The Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco are
prehistoric rock art pictograph
A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...
s found in the
Sierra de San Francisco
The Sierra de San Francisco is a mountain range in Mulegé Municipality of the northern region of Baja California Sur state, in northwestern Mexico.
Geography
The Sierra de San Francisco are on the eastern side of the Baja California Peninsula, n ...
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in
Mulegé Municipality
Mulegé is the northernmost municipalities of Mexico, municipality of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur. It is the largest municipality by area in Mexico, with an area of 33,092.20 km2 (12,777 sq mi). In th ...
of the northern region of
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...
state, in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
History
The pictographs are likely the artistic products of the
Cochimi people in the
Baja California peninsula. This group became culturally extinct in the nineteenth century but is comparatively well known through the writings of eighteenth-century Jesuit missionaries. These paintings on the roofs and walls of rock shelters in the Sierra de San Francisco were first discovered by Europeans in the eighteenth century by the Mexican
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary José Mariano Rotea.
According to some native beliefs recorded by the Jesuits and others, the paintings were drawn by a race of giants—a supposition that has been discarded by scientific investigators since the late nineteenth century.
[Don Laylander. 2014. "The beginnings of prehistoric archaeology in Baja California, 1732-1913". ''Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly'' 50(1&2):1-32.] This belief may have been suggested by the larger-than-life size of many of the human (as well as animal) figures. Some observers have speculated that the paintings had meanings relating to hunting magic, religious practices, or ancestor worship, but there is no consensus on these interpretations. Animal species including deer, wild sheep, rabbit, puma, lynx, whale, turtle, fish, and birds are depicted. There are also abstract elements of various forms. A growing body of radiocarbon dates relating to the paintings has suggested ages from as early as 5500 BCE to as late as European contact in the eighteenth century.
Geography
The pictographs are at around 250 sites, which are located east of the
El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve
EL, El or el may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit
* Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things''
* El, fami ...
. Access to the paintings is difficult due to the isolated location, which also has helped to minimize vandalism and destruction of the out cropping.
Landmark
The area has one of the most important concentration of
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
art on the
Baja California Peninsula. It is of exceptional quality at both national and international standards: for the high quality, extent, variety and originality of human and animal representations, remarkable colors, and excellent state of preservation.
In 1989 the rock paintings of Sierra de San Francisco were nominated for, and in 1993 became, a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
.
See also
*
Great Mural Rock Art, Baja California
Great Mural Rock Art consists of prehistoric paintings of humans and other animals, often larger than life-size, on the walls and ceilings of natural rock shelters in the mountains of northern Baja California Sur and southern Baja California, Mexi ...
References
External links
UNESCO.org: Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco World Heritage Site
* ttps://whc.unesco.org/archive/repcom93.htm#714 UNESCO.org: Report of the 17th Session of the Committee, with acceptance criteriabr>Picasa photo set: San Francisco de la Sierra, Baja California SurBradshawfoundation.com: "Baja California - In Search of Painted Caves"
— ''documentary film''.
Explore the Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture
{{Pre-Columbian North America
Petroglyphs in Mexico
Archaeological sites in Baja California Sur
Mulegé Municipality
Pre-Columbian archaeological sites
Protected areas of Baja California Sur
Rock art in North America
World Heritage Sites in Mexico