Heading into the Desert 9786078187225

Citation preview

Tales of an Archaeologist in Sonora at the Turn of Twenty-First Century

Júpiter Martínez Ramírez

Author: Júpiter Martínez Ramírez Editorial director: Nathalie Armella Spitalier Editorial assistant: Vicente Camacho Lucario Assistant editor: Natalia Ramos Garay Copyeditor: Isabel Juvera Flores English translation: Rose Vekony Art director: Alexandra Suberville Sota Editorial design: Emmanuel Hernández López Editorial design assistant: Berenice Ceja Juárez

Heading into the Desert. Tales of an Archaeologist in Sonora at the Turn of Twenty-First Century Volume 2 in the series Extreme Archaeology First Spanish edition: 2012 First English edition: 2012 Original title: Travesía hacia el desierto. Anecdotario de un arqueólogo en la Sonora de los siglos xx y xxi. © CACCIANI, S.A. de C.V. Prol. Calle 18 N° 254 Col. San Pedro de los Pinos 01180 México, D.F. +52 (55) 5273 2397 / +52 (55) 5273 2229 [email protected] www.fundacionarmella.org/english ISBN (Spanish version): 978-607-8187-15-7 ISBN (English version): 978-607-8187-22-5 All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part, in any medium and by any method, is prohibited without the authorization of the copyright holders. Cover illustration: Vegetation of the Central Coast, dusk in the Sonoran Desert. Photo by Júpiter Martínez Ramírez

To my beloved Sonora

Prologue Júpiter Martínez Ramírez is originally from Morelia, Michoacán. After his first year of study in the History Department at the University of Morelia, he moved to Mexico City. In 1994 he completed the coursework for his degree in Archaeology at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (enah), and at the beginning of 1996 he went to Sonora to work on the Trincheras archaeological project, under the aegis of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Centro inah-Sonora) and the State University of New York at Binghamton (suny). His book Heading into the Desert: Tales of an Archaeologist in Sonora at the Turn of TwentyFirst Century invites the reader to embark on a journey of about 500 km (310 miles) through the northern part of the state, traveling in a straight line from the watershed of the mountain range that serves as the border between the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, beginning at Las Cuevas Ranch,1 in the municipality of Bavispe, and ending at El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve,2 in Puerto Peñasco, Plutarco Elías Calles, and San Luis Río Colorado. The route includes some of the valleys along the Bavispe, Moctezuma, Sonora, and San Miguel Rivers, as well as streams and rivers flowing into the basin of the Magdalena and Altar Rivers, which join to form the Asunción River in the semidesert plains. It is an enlightening experience for those who know some or all of these places, and for those who haven’t yet had the chance to travel this route, it is an unforgettable one—in terms of both the geography and the pre-Hispanic and colonial history of this northern part of Mexico. Describing their descent through the mountains, Martínez mentions how useful it is to have four-wheel drive. The reader should bear in mind that the Centro inah-Sonora received its first 4WD truck in 1996—twenty-three years after the center’s founding (in 1973). Since the people in charge of bids and vehicle purchases in our institution live in Mexico City, they’ve rarely had to travel the dirt roads and mountain paths or the deserts of Mexican territory. They have no idea what they’re missing! A second 4WD vehicle

1. Where I assisted Martínez in 2009 and 2010. 2. I was able to attend the dedicatory ceremony for the Reserve on the evening of June 10, 1993, in the northern part of Cerro Prieto in Puerto Peñasco. From the gulf one could admire, to the northeast, the peaks of El Pinacate. Also present were the anthropologist Alejandro Aguilar Zeleny, who was at that time was the director of the Centro inah-Sonora, and representatives of the Tohono O’odham peoples of Arizona and Sonora.

was assigned to us in 2005, but it didn’t make it to Sonora until February 2006, thanks to the insistence of one of the archaeologists, who even covered the delivery costs. “There’s no money to bring it from Mexico City,” the authorities kept repeating. The first truck,3 the one that arrived at the Centro inah-Sonora in 1996, came from a group of autos that had been decommissioned at the border by the Ministry of Finance and redistributed on gratuitous loan through the procede Program.4 We asked the lawyers from the Institute, who had traveled from Mexico City, to let us choose the vehicle we were to receive. Martínez, one of the members of the procede program team, was in charge of the selection. At first he was leaning toward a green Chevrolet pickup with polarized windows and chrome rims. “Why not the blue Dodge pickup?” I suggested, to which he replied, “It’s really ugly... it looks like it’s split in two, and the paint’s coming off the truck bed.” “Yes,” I said, “but it’s the only one of the lot that has four-wheel drive,5 and in Sonora you’re going to need that—plus it’s got all-terrain tires.” Taconudas, as they’re commonly called, are the best tires for mountain roads. He knew that I always made sure to get them for the pickups used by the Centro inah-Sonora. Ever since I bought my Ford F-250 4 x 4 in 2001 I’ve used all-terrain tires, proven to be the best-designed for these roads. Now I’m gratified to read that Martínez gives these essential items an appreciative nod in all his stories. On our first visits to the communities, in 1997, Martínez and I, with our colleagues Mayela Pastrana and Valerio Paredes, were supposed to give a presentation about the procede program, using a Kodak carousel slide projector. But in the mountains there were tiny clusters of houses with no electricity; their lighting came from oil lamps or gas. It was in Agua Fría, as I recall, in the municipality of Bacerac, that thanks to the loan of a gas-powered generator the community was able to learn about the procede archaeologists’ work; the outside wall of a rural primary school became the screen for our slide show.6 There, under the shelter of tall pine trees, we had “movie night” in Agua Fría.

3. Which we fondly recall as “El Procede.” 4. The acronym for “Programa de certificación de los derechos ejidales” (Ejido Rights Certification Program—ejidos being communal lands), a program instituted by the Federal government on behalf of agrarian communities and ejidos to regularize social property. The primary goal was to give legal confirmation of land tenancy by granting certificates for parcels or for common use rights (or both, as applicable), as well as land titles for persons who held such rights within agrarian groups that approved and requested their legalization. The institutions directly responsible for carrying out this program were the Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria (sra), the Procuraduría Agraria (pa), the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (inegi), the Registro Agrario Nacional (ran), and the Instituto Nacional de ������ Antropología e Historia (inah). 5. Four-wheel drive (4WD) means that the engine sends power to all four wheels. There are two options: high range (4H) and low range (4L). The first makes it possible to drive on land or snow at normal speeds; the second engages a gear that provides greater traction but a lower maximum speed. 6. The children were on vacation at the time, and the residents kindly let us use the school for our c­ ampaign.

Contents

Subsequently Martínez became involved in other projects, such as The Archaeological Investigation of the Bavispe and San Bernardino Valleys in Sonora, where he took part in field surveys between April and May 1998 and excavations in May and June 2001. Also in 2001, on the project The Production of Architectural Artifacts: An Analysis of Cliff Dwellings in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Northwestern Sonora, Mexico, I had the opportunity to accompany the project’s director, Elizabeth Bagwell, together with César Villalobos and, once again, Júpiter Martínez. In August, other volunteers and I went to work for ten days in Cueva Bringas, located in Los Taraises Ranch. One evening the stream Los Chales had risen so high that we pitched our tents by the side of the road and waited more than eighteen hours for the waters to recede, which didn’t happen. After converting the pickup practically into an amphibian, we decided to forge ahead. We were able to cross with no problem, thanks to the driver of another pickup who warned us to keep accelerating as we neared the other bank, because the current was carving out a dip. I remember that he had one passenger, a poor woman who was screaming, “I don’t want to cross the stream, I don’t want to!”—but luckily for her, the vehicle made it across just fine, since the current was flowing in their direction. There are many stories about our journeys on horseback as well. Sooner or later, all of us working on archaeological surveys end up needing to use this mode of transport, as do those who chart the routes for the Federal Electricity Commission’s transmission tower lines before paths or roads can be built that might affect the archaeological patrimony. Although many rough dirt roads were made in the twentieth century, there are still regions in Sonora with little access. Sometimes you have to travel more than six hours to check out a single spot, or spend the whole day on horseback locating and inventorying archaeological sites. It’s a wearing task, especially for those who haven’t ridden before.7 Walking is even worse, whether in the mountains or in the desert. It’s the most difficult task you’ll have to confront. Nonetheless, I remember that some of my archaeology teachers at enah would aptly quote Pedro Armillas,8 who used to say, “Archaeology is done by walking.” Once I walked through the mountains, between the Yaqui River and the town of Tepache, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. I came to a small ranch where I had to ask for assistance to make it to the next town, which was still 12 km (7.5 miles) away. But Martínez has outdone me with his story about Puerto Libertad, in the Sonoran Desert, when his truck got stuck in sand and he had to walk from dusk through most of the night, covering a distance of 52 km (32 miles) in nine hours.

7. There are always home remedies such as talcum powder or creams to treat chafing that results from a long ride; if that doesn’t do the trick, you take painkillers. 8. Pedro Armillas García, inah archaeologist who studied Mesoamerican cultures between 1950 and 1970. He is known for his fieldwork and excavations in various Mexican sites, particularly in central and northern Mexico.

He also raises the possibility of practicing underwater archaeology in Sonora when he mentions his experiences in the region of La Serrana and the location of pre-Hispanic sites in the Opata region (the Opata people had already become mixed by the beginning of the twentieth century, if not earlier), in villages nestled in the parallel valleys of central, eastern, and northeastern Sonora—in particular his boat crossing on the Plutarco Elías Calles Dam,9 better known to Sonorans as El Novillo Dam, whose creation flooded the Batuc Valley and the town of the same name, as well as the communities of Tepupa and Suaqui. Martínez has worked in historical archaeology as well, spending several seasons exploring and excavating the former Mission Cocóspera, in the municipality of Imuris, which was the subject of his thesis, “Cocóspera, sombras de adobe: Estudio arqueológico del Templo de la Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, Sonora” (Cocóspera, Shadows of Adobe: Archaeological Study of the Church at Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, Sonora). As a member of his exam committee, I listened attentively to his thesis defense in March 2004. Later, in 2006, he took part in excavations at Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Cósari, the first Pimería Alta mission founded by the Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1687. Martínez includes a funny anecdote about the archaeological site La Playa, which he assumed would be on the coast, unaware that some of the rural folk in the Trincheras and Caborca region use the term playa (and also playita) for land that has been stripped of vegetation by erosion or deforestation. In his final reflections, I think Martínez is overly modest in saying he realizes that there’s more Sonoran territory for him to experience and learn about. On the other hand, it’s true that he had few opportunities to travel and work in the southern and southwestern parts of the state, which is why he says little about this region, today inhabited by Yoeme (Yaqui) and Yoreme (Mayo) groups in the valleys, Makurawe (Guarijíos) in the Sierra de Álamos, and O’ob (Pima Bajo) in the Yécora hills. But I’m sure he’ll make it there soon, and in a future book he’ll delight us with new stories and experiences. I’m also sure that Martínez had many more tales than the present book could hold, but I encourage you, dear reader, to enjoy the ones that he shares with us here, and in doing so learn what we know today about the archaeology of central and northern Sonora.

9. The hydroelectric project was conceived toward 1955, when Ignacio Soto was governor of Sonora (1949–1955); construction work formally began in May 1958, as part of President Adolfo López Mateos’s plan of providing electricity throughout the nation. The dam was completed in 1962. In its day it was one of the most important hydraulic works in the country for generating electricity.

Contents

I’d like to close by recalling the words of our friend and mentor Jaime Litvak King:10 “Archaeology is the most fun thing you can do with your pants on.”

César Armando Quijada López Research Professor in Archaeology, Centro inah-Sonora Hermosillo, Sonora March 2011

10. Jaime Litvak King was born in Mexico City on December 10, 1933, and died on October 2, 2006. He graduated in Archaeology at enah in 1963 and obtained a master’s in Anthropological Science at unam. In 1970 he completed his doctorate in Anthropology, also at unam. He was a promoter of Industrial Archaeology and a pioneer in computing as applied to this discipline in Mexico; he also served as director of the Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas at unam in 1973. His book Todas las piedras tienen 2000 años (All Stones Are Two Thousand Years Old), published in 1986 by Editorial Trillas, offers an excellent introduction to archaeology. One of Litvak King’s little-known accomplishments was his coordination of rescue squads and a fatality information base at the University Medical Center in the aftermath of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. The Federal government recognized his humanitarian work with the September 19 Honor of Heroic Valor. Jaime Litvak was both a generous teacher and a great humanist.

Contents 10

Maps

13

Introduction

16 20 38 41 53

The Sierra Madre Occidental

56 62 65 70

The Parallel Valleys

78 85 88 93 97

The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

103

Final Reflections

105

Notes

110

Bibliography

113

Glossary

124

Photo Credits



The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot



The Apaches



Investigation: The Key to Conservation



Encounters with Civil and Military Police



The Serrana Region and the Opata



The Rains



Missions of the Pimería Alta



Erosion and Geoglyphs



La Playa



El Pinacate



The Central Coast

9 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Missions Archaeological sites

Biosphere boundaries Rivers and streams

Introduction

The desert, a remote zone inhospitable to humans, excites the imagination, inspiring a reckless desire to walk across its sands and among its dunes while gazing on an infinite horizon. But who would dare to live in, or even venture into, a territory that lacks water—its vegetation armed with sharp spines, its animals elusive or even highly venomous, its temperatures ­extreme, sometimes exceeding 49ºC (120°F)? The answer is implausible: generations of Sonorans, not only their ancestors who entered the American continent but also those who live here to the present day.1 Sonora, Mexico’s second largest state, holds vast expanses of this extraordinary and marvelous ecosystem, which is in fact called the Sonoran Desert. But it’s not all dunes and saguaros,2 as Hollywood westerns romantically portray it. There are enormous valleys and plains, small mountains that rise unexpectedly, or immense mountain ranges and deep canyons, currents, rivers, and descents with abrupt changes in vegetation.

13 • Heading into the Desert

La Misión terrace on the Trincheras site. Municipality of Caborca. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Although there were no important pre-Hispanic states like those of the Maya or the Aztecs, many social groups of a different level of complexity developed in this area. I invite the reader to enter the state by a route that doesn’t follow the conventions of traditional cartography; that is, instead of beginning in the north we’ll begin in the highlands located at the eastern edge, with the Sierra Madre Occidental as our reference point. Led by the reconnaissance and other archaeological work undertaken in the region, together with stories about these endeavors, we’ll ascend toward the west through the valleys that run parallel from north to south, demarcated by some 500 km (310 miles) of well-defined mountain ranges, and then cross the vast desert until we reach the Vermilion Sea, also known as the Sea of Cortés or the Gulf of California. This route was very well traveled from the pre-Hispanic period, although it never became a road as such. On this literary tour of the archaeology, history, and people of Sonora, a journey filled with challenges, dangers, and marvels, we’ll discover a world very similar to that described in Unknown Mexico—Carl Lumholtz’s memorable account of the Sierra Madre from the end of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century.3

14 • Introduction

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1323-906

Polychrome ceramic pot with narrow neck and everted rim. Provenance: Western Mexico. Chupícuaro culture. Period: Preclassic (1500–200 b.c.).

The Sierra Madre Occidental

Our route begins at the Bavispe River and continues northeast following a ravine that runs along the stream called El Fuste. This dirt road climbs at a consistent angle very close to the stream. But the path isn’t worrisome, even though it has no shortage of curves that you’re never sure your vehicle can negotiate, given the poor road conditions. After about 7 km (almost 4.5 miles) of continual ascent—practically vertical for about a third of a mile—you reach the pass through which the Continental Divide runs. At this spot you can discern the vast plains of Janos municipality in Chihuahua, which are part of the Mexican Altiplano. It’s a striking view: behind, you see Sonora and its parallel mountain ranges that slowly descend toward the sea, and in front, a raised path, used since the seventeenth century as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which connected Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Mexico City. My esteemed colleague César Armando Quijada once told me that when you travel from Bacerac, Sonora, to Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, you come to understand the concept of plateaus. How wise were his words!

