Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco

Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco
Replica of rock paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco at the Museo Nacional de Antropología
Location	Sierra de San Francisco, Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Coordinates	27°39′20″N 112°54′58″W / 27.6555611°N 112.91611°W / 27.6555611; -112.91611

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii
Designated	1993 (17th session)
Reference no.	714
Region	Latin America and the Caribbean


Location of Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco in Mexico

The Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco are prehistoric rock art pictographs found in the Sierra de San Francisco mountain range in Mulegé Municipality of the northern region of Baja California Sur state, in Mexico.^[1]^[2]^[3]

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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 missionary José Mariano Rotea.^[4]^[5]

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.^[6] 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. 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 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.

References

^ Harry W. Crosby. 1997. The cave paintings of Baja California: discovering the great murals of an unknown people. Rev. and expanded ed. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego.
^ María de la Luz Gutiérrez and Justin R. Hyland. 2002. Arqueología de la sierra de San Francisco: dos décadas de investigación del fenómeno Gran Mural. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
^ Danny Palmerlee. 2007. Baja California and Los Cabos, 308 pages
^ Francisco Javier Clavijero. 1789. Storia della California. 2 vols. Appresso Modesto Penzo, Venice.
^ Miguel del Barco. 1973. Historia natural y crónica de la antigua California. Edited by Miguel León-Portilla. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
^ Don Laylander. 2014. "The beginnings of prehistoric archaeology in Baja California, 1732-1913". Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 50(1&2):1-32.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco.

External links

v t e World Heritage Sites in Mexico
North West	Archaeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California¹ Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino
North Central	Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro Historic Centre of Zacatecas Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines Protected town of San Miguel de Allende and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco
West	Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila Revillagigedo Archipelago Historic Centre of Morelia Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California¹ Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve¹
East	Earliest 16th-century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl¹ Pre-Hispanic City of El Tajín Historic Centre of Puebla Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan
South West	Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque
South Central	Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System Central University City Campus of the UNAM Earliest 16th-century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl¹ Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco Luis Barragán House and Studio Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve¹ Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacán
South East	Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Historic Fortified Town of Campeche Pre-Hispanic City of Chichén Itzá Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
¹ Shared by more one region

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

This page was last edited on 11 September 2022, at 00:59

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