La Pintada (archaeological site)

Ancient native cultural groups inhabiting the region are the Mayos, the Yaquis and the Seris; however there are a number of other groups which have maintained much of their way of life in territory in which they have lived for centuries.[14]

The Mayos, also called the Yoreme, are descendants from the ancient Huatabampo culture. They call themselves “people of the riverbank” as they are concentrated along the Mayo River.

The Yaquis are the ancestral cultural group mostly associated with the state of Sonora.[15]

The Seris call themselves the Conca’ac, which means “the people” in the Seri language. The name Seri comes from the Opata language and means “men of sand.”[16]

Generally, the Seris are the tallest of the indigenous peoples of the region, and the first Spanish to encounter them described them as “giants.”[16][17]

The Tohono O’odham, still referred to as the Pápago, inhabited the most arid areas of the state, mostly in Caborca, Puerto Peñasco, Sáric, Altar and Plutarco Elías Calles in the north of the state. This group had ethnic relations with groups in Arizona. The Tohono O’odham have as a principle deity the “Older Brother,” who dominates the forces of nature.[18][19]

The Opatas inhabited regions in the center and northwest of the state. This group name means “hostile people” and was given to them by the Pimas, as the Opatas were generally in conflict with their neighbors. They were especially hostile to the Tohono O’odham, who they depreciatingly refer to as the Papawi O’otham, or “bean people.”[20][21]

The Pimas occupy the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in eastern Sonora and western Chihuahua state. The Pimas call themselves the O’oh, which means “the people.” The name Pima was given to them by Spaniards because the word “pima” would be said in response to most questions asked to them in Spanish. This word roughly means “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand.” The traditional territory of this ethnicity is known as the Pimería, and it is divided into two regions: the Pimería Alta and the Pimería Baja.[20][22]

The Guarijíos are one of the least understood groups in the state, and are mostly restricted to an area called the Mesa del Matapaco in the southeast. The Guarijíos are related to the Tarahumaras and the Cáhitas.[20][23]

The Cocopah is the smallest native indigenous group to Sonora with only about 170 members, who live mostly in San Luis Río Colorado, along the U.S. border. Their original name Kuapak, means “which comes” and possibly refers to the frequent changes in the course of the Colorado River. There have been efforts to preserve what is left of the Cocopah culture, but only 47 individuals speak the Cocopah language.[24][25]

The Kickapoos are not native to Sonora, but migrated here from the United States over a century ago. Today, they are found in the communities of El Nacimiento, Coahuila and Tamichopa in the municipality of Bacerac. Their ancestral language was part of the Algonquin family.[24][26]

The Anasazi culture flourished in the region currently known as the Four Corners. The territory was covered by juniper forests which the ancient peoples learned to exploit for their own needs. The Anasazi society is one of the most complex to be found in Oasisamerica, and they are assumed to be the ancestors of the modern Pueblo people (including the Zuñi and Hopi). (The word "Anasazi" is a Navajo term meaning "enemy ancestors"; its neutrality should thus not be blindly assumed.) In contrast to their Anasazi neighbors to the north, the nomadic communities of the Hohokam culture are poorly understood. They occupied the desert-like lands of Arizona and Sonora. The Hohokam territory is bounded by two large rivers, the Colorado and Gila Rivers, that outline the heart of the Sonora Desert. The principal settlements of the Hohokam culture were Snaketown, Casa Grande, Red Mountain, and Pueblo de los Muertos, all of which are to be found in modern-day Arizona. A slightly different branch of the Hohokam people is known as the Trincheras, named after their most well-known site in the Sonora Desert. The Hohokam lived in small communities of several hundred people.

The development of the Hohokam culture is divided into four periods: Pioneer (300 BC - 550 AD), Colonial (550-900 AD), Sedentary (900-1100 AD), and Classical (1100-1450 AD). The Pioneer period commenced with the construction of the canal works, and the Hohokam constructed semi subterranean dwellings in order to protect themselves from the blistering heat of the Sonoran Desert. In the Colonial period, ties were strengthened with Mesoamerica. Proof of this can be found in the recovery of copper bells, pyrite mirrors, and the construction of ballgame courts juego de pelota, all of which display a very Hohokam touch. The relations with Mesoamerica and the presence of such traded goods indicate that by the Colonial period the Hohokam had already become organized into chiefdoms and centers of power. Relations with Mesoamerica would diminish in the following period, and the Hohokam turned to construct multi-story buildings like Casa Grande, which had four levels.