16 • Heading into the Desert

Panorama of the archaeological site Paquimé. Chihuahua, Mexico.

Contents

There is always some condition underlying the establishment of geopolitical borders. In the case of Sonora and Chihuahua, the ­Sierra Madre Occidental was the decisive feature. Whether this division existed in the pre-Hispanic world is uncertain. We know that the inhabitants of Paquimé4 (or Casas Grandes) had very strong ties to the sea, from which they transported tons of shells—over a distance of at least 400 linear km (250 miles). But we also know that the city was not isolated: it was the center of a regional organization system that ran along the Sierra Madre Occidental, including Sonora state, with settlements that shared everything from ceramics to uniform architectural systems. We must bear in mind that, according to colonial descriptions, the Carretas site—the point we reached after our climb along El Fuste—was a community bordering on that of the Suma, a semi­ sedentary group that interacted more with the Janos of the Casas Grandes region than with the Opata of the Bavispe, Moctezuma, and Sonora Rivers. This situation likely resulted from the Opata’s ancestors being displaced from the mountains to the valleys, although this notion hasn’t given rise to any rigorous discussion or analysis and remains part of the mystery surrounding the origin of the Casas Grandes inhabitants.

Oven at Paquimé, interpreted as evidence of great communal festivities. Chihuahua, Mexico.

17 • The Heading Sierra into Madre the Desert Occidental

Contents

Canal in the archaeological site of Paquimé. Chihuahua, Mexico.

fcas

collection 1440-12

inah

Foot-shaped smooth ceramic figure with red-painted rim. Provenance: Western Mexico (Colima). Shaft tomb tradition. Period: Classic (a.d. 200­–900).

The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

It’s in this mountain territory that the road to the sea begins, crossing through cultures, traditions, periods, and the aspirations of people who, unstopped by this immensity, shared their lives, though sometimes at war, to create what this vast region is today. As one would expect, angles are part of the mountain landscape. In the best of cases, you can manage by traversing them.5 The greatest danger lies in the slopes that are present almost every few feet of the way. The success of surveying depends in large part on your vehicle: it must be in fine running condition and have four-wheel drive. Taconudas (all-terrain tires)6 and good working brakes are essential items. I now think it would be best to equip vehicles with a clisimeter. For mountain travel, it can be advantageous to drive a Ford, simply because they’re the most common make, which makes it easier to obtain used parts—you can borrow them, buy them, or sometimes get them for free. Another requirement is an interest in mechanics and the ability to improvise. It’s very important to bring tools: a spare tire or preferably two, or a tire-repair kit, along with a compressor, a hydraulic jack (one with higher capacity, since these vehicles usually carry a heavy load), a winch (which must be used very carefully), and a towline. But by far the most valuable tools are caution and prevention. In off-road racing, the goal is to reach a destination first or within a set time. However, in an investigative project, the goal is to get everyone there and back safely, together with your equipment and the information and materials you’ve collected. Races have safety and rescue staff, as well as emergency paramedics. But on an investigative project these functions rely primarily on the skills and resources of the project team.7 Sometimes the state lines appear to have been drawn on the basis of orography, so that when you stand at the point of this geopolitical division, it feels like you’re stepping on the lines of a map.

20 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

That’s the case in a place known as Taraises. The first time I went there, I met up with archaeologists Mayela Pastrana and Elizabeth Bagwell, who were inventorying archaeological sites in the ejidos as part of the inah-procede program.8

Loading the trucks as we break camp. inah

In this instance we were traveling on a relatively good dirt road,9 in one of inah’s pickup trucks, a decommissioned vehicle donated by the state’s finance ministry. It was a lifted 4 x 4 that had a spacious interior and a strong transmission, plus a crooked, crudely fashioned truck bed that looked like it had been struck by a meteorite and bent down the middle. Nonetheless, I must say that it had great personality, which earned it a nickname, “El Procede.” We were heading south, slowly but surely, driving parallel to the state line. Señor Antonio López, from the community of Agua Fría, accompanied us as a guide. We were trying to find a road on which we could turn west, but when we were able to see the

21 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

horizon through the oaks and pines, Don Toño, as we called him, anxiously asked us to stop. He thought we were getting close, and he went out to check. When he returned, he said “I found it! It’s not far from here, to the south, but it’s a really nasty switch!” I didn’t quite understand, but my authority as the driver gave me the confidence to tell him that we’d keep going on the same road. And so I forged ahead—only to brake thirty feet later, astonished, as we neared the edge of a precipice. After our initial fright, the guide explained: when the road is so steep that there’s no room to turn, they build a switch—a type of bypass based on railroad engineering, using two parallel sections. The train descends in one direction, and then at the switch point it changes tracks and goes in reverse, and then changes again to go forward. But trains run on tracks, and there’s a bumper at the tail track. In the mountains this simply doesn’t exist. We aligned the pickup parallel to the cliff. From there we could discern the first downhill section, about 30 m long (100 feet), at a 30-degree angle. I tested the brakes, put the truck in first, 4L (low range), and took a deep breath… “Stop!” Don Toño said. “I’ll get out and direct you onto the first section.” “Good!,” I thought, relieved. We began our descent of the first section without much concern, but on the second one, I let off the brakes and started rolling in reverse in such heavy fog that there was no point checking the rearview mirror or the side mirrors. The transmission, resisting the thrust of gravity, made a deafening whir. It felt just like that game where you let yourself fall backward and someone catches you. At that moment, Don Toño shouted: “Hobble it!”10 The precipice was 2.5 feet away. After that nightmare was over, we had a long descent on a narrow road ahead of us. We laughed at Don Toño’s wisecracks about us going over the precipice, especially when we skidded across some loose red soil, flirting with an accident of unimaginable consequences.

22 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

Switch in the mountains. Sonora, Mexico.

Humans have had to contend with the irregular terrain of the ­Sierra Madre since pre-Hispanic times, and although they didn’t have 4 x 4s to maneuver, they did need flat land on which to sow their crops.

Terraces eroded by runoff in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Sonora, Mexico.

The mountain settlers built countless terraces, mostly along streams. These structures, locally known as trincheras (trenches), are retaining walls made solely of uncemented stones. Their height varies, from just a few inches to whatever the stream gradient will allow. Some that we found were as high as 4 m (13 feet). There had to be a system of social organization in order for these retaining walls to be built—that is, these scattered communities needed to have local leaders who interacted with other communities so that goods and products could be exchanged, and there had to be a common language.11 In the Sierra Alta region, in the municipality of Bavispe, we located and mapped all the terraces found within an area of 2.5 km2 (1 square mile), recording a total of 249.12 If those figures were to represent an average distribution, then on the western slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the northern section alone—between the Bavispe River and Chihuahua, an area of 4,900 km2 (almost 1,900 square miles)—would have half a million retaining walls,13 most of them built during the development of the

24 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

Casas Grandes culture. Six hundred years later, we’d have to drive over the mountains in 4 x 4 vehicles to reach these hidden archaeological sites. Another time we drove from Tecoriname to La Nopalera Ranch, in the municipality of Nácori Chico, to work on the project Expanding Dendroarchaeology into Northern Mexico.14 There were four of us traveling in an extended-cab pickup: archaeologists Elizabeth Bagwell and Cristina García; our guide, Orlando Quintana; and I. It was the rainy season, and the road, though relatively simple, was eroded. We were climbing a slope, and the truck skidded a bit. On the next curve it did it again, but, oddly enough, it kept climbing “sideways.” Finally we came to a flat stretch, where fortunately we realized the differential lock was loose.15 We proceeded more slowly. We took another curve, and then the road got very narrow. As we climbed further, I figured that we were driving right up against the bank of the hill, and that if I got as close as possible the truck would be able to pass—but I was wrong. The front left tire went up a large rock, and we started sliding sideways toward the ravine. I instinctively accelerated. I suppose the tires managed to get some traction, and by mere inches we avoided rolling down the ravine. Although that skid had felt alarming to me, none of the passengers even seemed to notice. After two months traveling over bad roads, it must have seemed like just another bump to them. As if that weren’t enough, farther on we came to a curve at the beginning of a descent. I wasn’t able to see the road well. Guided by Señor Quintana, I kept going, but we immediately came to a 35° incline.16 I gripped the wheel as the passengers in back pushed my seat against the dashboard. About halfway down, Quintana shouted, “I sure hope your 4WD works, because regular cars aren’t ­allowed up here!” Finally, after dealing with a few more difficulties that the road imposed in certain spots, we reached our destination—only to learn that Raúl Portillo, the person who knew the way to a cliff dwelling that had wood to be sampled, had already left for another ranch. Fortunately, we were able to inventory a site called Cueva del Arroyo del Burro. This zone of Nácori Chico is very interesting, and its archaeology, like that of many areas in Sonora, has yet to be explored.

25 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

Tires aren’t the only concern on mountain roads. You also have to make sure you have the right rim for your spare tires. On one assignment we traveled from Sahuaripa to Natora, over about 80 km (50 miles) of a winding dirt road, crossing the mountains that separate the Sahuaripa River from the Aros River. On our return trip we got a flat in back. We changed the tire without incident and set off again. A couple of miles later, as we were driving straight ahead, the vehicle started to rock strangely, and in a split second it hit the ground. We watched the brake drum roll ahead of us till it disappeared down a gulch. After assessing our situation and picking up all the pieces, we figured out a way to proceed. The problem was that we couldn’t use the new tire because the rim had broken; our only option was to go back to the flat tire. First we used a canned tire sealant to plug the puncture and inflate the tire. Once it was fixed, and the brake system reassembled and the tire in place, we realized that we didn’t have lug nuts for the wheel studs. Remembering an old joke, I suggested that we take one lug nut from each of the other wheels. Unfortunately, since it was a heavily used truck, two of the wheels each had a broken stud.17 We carried out the plan, but in so doing we discovered why the wheel had fallen off in the first place: the holes on the rim were too large for the studs. The play in the wheels caused vibration, which threw off three lug nuts, stripping the wheel stud threads. What’s more, when we tried to install the new lug nuts, their threads were stripped as well. Traveling at an average speed of 5 km/h (3 mph), it took us ten hours to reach Sahuaripa, where the police were w ­ aiting for us, observing us from the ford of the river: our slow nighttime descent from the mountains had aroused their suspicions. In the summer, the inevitable swelling of streams poses another formidable challenge. The best way to avoid it is to travel during ­another season (but not winter, because there’s water everywhere,18 and at very low temperatures).19 But given that it’s not always possible to choose the best conditions, our secret weapon is simply ­ingenuity. The first option is to wait for the waters to recede. Once we waited more than thirty hours at a stream called Los Chales, in Chihuahua. The water had been 1.2 m deep (about 4 feet) but only went down 30 cm (about one foot). The problem was that the water came from higher in the mountains, where it was still raining, which meant that it would take a few days for the level to drop. So we tried

26 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

the second option: we converted our pickup into an amphibious ­vehicle. First it was very important to make sure the current wasn’t strong enough to carry us away, because if it were, we’d lose everything—even our lives.20 The method is quite simple: a) completely coat the ignition coil and the distributor (even if it’s electronic) with grease; b) turn or adapt the carburetor’s or electronic fuel injection’s air intake to position it under the highest part of the hood; c) place a hose on the mouth of the tailpipe, so that the water won’t prevent engine exhaust from escaping; d) study the ford and cross it in the direction of the current, insofar as possible, since this will help push you ahead; e) if the engine dies, attach a tow chain or cable to the strongest part of the chassis so that you can be towed; and f ) cruise at a constant speed, without decelerating, using lowrange 4WD.

27 • Descender en vehículo, a caballo y caminando

Recovering a vehicle from Los Chales Stream. Chihuahua, Mexico.

Contents

I must add that this process isn’t 100 percent foolproof: during one season we had to cross the above-mentioned stream twelve times, and the toll was three submerged vehicles and one with a failed connecting rod. Perhaps I shouldn’t mention that our record depth was 1.2 m (about 4 feet) for a distance of about 10 m (32 feet), although this was an emergency situation, and a box truck was ready to assist if we needed to be hauled from the stream.

Survival camp in the mountains.

After taking part in several different types of projects, I came to the conclusion that the best means of transport isn’t a Land Rover21 or a Hummer,22 but rather a horse that has been trained in the region, ridden with a Western swell-fork saddle (the wide fork helps prevent inexpert riders from falling). This mode of travel is very much worthwhile, even though you’ll be sore in the verijas and canillas all night.23 Besides, horseback riding through this region is an amazing experience. Horses are the classic means of transport in rural areas, and mule and horse teams were central to the development of trade in Mexico. But I must be honest and point out that riding has hidden risks: horses are intelligent and crafty animals that size up their rider and put him to the test. That’s why you need specialized knowledge to handle them. And in fact different animals may be appropriate for

28 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

different situations, depending on the type (mule, donkey, mare), sex, breed, gear (saddle, harness), and so on.

Along the roads of the Sierra Alta. Sonora, Mexico.

On one of our trips we were in Natora, a community in the municipality of Sahuaripa, ready to ride horses that the community had kindly lent to us so that we could inventory a cliff dwelling located on the other side of a mountain. I was about to cross the Aros River when our guide, Florencio Rivas, better known as Lencho, came over and unexpectedly climbed onto the rear of my horse so I could give him a ride to the other side of the river (where his own horse was). We began wading. Halfway across the river, the horse decided to take a drink. The greatest danger was that the animal would fall —and so would we—because fixing one’s gaze on the turbulent water of a swollen river can cause dizziness. Lencho exhorted me to make the horse keep going, but all my spurring meant nothing to the thirsty animal, since, like a good urban explorer, I was wearing field boots with soft nonskid rubber soles. My angry passenger yelled, “Use the lariat to make him go!” I grabbed the reins.

29 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

With a masterly turn of the wrist, I whirled the lariat and whizzed it behind to deliver a stinging blow. I could hear the crack of the rope and felt gratified to see the horse begin moving swiftly to the other shore. But that was after Lencho had urged it on with a second lash—the first one having landed on him instead! In the evening we arrived at a ranch, where we spent the night. The next day we were to ascend along a stream, very close to the state line with Chihuahua, to reach a small cliff dwelling. Our previous trip from Natora had been a relatively simple ride, since our guide knew the way. But what happened at Jaquiberachi Ranch was an initiation to the perils of riding for Mayela Pastrana and me. We’d planned to photograph the site Barranca de la Yegua, a cliff dwelling inventoried in 1997. We had a gps with the location data and were also accompanied by a young man from the ranch. We set out fully confident in the technology, but as we entered a series of ravines, we took a wrong path following the device’s indications. By the time we realized our mistake, we were in a parallel canyon.24 Our escort asked if we wanted to go back or simply cut

30 • Heading into the Desert

The Fuentes brothers preparing a mule to transport equipment. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Survey team. Natora ejido, municipality of Sahuaripa. Sonora, Mexico.

straight across to the next canyon. Since we had already gone some miles, we decided to follow the guide. The ascent, although more dangerous, wasn’t as terrifying as the descent, in which the horses literally slid on their hindquarters down a slope on which we had to dodge tree branches, avoid losing our hats, watch out for our backpacks loaded with special equipment, and above all, not let go of the reins for anything in the world. We gripped the saddle with our legs, hoping that none of the straps would burst open. Once we forded the stream, I thought the worst was over—but no. We were riding through a small canyon on which the trail, outlined by erosion of the bedrock, was no more than three feet wide. On one side was a rock wall; on the other, a gorge. We couldn’t make out the bottom of the gorge, and although it couldn’t have been more than 50 m deep (about 165 feet), the combination of the horse’s height at the edge of the precipice and the sound of hooves sliding on the crags made the drop seem immeasurable. In any case, a fall would have been fatal, since the nearest hospital was thirteen hours away. Based on that story, riding might not sound like the best way to get around in the mountains. But before you leap to conclusions, I should add that hiking isn’t exactly a peaceful and efficient alternative.

