A Burial Cave in Baja CaliforniaThe tump band (139536) is made with the twining technique used so frequently in such constructions. Fragments of both ends are present, but the intervening central portion is missing so the original length of the specimen is not known. The largest section is 25 cm. long and 7.7 cm. wide (pl. 17, _d_).
The original warps were three heavy cords which were loosely Z-twisted of two plys of 2-ply cord; each 2-ply single is S-twisted. The fiber is probably of some species of agave. The outer two of the three heavy cords form the selvage cords. The center cord was split into its two component yarns, and forms the beginning of the inner warp threads.
Two-ply cords were introduced rapidly to make a maximum of the 27 present at its greatest width. Introduction of the warp elements was accomplished very evenly, producing no distortion of the flat surface.
Twining was done with the pitch up-to-the-right. The weft was also of 2-ply agave (?) cord.
The one peculiar feature of this twined band is the form of the selvage, which gives the appearance of a sewing running-st.i.tch along the heavy outer cords.
It is extremely unlikely that this was a sling or belt. The band seems too rigid to have been used for either of these two purposes, and slings are not recorded historically from Baja California.
The only similar specimen know in the archaeology of the peninsula is a fragment of a tump band from the upper or historic level of Metate Cave near Comondu.[6] This fragment is identical with the tump band from Bahia de Los Angeles in weave, selvage, and cordage. Even the count is similar: 9 warps and 15 wefts per inch for the Bahia de Los Angeles example, and 10 by 22 for the Metate Cave specimen. Either of these is much coa.r.s.er than Basketmaker bands, like those from Segi Canyon with their 24 warps and wefts per inch (Guernsey, 1931, p. 9).
[6] University of California. Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, specimen 3-13586.
The tump band was used for portage with carrying nets among the historic Indians of central Baja California (see "Carrying Nets"). The modern Kiliwa of the north supported nets on the back by a band which pa.s.sed across the forehead. At the forehead this band consisted of 20 "parallel cords" (Meigs, 1939, p. 38; twined or simple cords are not stipulated).
Woven packstraps were used by all southern California Indians (Drucker, 1937, p. 21). Babies and general burdens were carried in nets supported by the forehead tumpline in the central and northern areas of the peninsula (Clavigero, 1937, p. 106).
_Cotton Cloth_
Since woven cotton (_Gossypium_ sp.) was unknown in aboriginal Baja California at the time of European contact, its provenience must be beyond the peninsula. Presumably this specimen is a piece of pre-Columbian trade goods from the mainland of Mexico, and so belongs in the cultural inventory of the cotton-weaving cultures of the Oasis Area.
The weave of this fragment (139537) is Plain (over-one-under-one) (pl.
17, _c_). The piece, which measures 25.5 cm. long (warp) by 30 cm.
(weft), consists of one loomstring end and neither selvage. The warp is white cotton cord, 1 mm. in diameter, in a loosely twisted 2-ply Z-twist. The weft of the same material has a diameter of 2 mm. of single ply, very loosely Z-twist cord. This weft is about the equivalent of commercial slub with no tensile strength. The thread count of the cloth is virtually square (6 x 5 per cm.), although the greater diameter of the tightly beaten weft makes it the predominant feature of the textile.
The warp ends carry a decorative strengthening feature known to Southwestern textiles, both ancient and modern. Two whipping cords that are like the weft secure the end warp loops. They were structural and were probably inserted while the warp was being set up.
One side of the cloth has a whipped edge holding irregularly broken weft ends. This rough mending was accomplished with the usual native 2-ply cordage. Depth of the st.i.tch into the material varies considerably--an indication of expedience rather than ornamentation.
Since cotton cloth and cotton are absent from the pre-Columbian archaeology and the historic ethnography of the peninsula, this specimen must have been obtained through trans-Gulf trade with mainland Mexico.
The Seri of Tiburon Island and Sonora were probably the intermediary traders. These Indians are well aware of the peninsula opposite them to the west (Griffen, 1959).
Although the weave of this specimen is the simplest of all weaving techniques, it is lacking among other textile materials of Baja California, such as basketry and matting. The precise mainland derivation of this specimen must remain in doubt; all the tribes of Sonora--except the Seri--wove cotton (Driver and Ma.s.sey, 1957, p. 216).
Plain cotton cloth was extremely widely distributed in the prehistoric Oasis area, and dates at least from Pueblo I times in the American Southwest (Kent, 1957, p. 491).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This small collection of archaeological materials has a marked diversity of types, with little duplication. Compared to similar artifacts from habitation caves, the specimens of the Palmer Collection are complete with the exception of the fragile garments and the netting.
There are few household goods of any variety. Most of the specimens are ornamental or have a ceremonial significance. A number of artifacts, specifically the tubular stone pipes, human hair cape, cane whistles, and the probable bull-roarer, were a.s.sociated with shamans among the historic peoples of the peninsula. It is most likely that one of the burials was a shaman, who had been interred with his paraphernalia in this burial cave.
Most of the material from Bahia de Los Angeles can be duplicated from various sites in the Desert Area; however, a few have been recorded only in the archaeology or ethnography of Baja California. These include the human hair cape and the exclusive square-knot netting.
The majority of the artifacts and traits occur in the archaeological collections from Baja California and are mentioned in the ethnographic accounts for that region and for the north of the peninsula. Only the feathered cape and the specific type of bone awl, or "dagger," are not recorded. This material bears little resemblance to the collections or ethnographic descriptions from the extreme south of the peninsula.
There is absolutely nothing in this collection and in the affiliation of its artifacts with cultural materials from central Baja California to support the contentions of Malcolm Rogers (1945, p. 191 pa.s.sim). Without a doubt the Yumans of the peninsula entered long before the advent of pottery-making in the Colorado Desert region. Neither the Palmer Collection nor identical materials from historic levels in the central part of the peninsula can be explained as being due to a post-1450 invasion of Baja California by peoples representing the last phase of the Yuman sequence in southern California.
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