By the time the Europeans arrived in the Arizona and Sonora Deserts, a region which they named Pimería Alta, the urban centers of the Hohokam had already become abandoned presumably due to the health and ecological disasters that befell the indigenous social system. The inhabitants of the region were called Pápagos, a group which spoke an Uto-Aztecan language.

The Mogollon was a cultural area of Mesoamerica that extended from the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, northward to Arizona and New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Some scholars prefer to distinguish between two broad cultural traditions in this area: the Mogollon itself and the Paquime culture that were derived from it. Either way, the peoples who inhabited the area in question adapted well to a landscape that was marked by the presence of pine forests and steep mountains and ravines.

The region has been widely studied by archeologists, anthropologists and historians, who have worked on ruins and fossilized bones.[27] However, much of the research in this area is still in its initial descriptive stage with many basic questions still unanswered. As previously noted Sonora is considered to be a cultural zone separate from Mesoamerica, although there may have been some Mesoamerican influence. The major differences between Sonoran cultures and Mesoamerica include dry climate farming, although the same basics of corn, squash and beans are produced. There is also a heavier reliance on wild resources. More important was the lack of true cities during this area's prehispanic history, with small settlements clustered around water sources and weak hierarchical systems. These cultures share some traits with those of the U.S. Southwest, however distinct.[28]

The Cerro de Trincheras is an archeological site, with petroglyphs, plazas and astronomical observatories. The exact purpose of the area has been disputed, but the area reached its height between 1300 and 1450 CE, when it had population of about 1,000, which made its living growing corn, squash, cotton and agave. Its largest structure is called “La Cancha” (The Ballcourt), which is at the base of the north side of the hill. It is a rectangular patio marked by rocks piled on its edges, measuring 51 by 13 metres (167 by 43 ft). Some researchers believe it was some kind of ball court and others believe it was a kind of open air theater. On the hill itself is an observatory, which gives views of the area. Most of the area's artifacts of stone and shell were found here. The Plaza de Caracol is marked by a meter and a half high stone wall in an open spiral, most likely used for ceremonies.[29]

Most of the archaeological materials found in these grounds, are within the archaeological tradition known as Central Coast, and are particularly similar to those found by Edward Mosler and Thomas Bowen at sites in the region of Tastiota and Punta San Antonio in the southern part of the Central Coast area. So far, La Pintada is the site associated with that archaeological tradition farther away from the coastline.[1]

Occupation of the camping grounds reached its peak between 700 and 1600 CE, judging from the abundance of ceramic smooth shark type; the presence of this ceramic as well other corresponding to historical and modern Seri types shows a cultural continuity which allows to infer the presence of Central Coast tradition groups as well as historical seris or concaác, without implying that they were the only inhabitants of the place or the cave painting component being their exclusive art work.[1]

The place is considered a ceremonial center, and one of the most important cave painting areas in the northwest of the country. There are no buildings or structures.[30]

The Sonora and La Pintada archaeological wealth are characterized basically by the painting designs, and archaeological vestiges related to occasional settlements. The paintings depict over 400 different style or design types, that were drawn by different ethnical groups at different times, and was probably used as a ceremonial center.[30]

It is believed to have been an open camping place, where people gathered as part of a collectors and hunters group circuit.[30]

During 1960-1970 the first meticulous investigation work was made, since then there has been a few incidental works but not any more formal investigation.[30]

The paintings are an artistic manifestation of what was around; describes the native view of the environment back then, their thought, as well as the way and forms of life.[30]

The site was occupied by several groups in diverse times; in addition it was maintained as a sacred place, ceremonial and emblematic.[30]

It is estimated that in the site there are over 2,500 of these graphical manifestations, of which around 70 percent has been digitally registered.[31]

The paintings are distributed in a natural canyon as part of the Archaeological Zone. These designs are believed to be cosmo-vision representations of the ancient groups that occupied this area about 1,200 years ago, as well as during the Spanish invasion.[31]

Since 2007, a group of technicians performs the meticulous analysis and digital registry of these ancient manifestations, distributed in 33 hectares. This work has provided knowledge of the fact that La Pintada was an important space for diverse human groups, as much for hunting-collector groups that inhabited it during the 12th and 13th centuries, as well as for native seris, yaquis and pimas that probably used it as a ritual center between the 17th and 18th centuries.[31]

The rock represented images; made 1,200 years ago, represent local fauna such as deer, reptiles and birds, depicted by the first hunting-collector groups, when shaping them in stone, possibly as part of ancient rituals.[31]

La Pintada Archaeological Zone emblematic representation is the painting called “the deer”, it is one of the largest of the site, measuring 1 by 1.20 meters high, in which a native boy mounting a deer is depicted, and this scene matches the seri myth of the powerful boy.[31]