31 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

Although in theory each person knows their physical condition and endurance level, we’ve all heard the typical line, “it’s just around the bend...” On one occasion Elizabeth Bagwell, Mayela Pastrana, and I engaged a young guide from the community of Bacerac, Saúl Rivera, to take us to explore and inventory a cliff dwelling in Peñasco Prieto, in the municipality of Huachinera. We set out from the village early in the morning and climbed until we reached a pass where the trail ended. At that point Saúl told us that the site was a half hour away. It was about one in the afternoon. But, predictably, we hiked on and on until, two hours later, we descended a long slope and arrived at a ranch. We stopped there and asked our guide how much farther we had to go. He studied the map, looked out at the horizon, and then checked the map again, saying, “The site’s on the other side of that hill that you see... ­behind the one in the distance, on the horizon. When

32 • Descender en vehículo, a caballo y caminando

Hiking in search of the archaeological site Peñasco Prieto. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

I went before, it was with some kids who were really good hikers.” (“Yeah, sure,” I thought.) We had to make a decision, because we had barely enough light to return to the truck. On the other hand, we had to bear in mind that the way back was completely uphill. We didn’t have much water left, nor enough food. Our fate lay in the hands of Porfirio Gómez, a cowboy who offered us lodging at his ranch in San Quintín. The next day, at dawn, the cowboys from the ranch accompanied us halfway to our destination. There were only two horses, which of course they gave the women archaeologists to ride. But it really didn’t matter, because the path wasn’t very steep.25 Happily, we made it to the site, which was located in a rocky wall at the top of a hill. I remember viewing the immensity of the Sierra Madre from inside the cave, as if it were a window onto a precipice (which in some sense it was). Peñasco Prieto, as it’s known, is a cliff-dwelling site. There were three rooms, still standing but roofless, and a few meters away the cave—which had no rooms but boasted paintings in red and ochre. Their geometrical designs were similar to those used on the polychrome pots found at Casas Grandes: spirals, steps, and zigzags, as well as a few human figures. Our return to the ranch was easy, but getting from there to the truck was quite a challenge. Again the women were given the privilege of riding, while I got to walk—with hardly a break, at a sturdy cowboy’s pace—behind the horses, as was proper for a man. Just thinking of it makes me tired all over again.26 But we also got to experience the marvelous hospitality that mountain communities are known for. With so few neighbors, what could be better than great camaraderie? Evenings spent sitting on the porch, sipping a coffee freshly brewed in the talega,27 while recounting, between charras,28 all the day’s events—these moments truly make the day, just like in the old ads for Marlboro country. One afternoon, during a trip to inventory cliff dwellings, Señor Fuentes, our guide, told us we’d ask for lodging at a nearby ranch. We had the good fortune to arrive right as the cowboys returned, and they kindly accepted our request. For dinner we offered them our canned food, but they subtly suggested that they’d make a tastier meal. We sat on a bench and waited while they lit the woodfired oven.

33 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

The menu: beef, beans, and flour tortillas. Later I went to rest in a corner of one of the ranch’s bedrooms. My two colleagues stayed seated at the wooden table, which was lit by two oil lamps, absorbed in watching the cowboys make flour tortillas. Dressed in jeans, cowboy hats and boots, and leather belts, their shirts unbuttoned and, of course, guns tucked in their holsters, they chatted animatedly with each other as they tossed tortillas on the griddle.

Rancho La Azotea, Sierra Madre Occidental. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

Weapons are an important part of daily life. With today’s rampant violence, that notion might arouse feelings of insecurity and danger, but there are situations and realities that require them. Once I asked why some cowboys take guns when they camp. The answer was very clear: “In the mountains, it’s just you and nature. Who’ll defend you from a wild animal?” We find weapons in cave dwellings as well. There’s no shortage of them listed in the inventory: things like a small polished wooden stick, straight and slightly tapered, will often turn out to be an

34 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

a­ rrow fragment. The pre-Hispanic settlers of the mountains, and in general all the other groups in their day, always carried their bow and quiver. What changed over time is the technology. During the period when humans arrived in America, beginning with Clovis culture,29 an atlatl was used to propel spears and darts, their points made mainly of very strong, fine-grained rock. Later, with the introduction of bows, the stone points took on a different shape, while wooden arrowheads, sometimes impregnated with poison, also provided greater efficiency.30

Detail of an arrow fragment with a wooden point, Cueva de Ochoa. Municipality of Bavispe. Sonora, Mexico.

The precaution of bearing arms isn’t based on mere supposition. I need only mention the case of Pilo, a cowboy in the Bacerac region who, while riding to the ranch one day with his ten-year-old nephew, was attacked by a puma.31 First the feline unexpectedly lunged at the horse, which, upon seeing it, threw Pilo; then it attacked Pilo. They rolled on the ground until Pilo’s nephew managed to hit the animal with a large rock. Pilo ended up with very serious bites.32 I visited him two months later. The puma had pierced completely through one of his legs; you could see the two impressive holes, as well as a big scar on his scalp. Dr. Saúl Luna, who treated him, remarked that his leg would surely have been torn off if the animal hadn’t been badly wounded at that point. Another incident, one with a happier outcome, took place at a stream called El Oso ("The Bear"). We were driving on a very rough dirt road toward Las Cuevas Ranch, a region formerly known as Lote de Sonora, where we were doing excavations at Cueva de Ochoa. Our support staff was riding in the bed of the pickup, while a­ rchaeologists

35 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

Carolina Bucio and Maribel Cruz were seated in the cabin with me. As we rounded a curve, we found ourselves in front of an enormous black bear. The passengers in back were screaming excitedly but also nervously, given the size of the bear. Maribel Cruz, whose partner was traveling in back, started to roll up her window, exclaiming, “How beautiful!... How beautiful!,” to cover her fear. The bear ran up the hill, demonstrating great agility and speed, its coat shining in the sun. Then it disappeared amid the pines and oaks. We were lucky (both us and the bear) that it ran away—but what if we’d been on foot, and the bear had been with its cubs? That’s another danger you face when hiking to survey sites. I have no intention of defending illegal hunting. I simply want to explain why those who’ve spent their whole lives in the mountains find firearm laws so complicated, particularly since there’s no comparison between a cowboy’s pistol and the high-caliber weapons used in organized crime. As we’ve seen, the bearing of arms is a historical phenomenon that has always existed in this region. It can’t be denied, however, that carrying a rifle or a pistol poses a risk, one that can have fatal consequences.

36 • The Descent: By Vehicle, on Horseback, on Foot

Contents

fcas

collection 1323-14

inah

Bichrome ceramic pot with stirrup-shaped handle and decorated in cream on red. Provenance: Western Mexico (Colima). Capacha culture. Period: Preclassic (1500–200 b.c.).

The Apaches

In the 1930s, guns were still indispen‑ sable items in the Sierra Madre Occidental, which was the refuge of the last Apaches rebelling against the Mexican state. The local police viciously fought them, and as a result they were aggressive and dangerous. Ghosts of the Apaches still abound, not only in the mountains but also in the collective memory of Sonora. Many villages have thrilling tales about them. It all goes back to an old wound caused by a war, before the arrival of the Spanish, for control of the territories of Sonora and Arizona, mainly between the Pima, Opata, and Athabaskans. The famous Indian Geronimo, the last to lead an official rebellion, surrendered in Sonora but refused to hand over his weapons until he had entered U.S. territory.

38 • Heading into the Desert

Pre-Hispanic petroglyphs from the Cerrito de los Apaches site. Municipality of Naco. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

In the catalogue of archaeological sites in the state of Sonora, which now has almost three thousand entries,33 there are names like Cerrito de los Apaches, Loma de los Apaches, Pueblito de los Apaches—names given by the local inhabitants in the belief that these places belonged to the Apaches. But in reality the Apaches generally did not leave much evidence of their camps. Their traditional mobility required that they use only what was necessary. Obviously they did not build structures of stone, bajareque, or adobe; much less did they construct terraces or modify hills. Thus, finding an Apache site is like searching for Geronimo in the mountains. These sites do exist, but there are very few, and it’s extremely complicated to determine their affiliation as such.34 By contrast, rich evidence exists for the different cultural traditions that inhabited Sonora long ago,35 such as stone structures and alignments, terraces or trincheras, and mounds and caves, where remnants of all kinds of utensils have been found: metates, manos (pestles), stone axes, monochrome and painted pottery, mortars, lithic waste, shellfish artifacts and waste, projectile points and flint, paintings, petroglyphs and geoglyphs, corrals, etc.

39 • The Apaches

Apache rock painting in Hueco Tanks. Texas, United States.

Contents

fcas

collection 1578-5

inah

Bichrome kidney-shaped bowl, decorated in cream on red. Provenance: Western Mexico. Chupícuaro culture. Periods: Preclassic to Classic (1500 b.c.–a.d. 900).

Investigation: The Key to Conservation

The Sierra Alta de Sonora archaeological project, an ongoing investigation of which I am in charge,36 aims to understand the lifestyle of pre-Hispanic mountain communities by analyzing all evidence of their daily lives, such as cliff dwellings but also their villages, rancherias, croplands, and places of ritual importance. The data recovered up to now have shown that the inhabitants of this area had a complex organizational system of a very regional nature, which we are still in the process of characterizing. We know that the people favored a type of pottery called Carretas, which they made with an orange clay and painted in black and red de­ signs, although they also used other polychrome pots and bowls, both textured and smooth.

Carretas polychrome bowl.

The ruins of this mountain region are from various classes and periods. The people had adobe houses, as well as some made of bajareque (wattle and daub). There were also mounds of the kind associated with Casas Grandes culture, known as montezumas— rock and earth constructions found in pre-Hispanic villages. None of the montezumas in Sonora have been systematically excavated, so we’ve yet to determine precisely what they were like.

41 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

The origin of the word “montezuma” is unknown. It sounds very close to “Moctezuma,” or a combination of that name and “monte” (mountain). But there’s no relation between the Mexica emperor and the ruins in the Sierra Madre Occidental. It’s possible that the name was given by the Europeans who colonized the area, since the indigenous people there—the Opata—spoke a language in the Uto-Aztecan family, which is distantly related to Nahuatl. That might lead one to the hasty and erroneous conclusion that the ruins were evidence of Mexica presence in the region.37

Mound in La Ciénega Baja. Municipality of Bacerac. Sonora, Mexico.

Mound in La Ciénega Baja. Municipality of Bacerac. Sonora, Mexico.

42 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

Cliff dwelling in the Sierra Alta. Municipality of Bavispe. Sonora, Mexico.

Even though the montezumas are known to today’s mountain communities, who can clearly identify them, investigation of these sites has dwindled with the growing focus on cliff dwellings, which more powerfully capture the imagination. These cave houses are best known by their English name, “cliff dwellings,” used since the end of the nineteenth century by the first Americans who investigated the Four Corners region,38 where they found a large number of caves with stone and adobe buildings inside, especially in the canyons of Mesa Verde, Colorado. These structures have thick walls with small doors, either square or T-shaped, beamed ceilings, and smoothed clay surfaces on which you can see impressions of the builders’ fingers, as well as paintings of various designs.

Cliff dwelling in Cueva de la Leona. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

Impressions left by fingers smoothing adobe during construction.

44 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

Many architectural variations can be found along the Sierra Madre. For instance, apparently none of the doors of the cliff dwelling El Sotolar, near the state line with Chihuahua, were T-shaped. Our investigations led us to conclude that the T-shape was not necessarily a typical feature of the Casas Grandes tradition. A small fragment of red pottery with black lines, identified with Madera black-on-red ceramics, gave us an indication of the site’s likely age and confirmed its cultural association. At first it surprised us, but some time later we discovered that we were less than 40 km (25 miles) from the Papigochi River region in Chihuahua, where many cliff dwellings have already been located, specifically in Huápoca

El Sotolar. Municipality of Sahuaripa. Sonora, Mexico.

Cave painting at Peñasco Prieto. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

45 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

Canyon. These sites were restored under a project directed by archaeologist Eduardo Gamboa and have been opened to the public by the Centro inah-Chihuahua.

Cueva El Aguaje. Municipality of Huachinera. Sonora, Mexico.

On one occasion we were investigating and inventorying the cliff dwelling sites Cueva Bringas and Cueva El Aguaje, a project directed by Elizabeth Bagwell. Her conclusion was that the people who built these houses were specialized architects (though not as a full-time occupation), who used standard techniques established in the Casas Grandes regional system.39 Northern Mexico boasts countless dry caves. They are a great gift to the country’s archaeological heritage, because organic matter that would normally decompose over time is preserved inside them. These are where the cliff dwellings were built. The experience of exploring such a site can be incredibly moving for archaeologists who are used to finding only earth, stones, clay, carbon, and bones.

46 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

These houses seem almost frozen in time: fragments of baskets and mats, corncobs, kindling, sherds of ceramic—painted, c­ olorless— organic matter and many other objects, some whose function is unknown, remain intact all over the ground. The basket remnants in dry caves are a tangible manifestation of a culture that has been passed down to our day. They date very far back—all the way to the Archaic period, which began in 5500 b.c.40 The women in the village of Buena Vista still practice this tradition of palm weaving.41 They make all kinds of huaris,42 mats, and hats, and today they also cover glass bottles. Since the overall dry climate won’t allow working with palm, the leaves are kept in a juqui—a small semisubterranean room—which is sporadically watered to maintain a humid environment; that is also where the women weave the palm. No solid knowledge exists regarding the funerary customs of the mountain groups, since innumerable pre-Hispanic human graves have been destroyed by so-called pot hunters or treasure hunters (as well as the simply curious), who, in their frenzy to find gold, ravage our archaeological patrimony. This vandalism occurs especially during Holy Week, when it’s popularly said that the e­ ntierros

47 • La Heading investigación: into the Desert respuesta para la conservación

Mound destroyed by intense looting on the western slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Municipality of Bacerac. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

appear.43 But pre-Hispanic human burials were in large part for cremated remains.44 In such cases, the treasure hunters claim that they didn’t succeed because the gold was reduced to ashes. During excavation of the cliff dwelling Cueva de Ochoa, a marvelous discovery was made: in the rubble of a room, we found the ­dehydrated or mummified bodies of a woman and a newborn. There was a series of associated objects, such as mats, cloth fibers, and bundles of rope. Excavation of the context took days. When it was completed, we needed to transport the funerary remains to Hermosillo for investigation. But how could we keep them from deteriorating on the trip? The journey would entail 1.5 km (about a mile) on a trail passable on foot or horseback; 4.5 km (3 miles) of rugged and irregular road, restricted to 4 x 4s; 10 km (6 miles) on a road in poor condition; 30 km (19 miles) on a dirt road in average condition; and, finally, 230 km (143 miles) on a paved road.

Bottle covered with woven palm. Buena Vista, municipality of Nácori Chico. Sonora, Mexico.

