Posted on 02/16/2005 10:26:20 AM PST by blam
Field between Tecate, Ensenada yields tools
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 16, 2005
TIJUANA For the first time in Baja California, archaeologists have found significant evidence of hunters who settled the region between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, known as INAH, announced the recent recovery of more than 150 stone knives, spearheads, cutting utensils and other carved items from an open field between Tecate and Ensenada.
The items are being linked to the San Dieguito people acknowledged as the earliest settlers of the region.
San Dieguito sites have been amply documented north of the border in California. But until now, only isolated artifacts have been found in Baja California, said Antonio Porcayo Michelini, an archaeologist with INAH.
Until this discovery, "nobody had found a site that where you could see evidence of a camp," Porcayo, who is leading the project, said yesterday.
Most of the items were found in October in a field belonging to Ejido Ignacio Zaragoza, a land collective. The field, known as La Mujer Campesina, is cultivated by a group of women from the collective.
The residents have been finding artifacts at the site for several years years, Porcayo said, and turned them into INAH.
A formal dig is expected to begin in April, and Porcayo hopes the findings will yield data about the little-known San Dieguito culture.
"What we have now is preliminary information," said Porcayo. Because of the shape and condition of the artifacts "we are almost certain that they are from the San Dieguito" period, but more studies are needed for conclusive proof, Porcayo said.
He hopes the dig will lead to human bones, as well as evidence of the plants and animals that the settlers consumed.
Research in Mexico into pre-Hispanic cultures has focused on "monumental archaeology, the Aztec and Maya ruins, that have the potential to bring in lots of tourist dollars," said Mike Wilken-Robertson, project director of the Alliance for Sustainable Development in the Indigenous Communities of Baja California.
"Our hunting and gathering people didn't leave great monuments, but it's our prehistory, and it's fascinating how they where able to survive in this harsh environment of the peninsula."
Finding evidence of San Dieguito culture south of the border is not surprising, said Dennis Gallegos, a board member of the San Diego Archaeological Center.
"We're seeing sites in San Diego County that are dating back to over 9,000 years ago, so it wouldn't surprise me that they would have sites of that time period," Gallegos said.
But with rapid development, many sites are being destroyed before they can be documented by archaeologists.
"A lot of these young archaeologists are starting to look at this Baja region and northern Mexico area, and are doing so now, which is great," Gallegos said. "It certainly has the antiquity, we're going back as far as the earliest occupation."
GGG Ping.
"stone knives, spearheads, cutting utensils and other carved items from an open field between Tecate and Ensenada"
Yeah, I used to lose alot of stuff wandering around after an afternoon at Hussongs Cantina in Ensenada.
'Arlington Springs Woman', 13,000 Year Old Human Skeleton, California Island
"Our hunting and gathering people didn't leave great monuments, but it's our prehistory, and it's fascinating how they where able to survive in this harsh environment of the peninsula."
Meanwhile, 200 miles north in the greater LA Basin area.
I have heard that Indians flourished here, because of a mild climate. Flourished to host the largest population in North America.
One man's harsh environment is another man's bread/fish basket.
The last time I drank tequila was there. I didn't know that they refilled the bar bottles with the local product and the proof could be anywhere from 80 to 120. Can't stand even the smell of the stuff now. Love Baja though, used to go down there all the time.
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