaeological remains. Rock art research in Mexico now occupies the important place it should have had a long time ago: as a widespread cultural vestige basic to a better understanding of the societies which have lived on Mexican territory for more than fifteen millennia.

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rock art research in western and northern mexico, 2000-2004

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