48 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

We had to get help from the museography experts at the Centro inah-Sonora. They built a case to the mummy’s measurements, while we took the necessary steps for its protection in the cave. At the end of the season, we placed the mummy in a provisional case and carried it to the ranch, where, aided by the museographer Martín Terán, we embalmed it with utmost care in the special case.

Oqui Ochoa, a colonial funerary bundle found in the rubble of a cliff dwelling.

The first stop on our journey was the municipal seat of Bavispe, where paved road begins. This town is located in the Bavispe River Valley, which has two other municipal seats as well: Bacerac and Huachinera. Although today the region is far removed from the state’s economic and political centers,45 in the seventeenth century it was closer to Western civilization thanks to its proximity to the major inland trade route, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

49 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

Transporting Oqui Ochoa through the mountains.

Thinking back on these stories, I realize that the bane of these cave dwellings is precisely their beauty: their intact walls bedazzle those obsessed with finding the riches of the early inhabitants—riches that don’t exist. Thus many of these structures, which could have endured for centuries, have been destroyed. During the 1960s and 70s, the merciless pursuit of treasure in the Bavispe Valley and mountain region wrought indiscriminate destruction on several archaeological sites. Small planes would periodically arrive with U.S. traffickers who bought painted pots. They paid fifty dollars for each piece “with a little monkey” and thirty for those without.46 Back in the United States, the least of these pieces would go for a thousand dollars. Fortunately, we now have international agreements prohibiting the traffic of archaeological objects. In the case of the United States, Public Law 97-446, the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, was passed in 1983. Section 310b indicates

50 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

Carretas polychrome zoomorphic pot.

that “any designated archaeological and ethnological material which is imported into the United States in violation of section 307… shall first be offered for return to the State Party.” Mexico’s Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic, and Historical Monuments, from 1972, prohibits the looting and subsequent selling of archaeological pieces determined to be national assets; individuals may have archaeological objects in their custody upon registering the collection with the Public Registry of Archaeological Monuments and Zones, but they are not allowed to sell them. Nor may people dig in archaeological sites.

51 • Investigation: The Key to Conservation

Contents

fcas

collection 1034-95

inah

Bichrome ceramic vessel of compound shape, decorated in cream on red. Provenance: Western Mexico (Colima). Capacha culture. Period: Preclassic (1500–200 b.c.).

Encounters with Civil and Military Police

Archaeological investigation must be undertaken responsibly and systematically.47 Before you can set up camp at an excavation site, you need to have electricity for the computer, photo, and video teams, as well as a kitchen area, bedrooms, a laboratory, a tool shed, and a place for safekeeping the recovered archaeological materials, which, as national assets, cannot be exposed to destruction by carelessness or poor planning. Affiliation with an educational institution, such as inah, does not exempt investigators from legal responsibility; we must observe all state regulations. Often our vehicles carry a great deal of equipment for the camp, and we have to submit a detailed inventory. These days, security roadblocks by various military and law enforcement agencies are a daily reality. The first time we drove El Procede, archaeologist Angélica Pacheco and I were on a work assignment in southern Sonora. On our return trip, we were stopped at a roadblock in the community of Potam, where, deeming the vehicle suspicious,48 the police had us park it in the inspection pit and open a crate that was in the truck bed. They began to drill through it, which immediately revealed a false bottom. This was a complete surprise to me, and I grew more nervous as I realized that I had no idea who the original owner was, nor did I even know why the pickup had been decommissioned. Luckily for us, they were able to confirm that these were simple add-ons made to the truck bed, which didn’t originally come with the vehicle. Archaeological surveying and fieldwalking must always be reported to the authorities and the residents of the zone. It’s currently not allowed to survey areas without a guide or strike out as an explorer of terra ignota.49 Once, for example, we were inventorying a rock painting site, together with archaeologist César Quijada and our guide Francisco Velarde, in a spot known as Vallecitos, very near the Santa Cruz Valley and only 12 km (about 7 miles) from the international border. Two Mexican Air Force planes that were patrolling the border approached. Upon seeing us, one of the airplanes

53 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

dove so close that we could almost make out the pilot’s face. The plane circled above our vehicle, which was marked with its official logos and had been parked in a highly visible place. Then both planes flew off, returning shortly to make the same maneuvers. I imagine they were confirming the details we’d submitted at the military control post in the form of an official document outlining the work we planned to undertake—without which we could have expected a commando unit to show up.

54 • Encounters with Civil and Military Police

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1323-299

Polychrome ceramic bowl with conical feet. Provenance: Western Mexico. Chupícuaro culture. Periods: Preclassic to Classic (1500 b.c.–a.d. 900).

The Parallel Valleys

The Bavispe Valley is the most north­‑ easterly of Sonora’s parallel valleys. During the Medio period of Casas Grandes (a.d. 1200–1450), communities settled at the tops of the plateaus, while their croplands and canals were situated along the river. The villages were made up of a mix of houses, some in the style of Paquimé and others in a more local style with interior courtyards. This was probably one of the most populous areas of Sonora;50 we find a very dense settlement pattern along the tablelands of the Bavispe River and its tributaries. The inhabitants surely knew of the existence of villages in the coastal and desert zones, including a hill town of more than 1,500 people: Cerro de Trincheras. To all indications, there were people who journeyed to those places to trade goods or perhaps even to visit the sea as part of a rite of passage.

56 • Heading into the Desert

View of the community of Bavispe, from the archaeological site of the same name. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Migration is a complex subject, but ultimately it’s a human cultural phenomenon. In the inah-procede program, together with my colleagues Valerio Paredes and Mayela Pastrana, I worked in Natora ejido, located about halfway from the eastern edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Before coming to work in this community, we went to meet the municipal president of Sahuaripa, Señor ������ Valenzuela Ruiz. We were greeted by his secretary, a very attractive young woman.51 When we entered the president’s office, he asked us (the two men): “Did you like the secretary?” We immediately nodded. “Well, she’s from Natora, and she’s the ugliest girl in town! That place is just swarming with girls that... oh, don’t get me started!”

Looted adobe room. The door is visible to the right. Bavispe region. Sonora, Mexico.

Housing complex in the municipality of Bacadehuachi. Sonora, Mexico.

57 • The Parallel Valleys

Contents

We were in the community a few days. We didn’t see a single girl, but when we solicited help from the ejido to borrow ­horses, a whole crowd of cowboys showed up offering their finest animals to our female colleague, Mayela Pastrana. What we observed was the result of migration by the mountain communities toward the main cities located in the west, a phenomenon that appears to have accelerated in recent years.

Overview of the community of Sahuaripa. Sonora, Mexico.

Cowboys in Natora.

58 • The Parallel Valleys

Contents

The site called Vallecitos is very beautiful. Its paintings and ruins have been catalogued as Apache, but our investigations in the Santa Cruz Valley enabled us to see that after a.d. 1200, Kayenta groups from northern Arizona gradually migrated into the region, with large numbers settling mainly along the San Pedro and Santa Cruz Rivers.52 We don’t know whether they interacted peacefully with the groups belonging to the Trincheras tradition, who also lived in this region, or whether they displaced them. More investigation is needed to find out.

Crag in Vallecitos. In the upper part we came across the foundations of pre-Hispanic circular structures. Municipality of Santa Cruz. Sonora, Mexico.

This valley, together with the one that follows it on the eastern side—the San Pedro River Valley—is a nodal point where the archaeological Trincheras, Hohokam, and Serrana traditions converge. It is also the border zone, marked today by much greater cultural, economic, and social differences than in those times. The paradox of having a territorial divide run through this spot was made clear during our archaeological salvage work along San Pedro River, where a wall is being erected at the U.S. border.

59 • The Parallel Valleys

Contents

In these excavations, directed by archaeologist Maren P. Hopkins, a pair of semisubterranean houses was found right at the international line. When we visited the site it seemed incredible to us that a house built between a.d. 700 and 1200 should belong, in equal parts, to both the U.S. and Mexican patrimony.

60 • The Parallel Valleys

San Pedro River. Pre-Hispanic structure with post holes. The fence runs along the international border between Mexico and the United States.

Contents

fcas

collection 1666-72

inah

Bichrome ceramic pot with straight walls, decorated in cream on red. Provenance: Western Mexico. Chupícuaro culture. Periods: Preclassic to Classic (1500 b.c.–a.d. 900).

The Serrana Region and the Opata

In this region we mostly find rivers that run to the south. The most important of these are the Lower Bavispe, the Moctezuma, the Sonora, and the San Miguel Rivers, although the main basin of the mountains is that of the Yaqui River. Other tributaries are the Aros and Sahuaripa Rivers. In the south is the Mayo River. The first rivers I’ve listed, which run along the parallel mountains that are most representative of the Sonoran Serrana, were the crucible for the development of Serrana culture, which has only been investigated in a general way and especially along the Sonora and Moctezuma Rivers. The indigenous groups that lived in the Serrana region during the early colonial period were described or categorized as the Opata nation. They had an advanced system of social organization, a fact that, upon the arrival of the Spanish, allowed them to assimilate relatively quickly to the Western way of life, although not without resistance and fighting. The legacy of the Opata is in large part the cultural foundation for the identity of the Sonoran people. Its impact is clearly evident in the Serrana region—for instance, in the food and in the language (in which syllable stress falls predominantly on the antepenultimate instead of the penultimate syllable).

62 • Heading into the Desert

Yaqui River in the municipality of Onavas. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Visitors unfamiliar with the toponyms in this region may find the village names confusing, as happened with a federal police officer who stopped us at a roadblock by the Sonora River, north of ­Arizpe. “Where’ve you come from and where are you going?” he asked. “Well, we’ve come from Huepac, and we’re headed toward Bacoachi to reach Mututicachi, where we’ll go to Buchunamichi hill.” The officer looked at us intently and said, “You’re going where?” The Sonora River has proven highly significant in studying the colonial history of the state. We know that during the pre-Hispanic period a great many communities settled on the parallel mesas, from rancherias to nucleated villages,53 in a similar pattern to that observed throughout almost all of La Serrana. We saw evidence of this during a survey we undertook by boat in the Plutarco Elías Calles Dam, better known as El Novillo Dam. The purpose of our survey was to inventory archaeological sites on the Moctezuma River, in San Pedro la Cueva ejido. We traveled along the riverbanks, but in 1963 the dam had covered 20 km (ca. 12 miles) of the adjoining mesas, flooding an undetermined number of archaeological sites.54 Who would have imagined that someday we’d practice underwater archaeology in the rivers of Sonora?

63 • The Serrana Region and the Opata

Alignment of stones, part of a room in the site El Ahogado, in El Novillo Dam. Municipality of San Pedro de la Cueva. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1149-306

Gray ceramic bowl with straight walls and punched decoration. Provenance: Western Mexico. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

The Rains

When you think of the desert, you imagine a dry and desolate territory. But Sonora is not quite like that. It does have extreme temperatures—very hot summers and very cold winters. The summer rains are brief but intense, usually accompanied by lightning storms, while those in the winter—the so-called equipatas—are steady but moderate. You need to have spent an entire summer in Sonora before you can say that you’d like to live there. It’s definitely best to carry out an archaeological project during a dry period, but this ideal is hard to realize, since other circumstances often dictate the various months when work can be done. As mentioned earlier, summer rains can cause streams to suddenly rise, so you need to keep a safe distance from them. However, the pre-Hispanic people took advantage of this climatological phenomenon to divert the water and irrigate seasonal crops.

65 • Heading into the Desert

Summer storm clouds in the Trincheras region. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

One summer we were heading to Magdalena de Kino, on our ­return from the ruins of the Jesuit mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.55 As we drove along the paved highway, it was pouring down rain on La Lámina Mountains, so that when we reached the ford of El Sasabe, a stream that runs some 10 km (6 miles) from the city, we stopped before a current rushing with impressive force. A long line of cars formed, everyone waiting for the water level to go down. We’d been there a good while when suddenly one guy got in his car and started to cross the stream slowly. He made it to the other side and was off on his merry way.

Rising waters of La Boca Stream. Municipality of Cumpas. Sonora, Mexico.

Rising waters of Boquillas Stream. Municipality of Trincheras. Sonora, Mexico.

66 • The Rains

Contents

Having watched this, I was inspired to do the same. I drove to the edge of the ford, put the truck in 4WD, and forged into the stream. Seconds later I regretted my hasty decision, especially when I heard the branches beating against the body of the truck and the sand and gravel passing underneath. We pushed ahead, literally sailing, without being able to hear the motor or feel its power. All you could see out the window was water and more water. Some 80 m later (260 feet) we reached the opposite shore. I parked and checked the truck. Luckily, there was no damage. As the minutes went by, the water level dropped considerably, and the others who’d been waiting began to cross without having to risk getting swept away by the current.

Waiting for the swollen El Sasabe Stream to subside so that we can get across. Municipality of Magdalena de Kino. Sonora, Mexico.

Even dry streambeds can be dangerous. I’ve learned that it’s important to listen carefully to the locals, because they thoroughly understand the ways of the swollen streams and rivers in their community. Once I accompanied archaeologist Elisa Villalpando to the city of Caborca, where we were going to collect some bone remains that had been reported to the state police but were determined by experts to be part of a pre-Hispanic burial. We arrived at the police department and asked to be taken to the site where the bones had been found. The officer driving us there commented, “You’ll see how funny the locals are… They say there’s a river here!” In fact, we

67 • The Rains

Contents

were traveling on the eastern shore of the Concepción River, which has several documented floods in its history. One of these floods partially destroyed Mission Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora de Caborca, a historical edifice of adobe and masonry. Logically, there are dry periods during which to all appearances there’s no water in any stream or riverbed. But even then, you might still find water in various areas known as aguajes (troughs). Some of these appear in rivers where the rocky substrate rises, pushing the water to the surface.

68 • The Rains

Mission Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora de Caborca in 1935. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

fcas

collection 1666-81

inah

Bichrome ceramic bowl with straight walls, decorated in cream on red. Provenance: Western Mexico. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

Missions of the Pimería Alta

The mission heritage of Sonora is very interesting and diverse. The missions of the Pimería Alta (Upper Pima country) have been widely studied, since this region ­remained outside of Spanish dominion throughout the seventeenth century and up to the arrival of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who succeeded in Christianizing the Pima caciques. These sites were always chosen for establishing villages or camps. A good example is Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, founded in the Pima rancheria Bamotze. Here the valley narrows to form a canyon no longer than 200 m (650 feet) and 50 m (160 feet) wide. The small marsh within it is home to tortoises and herons. At this mission, of which all that remains standing are a few mounds of earth,56 we carried out excavations to learn a bit more about the period of contact between the Spaniards and the indigenous population. These led to the conclusion that the adobe edifices hadn’t been accidentally razed by a bulldozer that was clearing the area for an annual Mass, as had popularly been believed. It appears instead that the razed buildings belonged to a nineteenth-century rancho, whereas the mission structures almost entirely disintegrated with the passage of time. Thanks to the ceramic pieces that were found,57 we also know that the ancestors of the indigenous Himeris Pima maintained links with the Serrana, Trincheras, and Casas Grandes traditions.

70 • Heading into the Desert

Panorama of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. Municipality of Cucurpe. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Some of the cultural changes that took place during the period of contact were the introduction of livestock, both cattle and horses; cultivation of new crops, such as wheat and barley; and the planting of vegetable gardens and orchards. Today cattle farming is the region’s chief industry and pastures abound, especially ones with buffelgrass, which is originally from Africa. According to a saying attributed to José Vasconcelos, “At Estación Don, civilization ends and carne asada begins.” His words have been memorialized by the esteem that the great stockbreeding tradition of Sonora now enjoys, which is evident in its delicious tacos de carne asada, whether they’re from taco trucks or the finest restaurants. But to return to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores: during the excavation season, the Terán family rented us part of their ranch, Las Golondrinas, which was surrounded by pastures of tall grass. At the end of our stay Luis, the young helper of our cook, Carmen Reyes, decided to clean up the area. While Luis carried out this task, José Ángel Moreno, a worker at our excavation project on the mission site, a little more than half a mile north of the ranch, saw a large cloud of smoke in the distance. He contacted us to alert us, just as we heard Carmen emphatically calling out to her son on the radio: “Quero!… Quero!” “What’s going on, Carmen?” I asked, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she again repeated, “Quero… Quero… Quero!” At that moment the cowboy’s wife arrived telling us the ranch was on fire. We rushed over with picks and shovels. Luckily, the buffelgrass fire was soon controlled, but imagine the high price we could have paid for the cultural heritage of Father Kino! Paradoxically, even though buffelgrass grows more abundantly if burned every three or four years, it displaces desert plants, which can’t survive the fire. These grasses, alien to the original ecosystems of Mexico, thus fulfill their role as invasive plants. As a result, it’s important to prevent forest fires, particularly in areas with large pasturelands. They can have terrible consequences, especially given the strong winds that are common at certain times of year. Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago Cocóspera is another mission rebuilt by the Franciscans after the expulsion of the Jesuit order in 1767 and abandoned at the end of the nineteenth century. Today the church is a beautiful testament to the mission period in Sonora.

71 • Missions of the Pimería Alta

Contents

As part of the archaeological work undertaken at this mission, we excavated in both the church and the mission village, and we conducted a field survey through the valley to identify rancherias from the contact period. We observed that the population was concentrated in the center of the valley, precisely where the mission was founded.58 For some years the church suffered damaging searches for a supposed Jesuit treasure. One remnant of these is a tunnel that searchers began to dig in the talus of the mesa, right in front of the building, in an apparent attempt to reach an imaginary secret chamber located beneath it.

Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago Cocóspera. Municipality of Imuris. Sonora, Mexico.

As part of our project we had to inventory the tunnel. To do so we needed to take measurements. Before entering, we checked with a flashlight to make sure there were no animals. The anthropologist Yuri Estivil volunteered to go in. He made his way resolutely through the narrow passage until he reached the end. “Length: nine meters [30 feet],” he called out. Then there was silence. A few seconds later we heard Estivil’s frantic cries: “A marmot! A marmot!” and his quick strides. Shamefully, instead of helping him, we were all laughing our heads off at his faunistic identification.

72 • Missions of the Pimería Alta

Contents

Mission Cocóspera stood on a mesa, following the pattern of indigenous settlement. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Afterward, when we’d calmed down, we thought about the need to take greater precautions before checking enclosed areas. The most common threat we face in the field is a rattlesnake bite, something that fortunately none of my colleagues or I have experienced. We’ve confirmed that bringing an antivenin isn’t the best option, since the serum should be administered only under medical supervision. Instead, we now know that it’s better to stay calm, wash out the wound, and transport the victim immediately to a hospital, administering chloropyramine or intramuscular dexamethasone if he or she presents a strong allergic reaction. But ultimately, caution is the best defense.

Mission Cocóspera, with the Sierra Azul in the background. Territory under dispute between the Pima Alto and the Apaches. Sonora, Mexico.

During our field survey in the Cocóspera Valley, we were lucky to have the support of our guide Sergio Escárcega, a seasoned cowboy who was highly skilled and knowledgeable. Climbing a mesa or hiking through the mountains was no challenge for him. Unfortunately, given our sedentary lives, we city dwellers have lost touch with the human capacity to walk long distances and cross rough terrain with relative agility. Working alongside people who grew up in the country, we can see the results of our lifestyle. In archaeology we often interpret the pre-Hispanic limits of a ­region, which are normally defined by long mountain ranges. These seem to me relevant in terms of appropriation of the landscape more than as an impassable barrier. Sonora’s parallel mountain ranges may have served to delimit areas of food gathering and zones of appropriation, influence, and ideological control, but not

74 • Missions of the Pimería Alta

Contents

to prevent the passage of people. History has shown that human expansion knows no borders. I was on a hilltop with archaeologist Cristina García, anthropologist Yuri Estivil, and our guide, Sergio Escárcega, when we decided to check a rocky outcrop in the lower part of a stream, to see if we might find some rock art. We had to make a long detour to reach it. Sergio offered to climb down the slope directly without making the detour that we had at first thought indispensable.

The Cocóspera Valley is flanked by mountains— a feature characteristic of parallel valleys. Sonora, Mexico.

Moments later we heard rocks falling down the slope. I leaned over the edge and saw Sergio running downhill adroitly, but in a surprising, unusual manner. Estivil called out to him: “Sergio, stop, you’re going to fall! It’s very steep!” Finally he stopped, looked all around, and pulled down his pants. “Yuri, get this snake off of me!” he shouted. It took Estivil a few minutes to make it over to where the guide was, but he was able to reach him in time to help rid him of the cachora59 that had climbed up his leg and hidden itself between the cowboy’s boot and pants. A less experienced hiker would surely have tripped and fallen down the canyon. But as Sergio concluded, “I had to find a place where the girls couldn’t see me, so I could pull down my pants.”

75 • Missions of the Pimería Alta

Contents

Upon reaching the San Miguel River—a tributary that, like those preceding it, flows south—we came to the last line of mountains barring the road to the sea. These mountains are considered a frontier zone, the place of contact and exchange. During the early mission period different bands of Pima Alto (Upper Pima) groups coexisted there: the Papago, Soba, and Himeris, as well as the Eudeve and Opata.60 Continuing westward, on the other side of the mountains we find only vast plains with low, isolated hills, which, though appearing quite tall from a distance, turn out to be no more than 100 m high (about 325 feet), as you can see when you stand at the foot of the hill. Thus, it takes only a few minutes (depending on the individual hiker) to reach the top, where you can observe many other mountains emerging like islands in the landscape.

76 • Missions of the Pimería Alta

Contents

collection 1323-1117

fcas inah

Gray ceramic bowl decorated with black bands along the rim and the lower part. .

Provenance: Western Mexico. Period: Preclassic (1500–200 b.c.).

The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

To the northwest is the Concepción River basin, formed by various tributaries as well, such as the Magdalena and Altar Rivers. Its expanse coincides with the presence of the archaeological Trincheras tradition, and its southern bound merges with the coastal plain. This culture is characterized by its brown ceramics decorated with elaborate drawings in purple pigment that sometimes erodes, revealing the specular hematite below. During the development of this tradition the villages had various configurations, from groups of semisubterranean houses in the plains to houses set on the hillside terraces, called cerros de trincheras.61 When you climb a cerro de trincheras—even though the ascent can be complicated, as you have to negotiate each of the many walls circumscribing the summit—you understand why people terraced the hills: you get a sweeping vista, enabling you to see perfectly in the distance, and you can feel the breeze, however warm it may be in the summer. From a Western viewpoint these structures suggest fortresses. A common interpretation is that these hills were

Trincheras-type bowl, purple on brown. Museo Comunitario de Magdalena de Kino.

78 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

entirely defensive—which seems especially plausible when we’re sitting on a rock gasping for air to recover from the climb. Cerro de Trincheras is the best example of this type of archaeological site, with its nearly nine hundred terraces and its two ceremonial areas, one of them public (called La Cancha) and the other private, at the summit (Plaza El Caracol).62 This site has been extensively investigated by Elisa Villalpando and Randy Maguire.63 Plaza El Caracol was excavated during the 1996 field season. The first few days, workers and archaeologists climbed the north side of the hill, where the majority of terraces are found. The ascent was complicated, taking more than twenty minutes. By contrast, when they decided to climb the south side, which has hardly any ter­ races, the ascent took only five minutes. One might therefore wonder if these terraced hills weren’t actually intended for defense. The conclusion is that these were villages in which all manner of activities took place, and that while their prominent position in the landscape may have offered advantages, defense was not the reason for their existence.64

79 • The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

A system of communication may conceivably have existed between one hill and the next during the pre-Hispanic period. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Climbing among the rocks, terraces, and crumbled walls poses two main dangers: walls can collapse if you don’t move carefully,65 and rattlesnakes can come out from under the rocks (where they often hide). On one occasion we were surveying on Cerro La Pedrera, together with archaeologists Felipe Valenzuela and César A. Quijada. We swiftly climbed the south face toward the summit. At a certain point, given the shape of the slope, Valenzuela disappeared from view, but knowing his interest in photography, we assumed he’d stopped to take pictures. We set to work inventorying the site. A while later he showed up with several bruises, especially on his legs. The wall over which he’d been climbing had collapsed on him! That day I learned another very important fieldwork rule: never lose sight of your colleagues during a survey.

Cerro de Trincheras is the largest known site of this type, although its main occupation occurred relatively late.

Each cerro de trincheras has its own shape, as we saw during archaeologist Bridget Zavala’s project,66 which we jokingly (and quite seriously) called “forty hills in forty days.” Mapping these hills, we saw that the archaeological sites had different levels of architectural complexity: some consist only of terraces and others of isolated corrals, while some have both terraces and corrals; there are also sites with perimeter walls, and even some with paths or access routes.

80 • The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

Contents

One day we were in La Reforma ejido. Señor Pedro, who would guide us in climbing a very steep hill, commented to the women on our team: “A little while ago we had some girls here from the University of Sonora; you’ll see what a struggle that hike was for the poor things… And now you’re going up with huge backpacks!” We started our hike. As we climbed, the guide would ask the women, with increasing frequency, “You’re sure you don’t want to stop?” Since we’d already had a month of intensive training, they always said no. I wonder whether it was as difficult for pre-Hispanic women to climb the slopes with water, surely in large clay pots. We were carrying a minimum of two liters per person, preferably three, and sometimes it seemed too little. Nonetheless, we never skipped our coffee break—enjoying a delicious hot coffee at the hottest time of day is a satisfying Sonoran tradition. It sounds contradictory, but in fact it’s very effective, as is wearing long sleeves and a hat. It’s also comfortable to wear a sleeveless undershirt with a T-shirt over it, a combination that works well for most people. And because depletion of the ozone layer causes overexposure to ultraviolet rays, a good sunblock—however annoying the ones with summer beach scents can be—has become an absolute necessity to avoid the risk of skin cancer.

81 • The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

Corral on the site Cerro La Pedrera. Municipality of Magdalena de Kino. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Perimeter wall in the site Cerro La Reforma.

The people of the Trincheras tradition interacted a great deal with coastal groups and enjoyed resources from the sea, especially at the bounds of the coastal plain.67 That region is practically desert; the terrain is sandy, heavy, and difficult. Rain is quickly absorbed: twelve hours after a rainfall you’ll find no water, even if you dig up a streambed that appears to be moist. For that reason the ground in certain areas, though sparse, has remained relatively stable for hundreds of years, with remnants of settlements and villages found at surface level in a minimally changed state, considering the age of some of these sites. It’s as if time stood still.68

83 • The Coastal Plain and the Trincheras Tradition

Central Coast, a land of infinite horizons. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

fcas

collection 1666-83

inah

Monochrome pot, textured with incisions and a punched rim. Provenance: Northern Mexico Period: Postclassic (a.d. 900–1500).

Erosion and Geoglyphs

Sometimes we find pre-Hispanic rem‑ nants in an unbelievable state of conservation. For instance, we were inspecting the survey zone of a mine called Nochebuena, and we’d covered the whole desert area without finding a shred of evidence. But when we reached the northernmost point of the site, we had the good fortune of stumbling on a human figure made of medium-sized black and white stones arranged on the ground. The figure measured about 30 m (100 feet) in length, including the semicircle around it. The engineer who was there with me thought that a cowherd might have created the design in his idle moments; however, as I documented the find for the inventory, I was able to show him how the rocks had been carefully placed by color.

85 • Heading into the Desert

Anthropomorphic geoglyph in the Nochebuena site. Municipality of Caborca. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

These rock drawings are called geoglyphs. We know there are several of them in the Altar Desert, waiting to be located and inventoried. The most famous geoglyphs in the world are the Nazca Lines, in Peru. Though found in many other regions, this form of expression is most obvious in the desert, thanks to its scant vegetation.

86 • Erosion and Geoglyphs

Contents

fcas

collection 1034-94

inah

Red ceramic pot with stirrup-shaped handle. Provenance: Western Mexico (Colima). Capacha culture. Period: Preclassic (1500–200 b.c.).

La Playa

One of Sonora’s archaeological sites offers evidence of human occupation over a very extensive period (more than eight thousand years). This site is called La Playa.69 It contains a set of four “negative” geoglyphs—meaning that the surface rock was removed, revealing a lighter surface by which the design is formed. La Playa’s geoglyphs depict a star, a rectangle, a spiral, and a double arrow. It’s a very special site—one that may not have required much time to create but ranks as a marvel owing to its state of preservation. Unfortunately, it could also easily be destroyed, because its true value is not readily evident. When archaeologists Elisa Villalpando and John Carpenter invited me to work at La Playa, I imagined sitting beneath a palapa at lunchtime—an ice-cold beer in hand, of course—gazing out to the sea. But that’s not what happened. The site is called La Playa (“the beach”) because it’s located at the mouth of ������ Boquillas Stream, where its sediments have accumulated in a regular, homogeneous manner, forming a smooth surface of sand so fine that when stirred by passing cars it rises like a sudden mist, golden brown, that hangs in the air. However, when the ground hardens, it takes on a different consistency—one that makes those of us archaeologists who’ve excavated human burials at La Playa70 wish we had a dentist’s drill (notwithstanding its well-known sound that gives most of us the shivers) to help remove the soil efficiently and carefully. The majority of fieldwork here has been done in the two seasons with the most extreme climate: summer and winter. Both conditions entail survival strategies that must be followed to the letter, particularly if it’s the first time you’ve worked in the zone and especially during the summer, when dehydration becomes the main threat. As dawn approached, around 4:30, we’d place bars of ice in an Igloo-type thermos and fill it halfway with water. By noon the ice would already be melted, and the water would be warm.

88 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Geometrical geoglyph in the site La Playa. Municipality of Trincheras. Sonora, Mexico.

Once, during the hottest part of summer, archaeologists César Vi­ llalobos, Cristina García, and I were drawing the outlines of an excavation pit, using a theodolite.71 It was around noon; the ambient temperature must have been about 40°C (104°F)… in the shade. In the distance we noticed a small cloud of dust approaching from the east, where there are no ranches, much less villages. Looking through the lens we could see a person, his contours rippled by the heat rising from the ground. We kept working as we patiently waited for this person to arrive. Finally he stood before us. He had an empty, mistrustful gaze, and his behavior was erratic. He had no idea where he came from and only wanted to get to “there...”

La Playa, archaeological site marked by erosion. Municipality of Trincheras. Sonora, Mexico.

It turned out he was a trampita, a young guy who’d hopped a northbound freight train, hoping to change his luck. Our chief concern was to get him water and food, but we also wanted to understand how he’d gotten lost out here. We sat him in the bed of our pickup, but he soon went to lie down in the only shade available: beneath the vehicle. We planned to return to Trincheras in another hour, to

90 • La Playa

Contents

take him to a health care center. Meanwhile, we continued drawing the outlines of an area occupied two thousand years ago. Upon leaving the pit where we were working, we found that the fellow had disappeared. Dehydration gradually diminishes one’s ability to reason. The trampita had decided to press on, like the thousands of migrants who long to cross the desert to realize the American dream. “Extreme” isn’t a strong enough adjective to convey the climate conditions in that region during the summer. Not realizing the rapid and devastating effects of these high temperatures, people risk their lives venturing through the Sonoran Desert to enter the United States illegally.

91 • La Playa

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1666-229

Polychrome anthropomorphic figurine, decorated in red and black on off-white. Provenance: Western Mexico (Nayarit). Shaft tomb tradition. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

El Pinacate

One of the places where I experienced the most intense heat was El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve. Located on the eastern side of the Gran Desierto de Altar, this reserve is made up of an extensive volcanic system and is full of dunes. Assisted by a park ranger, Mayela Pastrana and I were inventorying a group of archaeological sites there. One of the sites was a series of geoglyphs on a desert floor of black volcanic rock. It was only about ten in the morning, but the heat from the ground was so strong that while drawing the design of the geoglyphs I had to stand on one foot at a time, letting the sole of the other shoe cool down. The ranger said we could have fried an egg on the rock. But contrary to what you might think, this region has a rich biodiversity. Moreover, it has a great number of archaeological sites showing that the region was used for millennia as a transit zone. The secret72 lies in the paths leading to tinajas that store thousands of liters of water almost year round. From time immemorial, mem-

93 • Heading into the Desert

Aerial view of El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

bers of the O’odham tribe made pilgrimages to the coast crossing through El Pinacate, as part of a very important rite of passage. On this same trip we surveyed the southern side of El Pinacate in search of an ejido center.73 We were driving on a visible dirt road that seemed to disappear into a dry lakebed. Evidently it continued over a dune, so we kept going. But halfway up the slope, the 4WD failed, and the pickup got stuck in the sand. I put the truck in 4L (low range 4WD) and tried to reverse: all I managed to do was sink the four wheels. It was eight in the morning, and we had enough water and food, a tent, maps, and shovels, but it was 45°C (113°F) out, and 40 km (25 miles) to Puerto Peñasco. First we dug until we freed the tires, the axle, and the differential. Then we went combing through the area to see what we could find that might be of use. Near the train tracks there was a refrigerator door and small pieces of a board; we carted them off, together with some rocks from the talus in the tracks. Next we had to dig beneath the tires and push whatever we could in there, hoping it would function as a base.

94 • El Heading Pinacate into the Desert

Geoglyph in the site Tinaja de las Figuras, in El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

We were able to proceed slowly, reversing and digging until, three hours later, we were out of the dune. We continued on our path, but with far greater respect for the dunes. We were even more convinced than before that a 4WD vehicle with all-terrain tires was no mere luxury but rather a necessity in this region. When we reached the ejido center, one of the fishermen hearing our story told us, “A brother and a friend of mine died of thirst in El Pinacate when our car broke down. We did have water in a 200 liter (50 gallon) drum, but this friend was suffering from heatstroke.74 At night the drum fell, spilling all the water, because in his desperation he was trying to drink until his thirst was quenched. He died. The next day we started walking. Only I survived.” That story gave us goose bumps. I understood then why the drivers who used to take passengers over the San Luis Río Colorado–Mexicali route in the early twentieth century would announce that they brought water mixed with gasoline, should anyone get thirsty on the way.75 Walking through the desert is surely a lesson in life—a positive one if you have what you need to withstand the situation. I hope that I’ll never have to walk while thirsty. The lesson is very simple: always carry water. No matter if it seems too much; it will get used one way or another.

The author in the dunes of the Gran Desierto de Altar. Sonora, Mexico.

95 • El Pinacate

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1666-230

Polychrome anthropomorphic figurine, decorated in white, black, and cream on red. Seated woman with face and body paint. Provenance: Western Mexico (Nayarit). Shaft tomb tradition. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

The Central Coast

Gazing at the immense landscapes of the coastal plain, I always wonder how life must have been for its nomadic inhabitants. How much water did they carry with them? How much did they drink? The only thing we know is that they ate a lot of shellfish, because mounds of food waste, bonfire remnants, and implements have been found over areas several miles wide. These mounds of evidence are called concheros. They are found all along the Pacific Coast. Many of the ones in Sonora are linked with the Central Coast tradition, which developed a type of ceramics so fine that archaeologists have called it “eggshell.” 76 One of the many things that remain unknown about the desert nomads is how far they walked in a day. We need to look at the region through the eyes of the nomads. One day I found out what it was like to walk through the desert—but I didn’t do it out of curiosity.

97 • Heading into the Desert

Vegetation of the Sonoran Desert.

Contents

The historian Rigoberto Carrazco and I were trying to locate an archaeological site in the region of Sierra El Picú, near Puerto Libertad. We were driving on a good dirt road maintained by the Federal Electricity Commission, but as we came out of a curve, we approached a hole where evidently a vehicle had been stuck. I looked around and spotted a level area, which I thought I could drive over to skirt the hole without losing momentum. But to my surprise, what had appeared to be flat turned out to be a sandbank. As one would expect in such a situation, we ended up stuck. Our vehicle didn’t have 4WD, and we couldn’t figure out how to extricate it.

Conchero Chino site in the Gran Desierto de Altar. Municipality of Puerto Peñasco. Sonora, Mexico.

Stuck in the sand on Sierra El Picú. Sonora, Mexico.

98 • The Central Coast

Contents

Our first step was to find out exactly where we were. We didn’t have gps—its use wasn’t widespread at that time—so I pulled out a compass and a topographic map. But the map had only contour lines forming a long slope down to the sea. The mountains in the distance were beyond the area shown on our map. It was three in the afternoon, in the month of May. Since the weather wasn’t too hot, we decided to walk to Puerto Libertad, although we weren’t sure how far away it was.

Vegetation of the Central Coast, dusk in the Sonoran Desert.

After loading up with as much water and rehydrating drinks as possible, we set out on our journey to the coast. In a short while the smokestacks of Puerto Libertad’s thermoelectric plant became visible through the fog. We compared their size to that of a conventional building in order to roughly calculate the distance, which we figured was between 15 and 20 km (about 9 to 12 miles). We walked and walked without noticing any substantial progress. It got to be dusk, and we hastened our pace. At nightfall the chollas77 become a real problem. I remembered that you shouldn’t remove the spines of these troublesome cacti with your hands but rather with tweezers or at least a twig. Fortunately a half moon appeared, lighting our path relatively well so that we could move more safely ahead. The sky was studded with stars. We were admiring this spectacle when a rattlesnake hissed at our feet. We jumped instinctively, but even with the moon and starlight, we couldn’t locate it. Moments later we saw it slither away. We began to take slower, more careful strides.

99 • The Central Coast

Contents

Finally, after nine hours, we arrived at the town. That very night the community’s civil protection service took us to get the vehicle. The return trip enabled us to verify that we’d covered 52 km (32 miles). Recounting the events, we thought about our errors of prevention, perception, and knowledge. The error of prevention was our failure to carry flashlights, knowing that we’d be traveling in a possibly isolated area. The error of perception was our miscalculation of the distance, because we didn’t realize that the smokestacks were 120 m (about 395 feet) tall and assumed they were smaller; it would have been wiser to camp and set out very early the next morning. Our third mistake was that there was one way we might have extricated the vehicle, but we didn’t see it: namely, we could have deflated the rear tires to give greater surface contact and traction. Thus, having a compressor in the car is a good preventive measure. Obviously, the preceding tale bears no comparison with the cyclical journeys taken by the men and women of the Central Coast archaeological tradition, who for millennia walked time and time again across the desert sands. Their nomadic lifestyle is almost extinct, especially owing to border and property issues. The Seri lived that way until the middle of the twentieth century; they also resisted Christianization. They are the final testament to nomadic life in Sonora.78

100 • Heading into the Desert

Seri traditional ceremonial house in Punta Chueca, Concáac traditional territory. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

Tiburón Island is a reserve that holds a great deal of archaeological evidence relating to the ancestors of the Seri or the Central Coast archaeological tradition. When I got the chance to travel there, I marveled at this territory—no posts or barbed-wire fences, no routes for power lines or dirt roads to transport cattle—a landscape very close to what it may have been in the pre-Hispanic past. In the far north is the Tecomate camp. There I saw a photographer taking photos of a traditional Seri singer, trying to find the most dramatic composition for his subject. Then I turned toward the sea, which at that instant was gradually carrying away a dune with archaeological material hidden in its depths. Perhaps within that dune, I thought, was a reflection of the history of Sonora, the history of its people traveling from the Sierra Madre to the sea.

101 • The Central Coast

Fishing boat at Punta Chueca with Tiburón Island in the background, Concáac traditional territory. Sonora, Mexico.

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1666-265

Polychrome anthropomorphic figurine, decorated in black, red, and orange on off-white. It depicts a musician holding a rattle, wearing ankle bracelets that may contain bells and a necklace with a zoomorphic figure (a lizard). Provenance: Western Mexico. Shaft tomb tradition. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

Final Reflections

The main point of this narrative has been to share experiences that may help us think about the best ways to prevent unnecessary risk during fieldwork. I see archaeology not as a high-risk activity but rather as a professional endeavor, in every possible form, to be exercised responsibly, seriously, and with great care for safety conditions. It’s important to note that archaeology in the state of Sonora is far richer and more complex than can be described in this book. Here I’ve merely presented a compendium of stories and observations based on my participation in various archaeological investigation projects. Contrary to what one might think, a great number of ­investigative, rescue, and salvage projects have been carried out in Sonora, conducted according to high academic and professional standards by national and international institutions, often working jointly. But considering the state’s potential, it’s clear that we still know very little about its rich pre-Hispanic history. I regret not being able to include references to the southern region, where, at the least, the Huatabampo archaeological tradition and the Taracahitic (Yaquis and Mayo) groups have been identified. Their cultural legacy is quite relevant to the state’s history. Nor, of course, did I include the mountain region from Álamos to Yécora, where the Guarijío and Pima Bajo (Lower Pima) groups settled. I’d like to close with one thought about the cultural developments that the archaeological traditions of Sonora represent. The value of Sonoran culture lies in the efficiency and simplicity with which its people made use of the various ecosystems. There’s no need to talk about states or lordships to discover that the pre-Hispanic groups valiantly rose to the challenges of their land—the land that forged the Sonorans of today.

103 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

fcas inah

collection 1666-343

Flute with biconical feet, decorated in cream on red. The flute has an anthropomorphic figure on the upper middle part. Provenance: Western Mexico (Colima). Shaft tomb tradition. Period: Classic (a.d. 200–900).

Notes 1. Today Sonora’s population is less than 3 million, chiefly concentrated in seven cities. 2. Cactus with a thin, columnar trunk, made famous by the stereotyped image of a Mexican in his serape sleeping under its shade. 3. There have been many editions of this book, which was also translated into Spanish as México desconocido. The Ernesto López Yescas Library at the Centro inah-Sonora has a copy of the original edition, from 1902. 4. Paquimé, located in Chihuahua, is one of the most important archaeological sites in northwestern Mexico. The archaeologist Charles Di Peso led the most thorough investigation of this zone, with support from the Amerind Foundation, in the 1960s. He excavated more than 60 percent of the area and discovered a highly complex city built of adobe, with multistory houses, a drinking water system, a ballcourt, and ceremonial buildings. The investigation culminated in a comprehensive five-volume publication (Di Peso 1974). 5. “Traversing” means walking diagonally up a mountain slope, which requires learning to establish a new center of balance. Those of us who didn’t grow up in the mountains usually favor one side, left or right. It takes time to learn to balance on both sides. 6. These tires are specially designed for travel on all terrains. Mud-terrain tires are not recommended, since they are too wide and can easily be punctured by the abundant stones that hit the tire’s sidewalls while driving narrow roads. 7. In Mexico, realistically speaking, the chances of getting immediate help from an air rescue team are slim, depending on the circumstances. 8. procede stands for “Programa de certificación de los derechos ejidales” (Ejido Rights Certification Program). In response to the landholders’ interest in protecting archaeological zones within their ejidos, inah located and inventoried archaeological sites on the ejido maps. 9. I should clarify that the concept of a “relatively good dirt road” means a road that can be traveled in a 4 x 4 at speeds under 50 km/h (about 30 mph) but might nonetheless prove impassable at any time. 10. ¡Manéale! is a regional expression on Sonora meaning “hit the brakes.” But even if I didn’t know what it meant, I would have done so anyway. 11. These features correspond to the Casas Grandes regional system (Whalen and Minnis 2001 and 2009). 12. This information was gathered as part of the archaeological project Sierra Alta de Sonora, which I directed.

105 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

13. I should clarify that since this calculation is based on a hypothetical representativeness, it has no scientific value in terms of establishing the exact density of the terraces. The estimate it produces, however, does not seem unreasonable. 14. This project, organized by the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona, consisted of collecting wood samples from both live and archaeological trees in order to reconstruct the climate and establish the growth patterns of pine tree rings. That data then makes it possible to date to within a year any pine sample with more than forty rings (Bagwell, Towner, and Dean 2003). 15. In most 4 x 4 vehicles the hubs lock automatically upon selecting the function, but in certain earlier models you need to manually lock the hubs on the front axle. 16. It’s a very steep descent. Obviously, low-profile or enclosed vehicles are not ­allowed on these roads. 17. We had only thirteen lug nuts. 18. Whether in the form of fog, mist, hail, snow, or ice. 19. The community of Mesa Tres Ríos has reported temperatures as low as –30°C (–22°F). 20. Statistics show that the number of people who drown in their cars increases during the summer in Sonora state. 21. Should it break down, it would be very hard to get parts. 22. Too wide for the narrow roads and tight curves. 23. Regional terms for “groin” and “legs.” 24. The difference of approximately 300 linear meters (985 feet) was due to the range of error these devices had in 1997, a variation that is notably increased by tree cover. Today they offer a precision of 3 meters (less than 10 feet). 25. By “not very steep” I mean that the incline was about 5–15°. 26. It took four hours to get from the archaeological site to the pass, where our pickup was parked. 27. A talega is a round cloth bag that serves as a reusable coffee filter. It is held by a wire that’s perfectly fitted inside the rim of a pewter coffeepot. 28. Jokes, pranks, and stories. 29. In Sonora, the Clovis period has been defined as 12000 to 8000 b.c. These were groups who lived among megafauna, such as mastodons, mammoths, horses, etc. (Sánchez, Gaines, and Holliday 2009). 30. Father Pfefferkorn, writing in the eighteenth century, tells of the great fear people had of poison arrows (Pfefferkorn 2008). 31. Mammal in the family Felidae. It is also known as a mountain lion or cougar. 32. I know of a similar incident that occurred in the mountain municipality of Nácori Chico as well. 33. This catalogue contains only archaeological sites that have been inventoried in the state, but a great many miles have yet to be traveled to locate and inventory all the archaeological zones. 34. To this day, the only Apache camps that have been identified are ones mentioned by the anthropologist Greenville Goodwin in the northeastern corner of Sonora, in the region he visited in the 1930s (Goodwin and Goodwin 2000).

106 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

35. The archaeological traditions that have been defined up to now are Trincheras, Central Coast, Huatabampo, Serrana (or Sonora River), and Casas Grandes. 36. See Martínez 2010. 37. In the seventeenth century, the friar Ángel Antonio Núñez Fundidor mentions, in his Relación de Bacerac (Account of Bacerac), that the designation “de Moctezuma” was used with little basis to refer to Paquimé, but he doesn’t specify whether it was the Spaniards or the Indians themselves who called it that. Presumably it was the Spaniards, since they were the ones who knew that the Aztecs had an emperor called Moctezuma (Montané 1999). 38. The name refers to the point where the borders of four U.S. states—Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado—meet. 39. This project was the subject of her doctoral dissertation for the University of New Mexico (Bagwell 2001 and 2004). 40. For more information on this period, I recommend the general interest book La Gran Chichimeca: El lugar de las rocas secas, edited by Beatriz Braniff (Braniff 2001)—a very complete publication on the archaeological studies of pre-Hispanic northwestern Mexico. I consider it the best book on the subject to date. 41. The palms they use are apparently Sabal uresana (Arecaceae) (Joyal 1996). 42. “Palm basket” in the Cahita language. 43. The word entierro (which usually means “grave” or “burial”) here alludes to a chest, pot, or other object that supposedly contains gold coins, which are also called alasanas. 44. The funerary rite consisted of burning the body and placing the bones inside pots. 45. Today the main roads are Navojoa–Nogales (Highway 15, running north–south) and San Luis Río Colorado–Agua Prieta (Highway 2, running east–west). 46. Casas Grandes pottery is valued for its artistry—including decorative techniques such as the use of textures or designs painted in black and red—in particular the anthropomorphic vessels, which are famed for their expressiveness. The provenance of many of the existing collections is unknown. These collections present ­incomplete, fragmented information owing to the object’s removal from its original context. 47. It is indispensable, for both Mexicans and foreigners, to obtain the authorization of the Consejo de Arqueología (Council on Archaeology)—the only government body that can authorize excavations of any archaeological site in Mexico. In order to ­obtain authorization, you must be certified as an archaeologist, present an investigation proposal, be affiliated with (or supported by) a respected research institute, and have authorized economic resources. Archaeologists from inah, which is a ­federal institution, must also fulfill these requirements. 48. It hadn’t been painted yet. 49. Latin term that was used in cartography to indicate zones of unexplored territory. 50. Archaeologists John Douglas and César A. Quijada investigated the valley in 1998 and 2000 (Douglas and Quijada 2000 and 2004). 51. Sonora state is popularly known for the beauty of its women.

107 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

52. Investigations have been carried out primarily in the nearby region of the San Pedro River in the neighboring state of Arizona (Hill et al. 2004). 53. The chief study was realized by archaeologist William Doolittle in the Sonora River (Doolittle 1988). 54. Three villages were also flooded: Tepupa, Suaqui, and Batuc. The last of these, founded in 1629, was an important Opata community. 55. The first mission village founded by the Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. It is located 18 km (11 miles) north of the community of Cucurpe, in Las Golondrinas Ranch. 56. Only a cemetery from the beginning of the twentieth century and small elevations of structures from the colonial period and from a nineteenth-century rancheria are still found at the site. In the 1980s a cross and an altar were placed in this spot to celebrate an annual Mass, in the month of March, commemorating Father Kino’s arrival in Sonora. 57. These investigations were undertaken as part of the Historical Archaeology Project of the Pimería Alta Missions. 58. Martínez 2004. 59. A lizard. 60. The researcher Beatriz Braniff proposed this hypothesis in her doctoral dissertation (Braniff 1992). 61. For more information, see chapter 4.2.2 of La Gran Chichimeca (Braniff 2001), written by Villalpando. 62. This site, located in the community of Trincheras, is in the process of being opened to the public. It currently features an interpretive trail that goes to the summit. 63. They previously completed a survey of the Altar Valley (McGuire and Villalpando 1993, 1997). 64. Villalpando 2010. 65. Because the walls were made of uncemented rock, their structural integrity ­depends on their state of conservation. 66. The archaeological project Building Trincheras, proposed by Zavala in preparation for her doctoral dissertation at the State University of New York. 67. The precise nature of the relationship between Trincheras and Central Coast groups has yet to be investigated. 68. Of course, geomorphological impact is greater in some areas than in others. 69. This archaeological site, currently in the Zone of Archaeological Monuments, is the most investigated site in the state of Sonora. 70. The largest sample of human remains from the early agricultural period (from 1200 to 200 b.c.) has been recovered from this archaeological zone (Carpenter, Sánchez, and Villalpando 2003; Carpenter 2009). 71. A theodolite is a topographical instrument that measures horizontal and vertical angles, as well as calculating distances and drops. The user looks through a magnifying lens whose crosshairs must align with a level staff that is held by an assistant standing at the point you wish to measure.

108 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

72. Revealed in large part by archaeologist Julian Hayden’s lengthy surveys of the area in the 1960s (Hayden 1988). 73. In reality, it was a seasonal camp for fishermen. 74. Rapid dehydration causing headaches, diarrhea, and dizziness. 75. The drivers’ stories have been published by the state of Sonora in the book Por las rutas del desierto, by Valdemar Barrios (1996). 76. For more information, see chapter 3.6 of La Gran Chichimeca (Braniff 2001). 77. These are articulated cacti with very flexible spines. 78. Rentería 2009.

109 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Bibliography Bagwell, Elizabeth A. “La producción de artefactos arquitectónicos: Un análisis de casas en acantilados en la Sierra Madre Occidental, noroeste de Sonora, México.” Project proposal presented to the Consejo de Arqueología, Archivo de la Sección de Arqueología del Centro inah-Sonora, 2001. ———. “Architectural Patterns along the Rio Taraises, Northern Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora.” Kiva 70, no. 1 (Fall 2004). Bagwell, Elizabeth A., Ron Towner, and Jeffrey Dean. “Expandiendo la dendroarqueología del Norte de México.” Project proposal presented to the Consejo de Arqueología, Archivo de la Sección de Arqueología del Centro inah-Sonora, 2003. Barrios Matrecito, Valdemar. Por las rutas del desierto. 4th ed. Hermosillo: Gobierno del Estado de Sonora, 1996. Braniff, Beatriz. La frontera protohistórica pima-ópata en Sonora, México: Proposiciones arqueológicas preliminares. 3 vols. Colección Científica 243. Mexico City: inah, 1992. ———, ed. La Gran Chichimeca: El lugar de las rocas secas. Mexico City: Conaculta-Jaca Book, 2001. Carpenter Slavens, John. “La Playa, Sonora.” Arqueología Mexicana 17, no. 97 (May– June 2009). Carpenter Slavens, John, Guadalupe Sánchez, and Elisa Villalpando. “Sonora precerámica: Del Arcaico y del surgimiento de aldeas agrícolas.” Arqueología 29 (2003). Di Peso, Charles C., J. B. Rinaldo, and G. J. Fenner. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca. 5 vols. Archaeology Series 9. Flagstaff, AZ: The Amerind Foundation–Northland Press, 1974. Doolittle, William E. Pre-Hispanic Occupance in the Valley of Sonora, Mexico: Archaeological Confirmation of Early Spanish Reports. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988. Douglas, John, and César A. Quijada. “Arqueología del Valle Bavispe, Sonora.” Paper presented at XXV Simposio de Historia y Antropología, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, 2000.

110 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

———. “Between the Casas Grandes and the Río Sonora Valleys: Chronology and Settlement in the Upper Bavispe Drainage.” In G. Newell and E. Gallaga, eds., Future Directions: The Archaeology of Northwest Mexico. Berkeley: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology/University of California, 2004. Goodwin, Greenville, and Neil Goodwin. The Apache Diaries: A Father-Son Journey. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Hayden, Julian, Jack Dykinga, Charles Bowden, and Bernard L. Fontana. The Sierra Pinacate. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1998. Hill, J. Bret, Jeffery J. Clark, William H. Doelle, and Patrick D. Lyons. “Prehistoric Demography in the Southwest: Migration, Coalescence and Hohokam Population Decline.” American Antiquity 69, no. 4 (Oct. 2004). Joyal, Elaine. “The Use of Sabal uresana (Arecaceae) and Other Palms in Sonora, México.” Economic Botany 50, no. 4 (Oct.–Dec. 1996). Lumholtz, Carl. Unknown Mexico: Explorations in the Sierra Madre and Other Regions, 1890– 1898. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1902. Martínez Ramírez, Júpiter. “Reporte de los rescates arqueológicos de la Iglesia de la Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, Sonora.” Report. Archivo Técnico, Centro inah-Sonora, 2003. ———. “Cocóspera, sombras de adobe: Estudio arqueológico del Templo de la Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, Sonora.” Thesis, Archaeology Department, enah, Mexico City, 2004. ———. “Informe de la primera temporada del proyecto Sierra Alta de Sonora para el Consejo de Arqueología.” Report. Archivo de la Sección de Arqueología del Centro inahSonora, 2010. McGuire, Randall, and María Elisa Villalpando. An Archaeological Survey of the Altar Valley, Sonora, Mexico. Arizona State Museum Archaeological Series 184. Tucson: Arizona State Museum/University of Arizona Press, 1993. ———. “Cerro de Trincheras, un sitio arqueológico en el noroeste de Sonora.” Arqueología 17 (1997). Montané Martí, Julio César. Bacerac en 1777: Carta edificante de Fray Ángel Antonio Núñez Fundidor. Hermosillo: Ediciones Contrapunto, 1999. Pfefferkorn, Ignaz. Descripción de la provincia de Sonora. Colección Cien de México. Mexico City: Conaculta, 2008.

111 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Pickens, Buford, ed. The Missions of Northern Sonora: A 1935 Field Documentation. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1993. Rentería Valencia, Rodrigo. “Habitar el desierto, navegar el mar: Procesos de transformación y permanencia entre los seris.” Arqueología Mexicana 17, no. 97 (May–June 2009). Sánchez Miranda, Guadalupe, Edmund P. Gaines, and Vance T. Holliday. “El fin del mundo, Sonora: Cazadores clovis de megafauna del pleistoceno terminal.” Arqueología Mexicana 17, no. 97 (May–June 2009). Villalpando Canchola, Elisa. “Cerros de Trincheras, Sonora: Muros de piedra que acogen la espiral del mar.” Arqueología Mexicana 17, no. 97 (May–June 2009). Whalen, Michael E., and Paul E. Minnis. Casas Grandes and Its Hinterland: Prehistoric Regional Organization in Northwest Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2001. ———. The Neighbors of Casas Grandes: Excavating Medio Period Communities of Northwest Chihuahua, Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2009.

112 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Glossary Adobe Building material made essentially of earth and water that is air-dried. Depending on the cultural characteristics and the soil of each region, a modifying agent such as sand, gravel, or organic matter can be added. Altar Desert Subregion of the Sonoran Desert, located in the far northwest of Sonora state and southwest of Arizona. It is characterized by sparse vegetation, a lack of water, and a large expanse of dunes. Altiplano A tableland situated between two or more mountain ranges. The Mexican Altiplano covers a large part of the country’s central territory and is delimited by the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Apaches Nomadic indigenous group, speakers of an Athabaskan language, who lived in regions of northwestern Mexico and southwestern United States. They were divided into twelve bands or tribes: Coyotero, Chiricahua, Gileño, Mescalero, Navajo, Tonto, Mogollon, Faraon, Jicarilla, Llanero, Mimbreño, and Lipan. Their presence in Sonoran territory dates to the sixteenth century. Arizona State located in the southwestern United States. It shares the international border with Sonora for almost the entire 626 km (389 miles) of Sonora’s northern boundary. Its capital is Phoenix. This territory was part of New Spain and subsequently part of the Mexican Republic until 1848, when the United States appropriated it at the close of the Mexican-American War. Then, in 1853, the Gadsden Purchase added the lands sold under Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna, making up what is today Arizona. Arizpe Municipal seat located in the central basin of the Sonora River, in north-central Sonora state. It was founded in 1646 as a mission village. At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century it was the capital of the Intendancy of Sonora and Sinaloa.

113 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Aros River A permanent river that originates in the state of Chihuahua and flows in an east–west direction through the Sierra Madre Occidental, finally joining the Bavispe River. Athabaskans Speakers of a group of indigenous languages belonging to the Na-Dene linguistic family. There are three groups: Northern Athabaskan, spoken in Alaska and Canada; Pacific Coast Athabaskan, spoken in Oregon and California; and Southern Athabaskan, which corresponds to the Apachean languages. Atlatl A slender pre-Hispanic weapon used to shoot projectiles, capable of covering greater distances than a bow and arrow. Bacerac Municipal seat located on the upper Bavispe River, in northeastern Sonora state. It was founded in 1645 by the Jesuit missionary Cristóbal García. Bajareque Building technique in which sticks are interwoven and covered in clay. Buchunamichi An archaeological site of the cerro de trincheras type, located on the hill of the same name, in the municipality of Bacoachi, Sonora. Buena Vista Community known for its palm leaf handicrafts. It is located in the municipality of Nácori Chico in the Bavispe River basin, east-central Sonora state. Buffelgrass Cenchrus ciliaris, or Pennisetum ciliare, a grass native to arid regions of eastern Africa and southern Asia. Caborca Municipal seat located on the Asunción River, in northwestern Sonora state. It was founded in 1688 by the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino. Canyon Gorge; drainage with pronounced walls generally formed by fluvial erosion. Carl Lumholtz Norwegian traveler and explorer who carried out several expeditions in Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History, between 1890 and 1910. Based on

114 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

these expeditions he wrote the book Unknown Mexico, which gives an extensive description of various indigenous groups, such as the Tarahumara, the Cora, and the Tepehuan. Casas Grandes An archaeological culture that developed between the years a.d. 700 and 1450, in the present-day states of Chihuahua and Sonora. The most representative archaeological site of this regional development is Paquimé, notable for its complex adobe architecture and polychrome pottery with black and red designs. Casas Grandes is also a town located in the municipality of the same name, in the far northwest of Chihuahua state. Cerro de Trincheras An archaeological site located in the town of Trincheras, in northern Sonora state. Its main occupation took place between a.d. 1250 and 1450. It was a regional center of great architectural complexity, with countless terraces along the slopes of the hill. Cerros de trincheras Type of archaeological site that is set on a hill whose shape has been modified by the building of terraces, paths, ramps, and walls. Chloropyramine Antihistamine drug used to counteract allergic reactions. Clisimeter Instrument used to measure the slope angle of a plane. Cocóspera Former mission village founded in 1687 by the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino, located between the towns of Imuris and Cananea, in northern Sonora state. The ruins of the church are preserved there today. Colorado State of the southwestern United States; its capital is Denver. Together with the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico it makes up the region known as the Four Corners, where important archaeological cultures developed, such as the Anasazi. Compressor (air) Mechanical device designed to raise the pressure of gases; for a car, it can be used to inflate tires to the proper pressure. Concheros Archaeological midden sites characterized by the presence of discarded mollusks or shell material that was intentionally transported from the sea or coast.

115 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Cueva Bringas An archaeological site of the cliff-dwelling type belonging to the Casas Grandes culture; it is not open to the public. It is located near the Taraises River, a tributary of the Bavispe River in the municipality of Bacerac. The site was examined in detail as part of the research project undertaken by Elizabeth Bagwell for her doctoral dissertation. Cueva El Aguaje An archaeological site of the cliff-dwelling type belonging to the Casas Grandes culture; it is not open to the public. It is located near the Taraises River, a tributary of the Bavispe River in the municipality of Bacerac. The site was examined in detail as part of the research project undertaken by Elizabeth Bagwell for her doctoral dissertation. Cueva del Arroyo del Burro An archaeological site of the cliff-dwelling type that is not open to the public; the archaeological tradition to which it belongs has not been determined. It is located near the Riíto River, in the municipality of Nácori Chico, in eastern Sonora state. Dexamethasone A potent synthetic glucocorticoid with effects similar to those of steroid hormones. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. It is twenty to thirty times more potent than hydrocortisone. Dunes Accumulation of sand generated by wind in deserts or on the shore; the grains of sand tend to be very small and concentrated. Dunes—in particular active ones that are in constant motion—have scant vegetation. Ejido A form of communal property in rural towns that is made up of croplands and pastures, as well as zones for urban development and schools. The profits generated by commercial use of the pastures must be shared equally among the members of the community. The ejido is governed by a general assembly (the most powerful body), an ejido commission, and a security council. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Principal trade and communication route between the northern regions of New Spain, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Mexico City. The road, traveled by pedestrians, wagons, and mule trains, was protected by the viceregal army. El Fuste (stream) A minor, intermittent tributary of the Bavispe River. It is located 10 km (ca. 6 miles) northeast of the town of Bavispe, in northeastern Sonora state. The dirt road connecting Bavispe, Sonora, with Janos, Chihuahua, runs parallel to the stream as it crosses the state.

116 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

El Sotolar An archaeological site of the cliff-dwelling type in the Casas Grandes cultural tradition; it is not open to the public. It is located in the municipality of Sahuaripa. Elizabeth Bagwell An archaeologist, she received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico with a dissertation on the architecture of cliff dwellings in the Sierra Madre Occidental, specifically those at Cueva Bringas and Cueva El Aguaje in Sonora, Mexico. She subsequently codirected the project “Expanding Dendroarchaeology into Northern Mexico,” together with archaeologists Ronald Towner and Jeffrey Dean of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. Equipatas Term for the winter rainy season in northwestern Mexico, which is characterized by steady light precipitation or drizzle that lasts for several hours or days. Ethnological (material) Any object that is a product of the cultural manifestations of a specific human group, generally associated with indigenous people. Eudeve Ethnohistorical group, speakers of a language in the Uto-Aztecan family classified in the Taracahitic group and Opatan subgroup. They lived in the region of the Cucurpe municipality, San Miguel River, Sonora, at least during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Eusebio Francisco Kino Jesuit missionary who arrived in the region known as the Pimería Alta (or Upper Pima country, in northwestern Sonora and southwestern Arizona) at the end of the seventeenth century. He founded more than twenty-four mission villages in a territory that had been outside of New Spain’s purview. He undertook numerous expeditions and also produced maps, in which he indicated that Baja California was a peninsula and not an island, as had previously been thought. Franciscan Catholic order of mendicant friars founded by St. Francis of Assisi. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from territories belonging to the Spanish Crown in 1767, the Franciscans took over the mission villages of Sonora. Geoglyphs Drawings formed by an arrangement of rocks (or their absence) on the ground.

117 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Geronimo Apache chief of the Chiricahua tribe who, at the end of the nineteenth century, launched rebellions against the reservations and waged intermittent battles with the government of Sonora. He roamed through various territories of Arizona, Chihuahua, and Sonora. He is considered the last Apache, although in reality there were other Apaches who continued to fight in Sonora. Hollywood movies have widely exploited his image. Gran Desierto de Altar Region of dunes that span the northern Gulf of California coast, covering about 5,000 km2 (1,950 square miles). The El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve is located in the easternmost part. Guarijío Indigenous group (called Makurawe by its members) residing in both Chihuahua and Sonora states. The Guarijío language belongs to the Taracahitic group of the Uto-­ Aztecan family, in the Pima-Cora branch. Himeris Pima Extinct ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Tepiman group in the Uto-Aztecan family. Their territory included the Dolores, Cocóspera, and Magdalena Rivers. Hohokam Group of pre-Hispanic people who inhabited the central and southern regions of Arizona during the years a.d. 400 to 1450. They are known for great hydraulic works using canals, as well as platform mounds that served ceremonial purposes. Ballcourts of a quite distinctive style have also been uncovered. Their characteristic pottery was made of a very fine light-brown clay with red designs. Huápoca Canyon system in the municipality of Madera, Chihuahua, with a great concentration of archaeological sites of the cliff-dwelling type belonging to the Casas Grandes culture. Huatabampo Groups that lived in what is now southern Sonora state; their mixed economy comprised both marine and agricultural resources. Janos Nomadic group, now extinct, from northwestern Chihuahua. Their language has not been classified. Jesuit Member of the Society of Jesus, an apostolic order of priests that spread Christianity through a large part of the northwestern Mexican territories.

118 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

José Vasconcelos Mexican lawyer, politician, writer, educator, public official, and philosopher who was born in 1881 and died in 1959. He was an important leader of Mexico’s intellectual revolution. Kayenta Anasazi group of the pre-Hispanic period in Arizona that emigrated from today’s northern Arizona to southern Arizona and the far north of Sonora state around a.d. 1300, bringing with them distinctive cultural traditions, such as the construction of kivas— round, semisubterranean ceremonial houses—and new ceramic traditions. Los Chales (stream) Tributary of the Chuhuichupa River, located in the municipality of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua; it flows downstream into Tres Ríos to form the source of the Bavispe River in Sonora. Lote de Sonora Former ranch, of undocumented ownership, located in far northeastern Sonora state, in the Sierra Madre Occidental, bordering on the state of Chihuahua. Magdalena de Kino Municipal seat located in northern Sonora state on the Magdalena River, founded by the Jesuit Eusebio Francisco Kino at the end of the seventeenth century as a pueblo de visita (a village that, lacking its own parish, would receive periodic visits from a priest). Father Kino died at the mission in 1711; his remains are preserved in a mausoleum in the central plaza. Maren P. Hopkins Archaeologist for Northland Research, Inc., in Arizona. She graduated from the University of Arizona and works as a project director in Hohokam and borderlands prehistory. Mesa Verde Region near the Four Corners (where the state borders of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet) that was home to the culture formerly called Anasazi and today known as Ancestral Puebloan. These pre-Hispanic groups developed a complex architecture of sandstone masonry as well as kivas (circular subterranean structures). They made use of large rock shelters to construct some of their best-known villages (for example, Cliff Palace). This type of site is called a cliff dwelling. Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores The first mission founded by the Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1687. Today only the ruins of the former settlement are preserved, along with those of a nineteenthcentury ranch.

119 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Missions of the Pimería Alta (Upper Pima country) Region of northwestern Sonora where Father Eusebio Francisco Kino founded more than twenty-two mission villages among the Pima Alto groups; the missions were built along the Magdalena, Altar, Cocóspera, and Santa Cruz Rivers, on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. Moctezuma River River that begins in north-central Sonora state and flows north to south until it reaches the Plutarco Elías Calles Dam, where it joins the Yaqui River. Montezuma Regional term for an archaeological site. Nácori Chico Municipal seat located in eastern Sonora state, founded in 1645 by the missionary Cristóbal García. Nahuatl Language in the Uto-Aztecan family spoken in regions of central Mexico. Natora Community located in the municipality of Sahuaripa, in eastern Sonora state, on the banks of the Aros River. Nazca Lines Important set of geoglyphs found in Nazca, a province in the Ica region of southwestern Peru. They depict animals and plants, some more than 300 meters (ca. 985 feet) long. Nomadic Lifestyle of certain human groups who move around seasonally within a specific territory without ever settling in any town. O’odham (tribe) See Papago Opata Extinct indigenous group formerly residing over a large part of Sonoran territory, mainly in the central and eastern state. It is thought that the ethnic identity of this group became diluted at the end of the nineteenth century. Orography Discipline within physical geography concerning the description of mountains.

120 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Papago Indigenous Sonoran peoples whose language belongs to the Tepiman group in the UtoAztecan family; they call themselves O’odham, or “the people.” Their territory is located in northwestern Sonora state, chiefly around the town of Quitovac, as well as in an extensive territory of southwestern Arizona that is designated a reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Petroglyph Type of rock drawing produced though carving or erosion of the surface of rocks or rock walls. Pima Bajo (Lower Pima) Indigenous Sonoran peoples whose language belongs to the Tepiman group in the Uto-Aztecan family; they call themselves O’ob, or “the people.” Their territory is located in southeastern Sonora state and part of Chihuahua state, particularly in the municipalities of Yécora and Temósachi, respectively. Ranch In state of Sonora, this term refers to privately owned property of variable size built on a former hacienda. It retains the hacienda economic structure, relying primarily on raising cattle, which are tended by cowboys. Rancheria Concept used in eighteenth-century historical sources to denote Indian settlements with small groups of huts. Today, the Guarijíos in the mountains between the states of Sonora and Chihuahua are thought to retain this settlement pattern, living in scattered dwellings that can be called rancherias. Sahuaripa Municipal seat located in eastern Sonora state. It was founded in 1641. Santa Fe Capital of the state of New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. It was founded by Juan de Oñate at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Seri Small indigenous group from Sonora state, speakers of a language in the Hokan family. They call themselves Concáac. Their present territory is a stretch of coastline beginning above the town of Bahía de Kino and running north to El Desemboque, in the municipalities of Hermosillo and Pitiquito, as well as the adjacent Tiburón Island. The Seri rely on fishing, hunting, gathering, and crafts for their livelihood.

121 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Sierra Alta Region of northeastern Sonora state; its boundaries are unclear, but it is mainly associated with the towns along the Bavispe River and its tributaries. Sierra El Picú Group of low-lying mountains situated in the plains of the Central Coast of Sonora, near the town of Puerto Libertad, in the municipality of Pitiquito. Sierra Madre Occidental Mountain range that runs through all of northwestern Mexico, reaching parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Its altitude varies between 1,000 and 3,000 m (3,280 and 9,840 feet) above sea level. Soba Extinct ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Tepiman group of the Uto-Aztecan family. Their territory included the Altar River. Sonora The second largest state in Mexico. There is no general agreement on the origin of the name. Some explain it as the name of a tribe on the Sonora River, perhaps related to the Opata word xunuta, “place of maize”; others link it to the Papago word sonota, which means “place of plants.” Specular hematite Mineral composed of iron oxide (Fe2O3). It has a silvery gray color and a metallic to submetallic luster. Its appearance suggests small mirrors, hence its name (it is a sedimentary mineral). It was used as a primary component in ceramic decoration among groups in the Trincheras tradition. Suma Nomadic group, now extinct, from the northeastern Chihuahua region. Their language has not been classified. Taracahitic (Yaqui and Mayo) Linguistic group containing many of the most socially complex indigenous groups in Sonora. It includes the Yaqui and Mayo people, who belong to the Cáhita subgroup; both are agricultural riverside communities with a high population density. Their territory is located in the extreme southwest of Sonora state. Taraises (locale) Rancheria located in the municipality of Bacerac, Sierra Madre Occidental, near the state border between Sonora and Chihuahua.

122 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Tecomate Beach on the northern coast of Tiburón Island, where abundant evidence of the Central Coast archaeological tradition can be found. Terrace Building technique used to create flat terrain on hillsides. Containing walls are constructed, and the space between them is filled to level the surface. Tinaja Natural reservoir, generally formed of bedrock. Trincheras tradition Groups of pre-Hispanic people who lived in northwestern Sonora in small villages of semisubterranean houses as well as cerros de trincheras. They made monochromatic pottery decorated with purple or sometimes white designs, and they worked intensively in the production of seashell ornaments. The tradition began around a.d. 200 and ended in 1450. Underwater archaeology Branch of archaeology that investigates the archaeological remains found underwater. Unlike land-based archaeology, underwater research requires special training to meet the technical demands that this type of work entails. Uto-Aztecan Linguistic family to which the greatest number of spoken languages in northwestern Mexico belongs. Vermilion Sea (Mar Bermejo) Name used in New Spain for the Gulf of California. Winch Mechanical or electrical pulley placed on the front part of a vehicle in order to haul or tow it with the aid of a cable and a towing hook. Yécora Municipal seat located in eastern Sonora state, founded in 1673 by the Jesuit missionary Alonso Victoria.

123 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Photo Credits Archivo de la Sección de Arqueología del Centro inah-Sonora Pages 13, 31, 38, 42b, 44b, 45a, 46, 47, 51, 57a, 57b, 58a, 59, 63, 78, 81, 82, 94, 98a, 100, and 101. Elizabeth Bagwell Pages 30 and 32. Steve Bauman Page 23. Berenice Ceja Pages 92, 96, 102, and 104. Cristina García Page 28. Miguel Ángel Marín Pages 15, 19, 37, 40, 52, 55, 61, 64, 69, 77, 84, and 87. Júpiter Martínez Pages 9, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 27, 34, 35, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44a, 45b, 48, 49, 50, 56, 58b, 60, 62, 65, 66a, 66b, 67, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 80, 83, 85, 89, 90, 93, 95, 97, 98b, and 99. The Missions of Northern Sonora (Pickens 1993), p. 89 Page 68. Bridget Zavala Page 79.

124 • Heading into the Desert

Contents

Júpiter Martínez Ramírez Júpiter Martínez Ramírez holds a degree in Archaeology from the Escuela Nacional de ­ Antropología e Historia. He is now a research professor in Archaeology at the Centro inah-­ Sonora. His current lines of work are the archaeology of northwestern Mexico and southwestern United States, focusing on regional systems in Sonora, particularly the Sierra Madre Occidental and Casas Grandes; the historical archaeology of missions; and studies of settlement patterns. He has directed various projects, including Pre-Hispanic and Protohistorical Archaeology of the Cocóspera Valley and Gamma Hermosillo ­Archaeological Salvage. He is currently in charge of the archaeological project Sierra Alta de Sonora. He has presented more than eighty papers at national and international conferences and published more than thirty articles on mission archaeology, the Sierra Alta, and cultural histories.

Academic committee: Alfonso Arellano Hernández, Antonio Reyes, Carlos Guadalupe Heiras Rodríguez, Carlos Viramontes Anzures, Cristina Corona Jamaica, Elsa Julieta del Sagrado Corazón Serrano y Peña, Eugeni Porras, Francis Pimentel, Francisco Rivas Castro, Gabriel Lalo Jacinto, Ismael Arturo, Montero García, Iván Franco Cáceres, J. Daniel Flores Gutiérrez, Júpiter Martínez Ramírez, Joel Santos Ramírez, Julia Del Carmen Chávez Carapia, Laura Castañeda, Lina Del Mar Moreno Tovar, Lizeth Barreto Saucedo, Luis Alberto Martos López, Luis Enrique Ferro Vidal, Luis Felipe Bate, Peterson, María De Jesús Rodríguez-Shadow, Martha Chávez Torres, Mary Goldsmith, Mauricio Gálvez Rosales, Nadia Giral Sancho, Nicolas Balutet, Pablo Montero Soria, Pablo Valderrama Rouy, Peter Biró, Raúl Martín Arana Álvarez, Raquel Padilla Ramos, Rocío García Valgañón, Rosemary Joyce, Samuel Villela Flores, Tobías García Vilchis, Verónica Ortega Cabrera.

Also in the series

EXTREME ARCHAEOLOGY

Underwater Archeology Thanks to the attraction that bodies of water have held for man throughout history, we have the opportunity today to discover a wonderful world of submerged historical remains. Underwater archaeology involves a series of challenges and risks that make this exploration a fascinating professional exercise, an exploit of recovery and a lesson in natural conservation that comes from a historical past we thought had been forever lost.

Visit us at www.fundacionarmella.org/english

Heading into the Desert is an enlightening experience for those who know some or all of these places, and for those who haven’t yet had the chance to travel this route, it is an unforgettable one—in terms of both the geography and the pre-Hispanic and colonial history of this northern part of Mexico. César Armando Quijada López In a literary journey from the Sierra Madre to the sea, Júpiter Martínez guides us, between stories and scenes of daily life, through the astonishing—and at times dangerous—geography of Sonora. This second volume in the series Archaeology in Extreme Conditions is a personal narrative that reveals further secrets of archaeological work. With ingenuity, audacity, and a great sense of humor, the author reminds us that the first step for undertaking archaeological work in an extreme environment is to learn to survive in it.

ISBN: 978-607-8187-22-5 [email protected] www.fundacionarmella.org/english Year of publication: 2012

EXTREME ARCHAEOLOGY